Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to
Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Philippians,
Speaker 1: Chapter one, verse fifteen, Paul speaking. It is true that
Speaker 1: some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others
Speaker 1: out of goodwill, and the latter do so out of love,
Speaker 1: knowing that I am put here. Remember, I'm where I'm
Speaker 1: supposed to be, regardless of how I got here, I
Speaker 1: was put here. That's a way of seeing life that
Speaker 1: will set you free from the need to understand all
Speaker 1: of the events as they're happening, just to decide in
Speaker 1: advance wherever I end up that must be where God
Speaker 1: has me. Now, this can get dangerous because you can
Speaker 1: end up blaming God's sovereignty for your lack of responsibility.
Speaker 1: You know, I lost the job. I guess God wanted
Speaker 1: me to lose the job. God wanted you to show
Speaker 1: up on time, and so let's don't get carried away.
Speaker 1: But when the situation is out of my control. It's
Speaker 1: not out of God's hands. Amen. Yeah, I feel the
Speaker 1: spirit of God on that, because when he says I'm
Speaker 1: put here, that's one way of seeing it. He's positioned,
Speaker 1: and he sees himself as stationed rather than seeing himself
Speaker 1: as stuck. So the location doesn't change, but the lens
Speaker 1: he views his situation through is changing through the years.
Speaker 1: And since he's old now he has this great perspective
Speaker 1: and we get in on it through this letter that
Speaker 1: he wrote to the Philippian Church. So some people like
Speaker 1: me and some don't. But he says, the former preach
Speaker 1: Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing they can
Speaker 1: stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
Speaker 1: And this has been my mantra all week. What does
Speaker 1: it I found a new radio station wd IM does
Speaker 1: it matter? And when all this nonsense starts playing in
Speaker 1: my head, I just I turned the dial and I
Speaker 1: try to find a different signal, the signal that lets
Speaker 1: me know. I can't think short term and I can't
Speaker 1: let little things, the little foxes, spoil the vine. I
Speaker 1: can't let the flies get into ointment and mess up
Speaker 1: something sweet. So I got to get my priority straight.
Speaker 1: Now according to God's purpose for me? What does it matter?
Speaker 1: And I don't know if you if you want it
Speaker 1: or not, but we made some bracelets that just say
Speaker 1: wd IM on them. I got mine. I said it
Speaker 1: as a joke, and the team liked it so much.
Speaker 1: They made twenty five thousand of these bracelets. And it's
Speaker 1: really helpful. You might want to put it on your
Speaker 1: husband's wrists every once in a while. What does it matter?
Speaker 1: Just a little reminder of be yours today until we
Speaker 1: run out, and if we run out, what does it matter?
Speaker 1: You're not gonna be upset about that? What does it matter?
Speaker 1: It's not that I don't care about what people think,
Speaker 1: it's that it no longer controls me. So what does
Speaker 1: it matter? The important thing is that in every way,
Speaker 1: whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And
Speaker 1: because of this I rejoice, Yes, yeah, yeah, and I
Speaker 1: will continue to rejoice. What you're gonna do about it, devil?
Speaker 1: You hit me with your best shot, and I'm still
Speaker 1: in church. I will continue to rejoice. Now, you could
Speaker 1: knock the smile off my face if you tried. I'm
Speaker 1: still smiling, and my back hurts, but I'm still smiling.
Speaker 1: With my grain headaches, but I'm still smiling, and my
Speaker 1: kids are out of control, but I'm still smiling while
Speaker 1: I yell through clenched teeth, for I know that through
Speaker 1: your prayers, in God's provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: what has happened to me will turn out from my delivery.
Speaker 1: Not eagerly expect and hope that I will in no
Speaker 1: way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage. So oh,
Speaker 1: I'm not asking God to reduce the conflict. I'm asking
Speaker 1: him to increase my courage for the conflict, so that
Speaker 1: now as always Christ will be exalted in my body,
Speaker 1: whether by life or by death. For to me, to
Speaker 1: live is Christ and to die is Gain. I can't lose.
Speaker 1: If I am to go on living in the body, well,
Speaker 1: this will mean fruitful labor for me. And the next line,
Speaker 1: I just laughed because he's talking like he's choosing a
Speaker 1: show on Netflix. What shall I choose? Oh, And he's
Speaker 1: talking about life and death. But he's come to the
Speaker 1: point in his life where he's like, well, either way,
Speaker 1: I'm cool. I don't even know between the two. I
Speaker 1: kind of want to get out of here. This world
Speaker 1: is a crazy place. And I'd like to see Jesus.
