WEBVTT - SAVE YOUR STRENGTH 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.280 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:07.760 podcast and I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.879 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.480 in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:14.760 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:20.720 We are very excited about what God is speaking to 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.959 us in this new series. The series is called Gates 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:28.720 of Change, and we started last week just taking responsibility 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:33.640 for our own relationship with God. And we made a 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:36.920 decision that we will not be perfect this year, but 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:37.880 we will be present. 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.080 We will be present, and we will show up. 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.280 We will show up for the celebrations and the struggles, 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:50.040 and we will take our seat in the gate. And 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:51.600 what we're saying is we're going to be where we 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:54.920 belong this year. And so touch your neighbors, say I'm back. 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:03.320 I am back. I'm really excited to share the scripture 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.800 with you today that I ended on from Isaiah twenty 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:09.920 eight Versus five and six. This is where I stopped 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.280 last week, and I want to pick up your very 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:16.440 powerful Old Testament prophecy. In that day, the Lord Almighty 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:21.280 will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.480 remnant of his people. He will be a spirit of 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:30.600 justice to the one who sits in judgment, a source 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:35.720 of strength to those who turn back the battle at 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.840 the gate. Only two scriptures, so I like to repeat 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.080 it again, because we have plenty of time in that day. 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:46.640 The Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:49.400 wreath for the remnant of his people. He will be 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:52.600 a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:56.840 a source of strength to those who turn back the 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.280 battle at the gate. Look at your neighbors, say, save 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:04.200 your strength. I want to speak to you today about 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:08.400 save your strength for the battles that really matter. To 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:10.960 have a prioritize life so that you don't waste time 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.079 chasing down stuff that ought to be running from you. 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.200 Just save your energy for your real. 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:20.320 Life instead of your imaginary battles that you may not 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:21.799 ever even have to fight, but the devil wants to 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:23.440 keep you up all night with so you're sleepy when 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:24.600 you go to work the next morning. 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:28.720 Save your strength for. 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:30.840 The relationships that God wants you to invest in, so 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:34.520 you don't keep going back to people who'll continue to 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:36.600 abuse you in ways that you should have seen coming. 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.640 Save your strength, so you don't. 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:42.120 Do in the flesh what can only be done by might, 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.560 empower and the spirit of the Lord. Save your strength. 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.080 And some of you are behind. You missed last week, 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:52.480 so I told them, catch everybody up. 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:53.560 In ninety seconds. 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:55.600 Sit down, let's go to the movies real quick, and 0:02:55.639 --> 0:03:02.840 I'll start this second installment. The greatest trouble in David's 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:08.640 life came when he became passive, or you might say disengaged. 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:10.320 I don't think there's ever been a time in the 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:13.200 world where we've been more engaged on the surface and 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.920 more disengaged in our souls. I'm disengaged, not because I 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.880 don't care, but just because I'm afraid I don't know 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:23.920 if I have what it takes. 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:25.400 David was shaken. 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:30.160 And everything changed for David when he did something so simple. 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:42.320 The King got up, left his chamber and took his 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.840 seat in the gate. 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:52.880 And with the end of becaus, with his accusations and 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.600 his excuses. I want you to look him square in 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:00.200 the eye before the year even gets started, good and 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:06.840 tell him, devil, this seat is taken. This is the 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.440 place of responsibility. This is the place of owning your story. 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:14.200 But it begins with the decision for you to take 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.880 your place in the game. 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:19.960 And we're going to start getting intentional about our thoughts 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:24.080 so that we win the battle between. 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:25.960 The gates. 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:36.280 I thought i'd started my sermon where I ended it 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:43.359 last time, you know, I thought I would take a 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.840 moment and just illustrate how sometimes where something shows up 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:49.520 is not where it started. 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:50.919 At. 