Speaker 1: I got a reward waiting with my name on it,
Speaker 1: and I want to see the one who died for
Speaker 1: me and bled for me, and I want him to
Speaker 1: wipe every tear from my eye. And I want to
Speaker 1: be in his presence. And I kind of like to
Speaker 1: I'd kind of like to depart. I desire to depart
Speaker 1: and be with Christ, which is better by far, but
Speaker 1: it's more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Speaker 1: So since you still need me, I probably can't leave.
Speaker 1: I'd like God to take me to heaven, but He's
Speaker 1: probably gonna make me stay. I know that I will
Speaker 1: remain and I will continue with all of you for
Speaker 1: your progress and joy in the faith. So I asked God,
Speaker 1: can I go to heaven? And so look at your
Speaker 1: neighbor and give them my sermon title. It's a no. Oh.
Speaker 1: Now look at it from the perspective of the Philippian Church,
Speaker 1: who would have been excited to receive this letter with
Speaker 1: news about their beloved Apostle Paul. I can almost hear
Speaker 1: their feet stampeding through the streets. I can almost hear
Speaker 1: them knocking on the door of Lydia, who was the
Speaker 1: first convert when Paul passed through Philippi and she opened
Speaker 1: her heart and then her home, and that's how the
Speaker 1: whole church got started in Philippi in a sense, and
Speaker 1: so I can hear through the streets of Philippi. Hey, Lydia,
Speaker 1: we got a letter from Paul because they couldn't follow
Speaker 1: him on Instagram, and so they had been waiting for
Speaker 1: news of his release or his execution, or the date
Speaker 1: of his release. But we need to know how Paul
Speaker 1: is doing, and we really need him out of prison
Speaker 1: so he can help us accomplish the purpose of God. Hey,
Speaker 1: we got a letter from Paul. Come on, Lydia, and
Speaker 1: maybe that Roman jailer was still around who locked Paul up,
Speaker 1: and then when Paul and Silas sang at midnight and
Speaker 1: refused to leave the prison until they led that man
Speaker 1: to the lord because they were more concerned about him
Speaker 1: being free than them being free. And maybe he comes around,
Speaker 1: and maybe they all meet up at Lydia's house, if
Speaker 1: she's still living. And we got a letter from Paul.
Speaker 1: And you know when you get an urgent email and
Speaker 1: you just skim past the polite stuff. Paul and Timothy
Speaker 1: service Jesus Christ, yea God's Holy people Christ, Jesus Philipia.
Speaker 1: Is he getting out? Paul? Do we need to get
Speaker 1: the Welcome Home from Prison committee together? Are you coming
Speaker 1: to see us? What did Caesar say? Do you have
Speaker 1: a date set of you been able to defend yourself?
Speaker 1: And they must have been surprised that Paul only gave
Speaker 1: a half of verse to his situation and the rest
Speaker 1: of the entire letter. Paul teaches them a lesson and
Speaker 1: it's this, and I want to do my best to
Speaker 1: teach you today. God help me teach this today. He
Speaker 1: teaches them how to be released in reverse, how you
Speaker 1: can still be in the same situation that you prayed
Speaker 1: to get out of. But even though you're still in
Speaker 1: that situation, you are free in your spirit. So we
Speaker 1: have to go quick. I don't have a lot of
Speaker 1: time to tell you this. But God is more interested
Speaker 1: about freeing you in your spirit than he is freeing
Speaker 1: you from your situation. This is a core teaching and
Speaker 1: a core tenant not only from this pulpit, but it
Speaker 1: is the essence of the gospel. Is that God is
Speaker 1: more interested in delivering us on the inside, changing us
Speaker 1: on the inside, and rearranging our internal condition than he
Speaker 1: is about arranging our external affairs. This gospel is not
Speaker 1: popular to preach in an age that is so consumed
Speaker 1: with changing scenery. We are more concerned with the scenery
Speaker 1: than we are with our spirits. And Paul is teaching
Speaker 1: us a lesson. We'd be wise to listen to him.
Speaker 1: He says, I'm not out yet, but I'm free. I'm
Speaker 1: still right here in this cell physically, but spiritually, I'm
Speaker 1: free free from what, Free from pain, No, no, I'm hurting,
Speaker 1: Free from uncertainty, though I don't know what they're gonna
Speaker 1: do to me, free from Have you ever asked God
Speaker 1: to set you free from certain people and He keeps
Speaker 1: trying and you keep texting them back. So work with
Speaker 1: the Lord. That was a whole series right there, and
Speaker 1: Paul says, I'm free. Oh you're coming home. No, but
Speaker 1: I'm free. I'm I'm free, I'm I'm I'm free. Watch this.