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:53.200 This sermon that you here today came from a note 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.719 that I made last year, And sometimes where something shows 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:58.400 up is and where it starts. By the time you 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:03.600 hear the sermon, it's already been hopefully in the process 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.480 of me thinking about it for a long time, because 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:08.120 I don't want to just think of something Saturday and 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:14.119 say it on Sunday. I even realized that about about 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:19.920 your life, like you. You showed up today and I'll 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.760 see you, but I don't really see what it took 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.839 for you to get here, or you know, what is 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:26.960 affecting your mind. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:31.200 As I preach, sometimes people will say that's the best 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:33.360 sermon you ever preached. I'll say, that's just the best 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:38.760 you ever listened, Wasn't they good? But the sermon starts 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:39.320 before it starts. 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.760 I always tell the parking team like, hey, help me 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.200 out when people are coming in. Smile at them, wave 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:45.880 at them, put them in a good mood. It'll make 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.040 my job easier. Because the sermon starts before it starts. 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:51.559 It starts before it starts, it starts checking in your kids, 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:55.480 or starts. So make sure make sure that you get 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:57.680 as good of a start as possible. And this time 0:05:57.720 --> 0:05:59.760 of year, we're so focused on new beginnings. But the 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:02.240 law longer you live, the less you really believe in 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:08.080 new beginnings, and the cliches don't really comfort you in 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.160 the same way or inspire you at the same level anymore. 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:20.040 Knew you No, no, I didn't grow three inches Yeah, 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:26.039 see me. You can't really get a new start to 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.960 your story. What you can do is change the ending. 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.800 And the only real way for you to affect the ending. 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.159 Is to understand the starting place. 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.400 It is very important that we understand the scripture that 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:45.159 I read in the context of the times, because there 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:48.599 would have been an outside gate, the outer wall of 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.679 the city, with a gate for entrance and inner gate 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.400 as a line of defense, and then this space between 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:59.640 the gate where justice was supposed to be served negotiations happened. 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.040 People would buy and sell, and that was the space 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:07.120 between the gates, where the negotiations of life and the 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:08.760 deliberations took place. 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.160 Between the gates. 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:16.200 We're talking in this series about that space between the gates, 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:21.960 the realm of your decisions, the realm of your thought process, 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.200 the space between what you see with your eyes and 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:29.480 what you do in your life, what you hear with 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:32.080 your ears, and how you act when you go home. 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.400 That's space. That's where the battle is won and lost. 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:39.000 Now, by the time the battle is one, there has 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:43.600 already been significant work done. Nobody wins the Olympics at 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:48.080 the race. They won the Olympics in the dark at 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:51.760 four thirty. Where their success showed up is not where 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:55.680 their success started. And usually if you see an issue 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.720 in somebody's life, where it showed up is not where 0:07:58.720 --> 0:07:59.200 it started. 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.920 It's the same with victories that it is with defeat. 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.520 I told a story last week about my dad, and 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:08.200 the reason I like to tell so many stories about 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:12.240 my dad is because he's not here to correct them. 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:14.600 I can tell him how I want to tell him. 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:16.640 The one I told him about him last week him 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.000 made him sound kind of bad, but I thought I 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:20.800 would tell a good one about him. Now, my dad 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:23.640 was a good dad, especially if you compare him to 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.320 the standard that he didn't have a dad to show 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:27.680 him how to do it, and he was making it 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.440 up when he was doing it. He was just kind 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.160 of he was winging it. And I have mad respect 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:35.360 for that, because it's hard enough to be a dad 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:36.160 when you've seen a dad. 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:37.679 But he had to make it up. 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:41.200 And so some of his tactics were not FDA approved. 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:46.800 Some of his tactics were kind of street tactics. One 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:49.960 time I told my mom I wanted to kill him. Yeah, 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.120 my finest moment, I'll kill him. 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:55.240 I want to kill him. 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.880 And when he picked me up from school that day 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.280 early dismissed picked me up from school and said he 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.200 had two guns in the back of the truck. I 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:07.360 was going to get one and he was going to 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:08.760 get one because he heard I wanted to kill him 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:10.800 and if I didn't shoot, he was going to. I mean, 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.520 that is not necessarily the type of parenting you hear about. 