Speaker 1: This is what I've been praying lately. I stopped praying
Speaker 1: God set me free from it, whatever it is. You
Speaker 1: know this imagination that if that got better, I would
Speaker 1: be better, Because sometimes that got better and I got worse.
Speaker 1: So I stopped praying God set me free from it,
Speaker 1: because sometimes God set me free from the situation, and
Speaker 1: I took myself into a new situation, and I took
Speaker 1: my same change from the last situation, the last relationship,
Speaker 1: into the new relationship. So lately I've been praying, and
Speaker 1: if you want to pray it me repeat after me.
Speaker 1: God set me free from me. If you don't get that,
Speaker 1: you haven't lived long enough, because you will get tired
Speaker 1: of yourself at some point, and you will get tired
Speaker 1: of making your own movies of which you are the
Speaker 1: star and everyone else is a prop and you will
Speaker 1: want something bigger in your life then how I feel
Speaker 1: in this moment. You want something bigger in your life
Speaker 1: then what I am earning. You will want something bigger
Speaker 1: in your life then status. And so Paul said, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm free, Not not the freedom that you can see,
Speaker 1: but i am I'm free from the invisible prison. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I'm free because I'm releasing some things. And Paul says,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm releasing myself from the prison of resentment. I'm
Speaker 1: releasing myself from the need to know the reason why
Speaker 1: everything is the way it is. I'm releasing myself. And
Speaker 1: it's really beautiful because he could have waited around to
Speaker 1: be set free by somebody else, but he decided, I'm
Speaker 1: going to use the keys that God has given me.
Speaker 1: So I've got my own keys called faith and trust
Speaker 1: and praise and gratitude, and so I don't need you
Speaker 1: to free me. I am setting people free from my
Speaker 1: need for them to validate me. I found freedom when
Speaker 1: I realized that I have all of the resources I
Speaker 1: need through the spirit of God. And it is through
Speaker 1: the provision of His spirit, pau. It's just an intro,
Speaker 1: but it's so good because Paul's saying, I'm not out,
Speaker 1: but I'm free. Nothing has changed in my situation, but
Speaker 1: I don't need my situation to change. God has changed me.
Speaker 1: And whom the Son sets free is free. Indeed, I
Speaker 1: stop screaming I'm just When you get free, it makes
Speaker 1: you want to holler when you get free. It makes
Speaker 1: you want to clap. When you get free, it makes
Speaker 1: you want to shout. It makes you want to throw
Speaker 1: off the change, shout up free. Look at the person
Speaker 1: next to you and say, free from what you think
Speaker 1: of me. I look mons and worship people to think
Speaker 1: I'm one of those weird Christians. I think it's kind
Speaker 1: of weird that somebody that didn't die for you would
Speaker 1: dictate the level of your faith, and that you would
Speaker 1: ever be ashamed of the Gospel when you claim to
Speaker 1: be free. If He set you free, we don't have
Speaker 1: long Take ten seconds and praise him like you're free.
Speaker 1: That's good. Six five, four three two one Philippius, Chapter one.
Speaker 1: Paul said, I'm free. I don't know whether I'll get
Speaker 1: out of this prison, but whether or not I get
Speaker 1: out of this prison is not the hinge on which
Speaker 1: my faith swings, because I made a decision to be free,
Speaker 1: free of bitterness, free of blame, real freedom, freedom that
Speaker 1: nobody can give you but Jesus, and freedom that nobody
Speaker 1: can take away. It's a different kind of freedom. It's
Speaker 1: not just the freedom to do whatever you want and
Speaker 1: say whatever you want that pretend freedom. It's a real freedom.
Speaker 1: It's a deep freedom. It's a freedom that I hope
Speaker 1: to experience more and more in my life. And I
Speaker 1: pray the same for you. Because Paul said, I want
Speaker 1: you to be free. Isn't it funny that he's he's
Speaker 1: praying for them, he's in prison, and he's the freest
Speaker 1: one of them all. Some of the least free people
Speaker 1: I ever met in my life had the most stuff,
Speaker 1: And Paul is so free at this point. He's free
Speaker 1: from the need to know what happens next. He's free.
Speaker 1: He's free. Wouldn't it be good to be free like that?
Speaker 1: And he sets himself free instead of waiting for someone
Speaker 1: else to And how he does it is kind of
Speaker 1: a cool I guess it's a psychological and theological lesson
Speaker 1: all at once. He does it by remembering, because if
Speaker 1: he dwells too much on what he's going through right now,
Speaker 1: it will cause him to lose hope. If he dwells
Speaker 1: too much on what's going to happen next, it'll cause
Speaker 1: him to be unstable, and he can't control that anyway.
Speaker 1: So listen, Blataney, He says, give me my camera. He says,
Speaker 1: I thank my God in every remembrance of you. This
Speaker 1: is Philippians chapter one, in every prayer with joy, and
Speaker 1: I thank him for your partnership in the Gospel from
Speaker 1: the first day until now. So he revisits in his
Speaker 1: mind a time, maybe thirty years earlier, that he began
Speaker 1: this work with these friends in Philippi and now he's
Speaker 1: writing them a letter about his current situation. But the
Speaker 1: way that he deals with his anxiety, how many of
Speaker 1: you are dealing with anxiety in your life, and you
Speaker 1: don't mind raising your hands so I can preach right
Speaker 1: to you. He remembers, He remembers, and he concludes something
Speaker 1: when he revisits his memory of God's faithfulness. Because there
Speaker 1: is a way of remembering the past that will paralyze
Speaker 1: the potential of today, but there is a way of
Speaker 1: remembering the past that can fuel your faith for tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Paul does the latter. He says, I thank my God
Speaker 1: every time I remember you and I remember your partnership.
Speaker 1: I'm not in this by myself, from the very first
Speaker 1: day until now. And I am confident of this that
Speaker 1: he who began a good work in you, who started it.
Speaker 1: That's what they used to say in middle school when
Speaker 1: there was a fight and you get dragged in the
Speaker 1: principal's office, and so we used to have a say.
Speaker 1: And I didn't start it, but I finished it. And
Speaker 1: so God does both. And when the devil starts picking
Speaker 1: on you, don't forget who started it. If God started
Speaker 1: a good work in you, guess what he's gonna do.
Speaker 1: He's gonna finish it. Now, you won't know all the
Speaker 1: details when it starts. But God is not like you,
Speaker 1: and so he knows the end from the beginning. God
Speaker 1: saw the last frame of the movie before he started
Speaker 1: casting or directing. So God reveals these things to us
Speaker 1: in reverse. It's like Abraham, I'm gonna bless the whole
Speaker 1: art through you. Okay, can you tell me how no
Speaker 1: go to the land. I will show you and the
Speaker 1: details will unfold as your obedience does. Yeah. And so
Speaker 1: Paul says, I remember how that started, and I know
Speaker 1: who started it. It was God because I wasn't even
Speaker 1: trying to get to Philippi. Actually, when I think about
Speaker 1: how I came to you, how we started, it was
Speaker 1: almost an accidental miracle. I call it that, knowing that
Speaker 1: nothing is an accident to God. But one day I'm
Speaker 1: going to preach, when I ever get the courage to
Speaker 1: do it, a whole sermon called miracles by mistake, just
Speaker 1: like what feels like the worst mistake of your life.
Speaker 1: And it was really God using human weakness to display
Speaker 1: divide strength. My young people know what's a love it?
Speaker 1: So Paul, he has like a faith flashback. David did
Speaker 1: the same thing. There's Goliath. He's big line was big,
Speaker 1: the bear was big. The bigger they come. So if
Speaker 1: the lion went and the bear went, Goliath is about
Speaker 1: to go. This is called a faith flashback, and Paul says,
Speaker 1: I remember I'm released in reverse. It's kind of weird.
Speaker 1: In order to go forward with faith, I got to
Speaker 1: remember how I went out preaching, and I went to
Speaker 1: the Jews first. But as I was preaching to the Jews,
Speaker 1: the Gentiles wanted to hear it too, and the message
Speaker 1: was too big because God told Abraham, I'll bless all
Speaker 1: people through you. And so God started using me to
Speaker 1: do what he said he would do, and he chose me.
Speaker 1: In fact, Acts nine calls Paul God's chosen vessel. We've
Speaker 1: been talking about choices. Always remember you didn't choose God.