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:15.439 I'm focused on the family. But he's done the best 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.520 he could and he didn't actually do it. He let 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:19.040 me cry for ten minutes and think that he was 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:20.480 going to do it, but I never said it again. 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:24.840 One of his finest moments, though I don't know where 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:27.080 he got the idea to do this, was when he 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:31.400 began to talk to me about addiction. He began to 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.920 talk to me about addiction because his father committed suicide 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:39.720 and had been a very mean drunk. His father's father 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:43.199 had been an alcoholic, and somewhere along the line, he 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.840 made the decision that I can't go back and rewrite 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:52.000 how this story started in our bloodline, but I'm going 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:54.719 to impart a vision to my son so that he 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:56.400 might be the one to write a different ending. 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.040 You can't create a new beginning, but you can write 0:09:59.040 --> 0:09:59.560 a new ending. 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:04.240 That's what I'm trying to say. You can't change who 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.240 wasn't there for you, but you can write a new ending. 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:11.079 And maybe we should start this year not as an 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:15.080 expectation of new beginnings, but new endings that from this 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:19.360 point forward, I said, From this point forward, Paul said, 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.280 I pressed toward the mark. This one thing I do 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.440 forgetting what is behind me. There is no strength in 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:25.400 what's behind me. 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.800 I stretched toward what's ahead. I saw my dad. 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:31.800 He would pull me aside even from like a really 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:33.400 young age, like I was eight years old, and he 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:35.200 would pull me aside and start talking to me about 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:39.040 the dangers of alcoholism. Eight years old and he would 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:39.960 tell me my. 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:41.520 Dad was a drunk, and his dad was a drunk, 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:42.800 and his dad was drunk. He said, you could be 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:47.800 the first verdict. It wasn't an alcoholic. He put it 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.920 out there like a challenge to me, like you could 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.360 go to the moon. You could be the first verdict. 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.360 I kind of liked that. I was only eight. 0:10:57.480 --> 0:10:58.760 I was, hey, I don't know what he thought the 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:00.119 kids would bringing to school. 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.439 Juice boxes, Like what temptation he thought. I was under. 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.839 You could be the first verdict. And it got through 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:10.640 to me even when I got a little older, I 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:11.679 could be the first verdict. 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:13.720 This is not a sermon about don't drink, by the way, Okay, 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:15.360 I said, I want you to get all nervous like that, 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:16.880 like I'm one of those preachers, because I have noticed 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.160 a lot of the preachers who preach don't drink or 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.960 eighty pounds overweight. So apparently they skipped all the verses 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.200 about gluttony and okay, okay, you didn't come for all 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:27.480 that let's get back to the scripture. 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:31.760 Isaiah said that he will be. 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:35.600 Is anybody leaving, I can't see very well back here, 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:40.599 I'll still there, okay, okay, a source of strength to 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:42.680 him who turns back the battle at the gate. In 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:47.360 other words, God will strengthen the will of the one 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:48.520 who makes the decision. 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:51.360 It stops here. 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:57.040 I'm taking my place in the gate to say that 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:02.240 I cannot affect how the story started. But my dad said, 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:04.760 if you really want to be the first verdict to 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.560 beat this, you got to beat it in your blood 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.280 because if you taste it, you're gonna like it. So 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.000 I want to challenge you, just don't ever fight it. 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.760 He was trying to get me to see that sometimes 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:22.760 the best place to fight the battle is before it 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:27.000 ever begins. To draw a line and say, I'm not 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:31.280 even going there. I'm not even playing with this. This 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.160 is not going to be a part of my children's legacy. 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:38.520 I can't control what it's been until now, but from 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:42.080 this stay forward. By the grace of God. I am 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:45.280 a new creation in Christ and I'm gonna beat it 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:48.480 in the bloodline. I'm gonna make a stand for the 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.440 next generation. There are going to be some changes at 0:12:52.480 --> 0:13:01.560 the gate. The place to beat it it's before it begins, 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.360 because if you let it in, you've. 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:09.480 Already let it win. It's like this in marriage. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:13.319 By the time you let resentment in, you've already let bitterness. 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:18.680 When it's like this in our thought process, by the 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:23.040 time we let worry in, we've already let anxiety win. 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.319 And this is the year we no longer fight the 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:34.640 devil on his level, because Isaiah said, there is a 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:40.200 strategy you can turn back the battle at the gate. 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:46.640 It's a powerful thought. Sometimes people make fun of me 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:48.040 and we go out to eat. They say, oh, yeah, 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:52.560 I forgot you don't drink fine judging. You drink what 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:54.720 you want to drink. I drink fourteen diet mountain dews today. 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:57.880 I got no judgment for your liquid consumption. I's got 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:01.080 a different drug. What I'm saying is, this is a 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.400 decision I made. 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:07.760 Is a standard that I have said. 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:13.200 And the problem in Isaiah is they is that the 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:16.600 leaders who should have been setting the standard for the 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.240 people have lowered the standard and let the people vulnerable. 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:25.800 This has no relevance to our modern day. Of course, 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:32.440 the Bible is an ancient book. In fact, Isaiah says, 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:33.920 he gives a picture of it. He says that the 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.840 leaders who are supposed to be sitting in their seat 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:41.640 of judgment, rendering decisions of virtue and justice. 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:43.520 Verse seven. 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:47.200 He says, they stagger from wine and reel from beer, 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:50.560 the priest and the prophets. 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:52.400 Wouldn't this make church more interesting? 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:58.000 The priests and the prophets stagger from beer and are 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:00.480 befuddled with wine. Y'all, I have a heart enough time 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.040 making sense when I'm up here sober. Can you imagine 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.680 what I would sound like if I had of you? 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:08.840 He said. 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:14.000 They stagger when seeing visions. They cannot see correctly, so 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:21.000 how can they lead correctly? They stumble when rendering decisions. 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:23.280 They are the ones who. 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:25.360 Are supposed to calibrate the calling of. 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.120 The nation, and yet they. 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.760 Are so drunk. Maybe it's a metaphor. Maybe it's not 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:35.920 just that they're drunk on alcohol. Maybe they're drunk on pride. 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:42.240 Maybe they're intoxicated with power, maybe a self aggrandizement that 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:44.960 has caused the leaders of this day to begin to 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.560 weigh self interest in a different scale than the best 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:57.240 interests of the people. And yet Isaiah says something that 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:01.680 rings true today that God will will be a source 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:06.160 of strength to those who turn back the battle at 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:09.240 the gate. Notice he says that no matter who sits 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.680 in the gate, God is still the source of strength 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.600 to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:18.920 It would be. 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:22.160 Worth answering the question who is the source of your strength? 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:24.480 If you haven't decided that by now, you need to 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.760 decide it really quickly, because if the source of your 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:32.120 strength is who you're sitting beside, you will live a 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:37.720 very disappointed life. If the source of your strength is 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:39.800 a number at the bottom of your balance sheet, something 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:41.640 will hit your life so hard that you can't buy 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:43.280 your way out of it, and you will find out 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.160 really quickly that net worth is a terrible place to 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:48.080 put your sense of self value. 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:50.600 If the source of your strength is. 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:52.920 How people look at you, or treat you, or think 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:55.920 about you. If the source of your strength on any 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.480 given day is the condition of your health, you will 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.280 always be susceptible to them. 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:02.720 And so Isaiah says he. 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:04.560 Will be a spirit of justice to the one who 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:07.280 sits in judgment and the source of strength to those 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:11.080 who turn back the battle at the gate. To make 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:13.479 God the source of your strength means that you depend 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.560 on Him. As one Psalmas said, you lift your eyes 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:18.680 to the hills. From whence cometh your help. Your help 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:20.640 cometh from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:22.360 And he will not suffer your foot to be moved. 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:24.720 The Lord which keepeth thee will not slumber nor sleep. 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:26.679 The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:28.760 upon your right hand. And that someone not smite thee 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:30.160 by day, nor the moon by night. 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:32.400 He will preserve your soul even forevermore. 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:35.879 To know that all your help comes from God, that 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.760 all your hope is in Jesus, That all of your 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:41.399 help comes not from the right, not from the left, 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:44.240 not from the north, not from the south, not from 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.399 the economy, not from the job touch. Somebody say not you, 0:17:48.480 --> 0:17:51.840 God is my source. Now, go ahead and clap right now. 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.640 If you know God's got your back. In fact, stand 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:57.280 up on your feet and shout about it. 0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:58.280 If God is. 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:02.920 Your source in every of your life, ain't every famine. 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:12.080 I have a friend named Jesus. He is my source. 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.679 I am so tempted to preach on this part of 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:18.680 the verse that. 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:20.719 I almost forgot what came before it. 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.520 Isaiah said in that day, the Lord Almighty will be 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.520 a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:29.200 his people. 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:31.440 Now, what is a wreath and what is a remnant 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:32.840 besides a Christmas decoration. 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:37.920 A wreath symbolizes victory, and he is preaching victory to 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:43.040 people who are about to experience defeat. He's preaching, of course, 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:47.320 about the impending Assyrian evasion to the to the northern 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:49.960 territory of Samaria, the crown jewel of the Northern Kingdom 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:51.679 of Israel set on a Ferraile valley. 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:56.560 He's speaking to them about their their potential, and. 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.679 He's telling them how their protection is gone, and so 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:00.440 now they're. 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:04.760 Going to face a season of defeat. And in the. 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:07.240 Same breath that he promises to be a source of strength, 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.040 he warns them of a coming defeat. But yet he 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.800 speaks about victory in the context of defeat. He says, 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:16.280 in that day, the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.840 a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people. God 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:23.480 said he will be a wreath for the remnant. The 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:28.320 wreath symbolizes victory. The remnant represents what's left. God always 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.600 has a remnant, no matter what you've lost in your 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.840 life or who walked away from you, God always leaves 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.760 a remnant. No matter how wicked this world gets or 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:39.520 how dark the times that we live in may seem 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:42.800 to be. God always has a remnant in every office. 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:46.000 God has a remnant in every church. God has a 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:49.680 remnant in every city, and every generation. God has a remnant. 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:52.480 God always has a remnant. There's always a little bit 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:54.000 of oil in the house, even if you feel like 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.440 you're starving to death. God always has a remnant. There's 0:19:57.440 --> 0:19:59.159 always a little boy with a lunch. If you call 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:00.480 him for it and put it in the hands of 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.840 the Master, it will multiply. Because God always has a remnant. 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:07.280 No matter how many leave Gideon, there will always be 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:10.520 three hundred, and God is able to win with the remnant. 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.399 God said, I'm gonna bless what's left. I will not 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:17.560 be limited by what you lost. I will be a 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:21.880 wreath for the remnant. I'm gonna bless what's left. I'm 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:26.560 gonna bless what's left. Stop weeping over what's lost. I'm 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:30.080 gonna bless what's left. I want you to shout right 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:31.919 now over what you've gotten left. 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:34.720 I want you to shout right now over. 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.639 The gift you have, the strength you have, the friends 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:41.040 you have, the opportunities you have, the time you have. 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:44.320 God said, I'm gonna bless what you got left. If 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.160 you will not stay stuck in what walked away, I'm 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:50.159 gonna bless what you got left. You can win with 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:51.720 what you got left. 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:58.200 Feel like preaching. I feel like preaching to the remnant. 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.200 Where's the remnant at where are the ones who went 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:01.680 through the. 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:13.760 Fire and came out of bound And to bless what's left. 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:20.040 No matter what happens at the leadership level, I'm looking 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:24.280 for someone who will turn back the battle at the gate. 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:26.159 And in that day the Lord Almighty will be a 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:29.280 glorious crown of beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people. 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:32.040 And then he mentions two different spirits. Watch this in 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:36.040 verse six. Can we study the Bible. He will be 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.640 a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:44.159 that's the first one, and a source of strength to 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:49.239 those who turned back the battle at the gate. So 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:52.040 you've got the spirit of justice to the one who 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:55.520 sits in judgment and the source of strength to those 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:59.320 who turned back the battle at the gate. Study that 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:00.960 text all week, and I thought I was talking about 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:04.159 two different things. But the more I read it, the 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:07.520 more I realized that this is two functions of the 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:08.199 same spirit. 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:12.200 He will be a spirit of justice. 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:15.840 To the one who sits in judgment, a source of 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:19.280 strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:23.639