Speaker 1: He chose you. And if he started it, he's the
Speaker 1: author and finisher of your faith. So I started preaching,
Speaker 1: went on a little tour, started some churches Galatia, went
Speaker 1: really all around. I wanted to take the gospel further,
Speaker 1: and when I got home, the people who should have
Speaker 1: been celebrating were suspicious. Because sometimes we don't like, when
Speaker 1: God doesn't meet our rules of who he's supposed to
Speaker 1: reach and who he's supposed to bless you were what
Speaker 1: the church you listen to? What you come on? Man,
Speaker 1: you can't you can't be a Christian. This is what
Speaker 1: they thought. You know, you have to keep the Sabbath,
Speaker 1: you have to be circumcised. Now let me tell you
Speaker 1: what that did. That shut down the men's ministry. And
Speaker 1: Paul was like, no, I don't think so. I think
Speaker 1: it's about the inside. I don't think it's about the outside.
Speaker 1: I think that's what Jesus came for. So we could
Speaker 1: stop fixing things up on the outside and smiling pretty
Speaker 1: like our life is, be interest and get real and
Speaker 1: come into the presence of God imperfect. I don't think
Speaker 1: it's really important what you wear or if you can
Speaker 1: say the right words. I don't think that matters. I
Speaker 1: don't think that's the priority. And so he just he
Speaker 1: shared the gospel freely, freely with everybody the grace of God.
Speaker 1: When we got home, had to have a little meeting
Speaker 1: to decide could the gentiles come in to the church.
Speaker 1: And it was a rowdy meeting, but ultimate they said,
Speaker 1: you know, we probably should just we probably should just
Speaker 1: go with God. Imagine that if God's doing something, we
Speaker 1: should probably stay out of his way. So go ahead, Paul.
Speaker 1: Not that we really like you anymore, but we're not
Speaker 1: going to stop you. So go preaching. Now. Paul leaves
Speaker 1: to go preach again, but this time he has an idea.
Speaker 1: He's like, I need to go check on the churches
Speaker 1: that I started and see how they're doing. I need
Speaker 1: to go back to some of the places where we
Speaker 1: planted a church and see if the seeds have become trees.
Speaker 1: I need to go strengthen people in the faith that
Speaker 1: begin and I want to see if they're still moving.
Speaker 1: I want to see if their choices are becoming habits
Speaker 1: are becoming automatic. Can bring me that, Yeah, yeah, so
Speaker 1: Paul perfect. Paul was like, oh, make sure there's no
Speaker 1: missing pieces. I want to make sure that what God
Speaker 1: started gets completed. Come here, Tyler, and so he goes
Speaker 1: on this preaching tour. Hashtag Strengthened the Saints, hashtag check
Speaker 1: check in on the church. Now you can't take Barnabas.
Speaker 1: Barnabas was the first Christian that liked Paul. Most of
Speaker 1: Christians didn't like Paul because Paul used to kill Christians.
Speaker 1: It's kind of hard to apply for a senior pastor
Speaker 1: job with that on your resume. Our guest speaker tonight, ah,
Speaker 1: you know. But Barnabas was like, nah, he's cool. And
Speaker 1: then Paul and Barnabas got in a fight about john Mark.
Speaker 1: Because it doesn't matter how delivered you get, you never
Speaker 1: fully get delivered from drama. How left the there was
Speaker 1: too much drama. What church are you going to join?
Speaker 1: Because the moment you joined that one, we'll have drama too. Anyway,
Speaker 1: So Paul goes preaching. Now I want to illustrate this
Speaker 1: to you, how the grace of God was unleashed, and
Speaker 1: really that's what the whole Book of Galatians is about.
Speaker 1: One of the places Paul went to check on. He
Speaker 1: went to Galatia and this this might be a little
Speaker 1: complicated for just like a normal sermon, but maybe you
Speaker 1: could study it on your own time. I try to
Speaker 1: put enough in these messages that you can take home
Speaker 1: some tupperware and then go back and visit things that
Speaker 1: you want to look more into. But Paul had an
Speaker 1: idea to go check on the churches, and God didn't
Speaker 1: tell him to do it. In fact, Paul, in this
Speaker 1: particular scenario, he's not so much being led by God
Speaker 1: to do it as he is being led by his
Speaker 1: burden to do it. And the only reason I point
Speaker 1: that out is because I think a lot of us
Speaker 1: think that God leading us looks like this, you know,
Speaker 1: and that's almost how we follow Christ, Like, okay, God,
Speaker 1: come on, Tyler, make the face. Okay, God, you're not
Speaker 1: making the face time, you look too happy? Okay. But
Speaker 1: actually it was more like this. Paul set out, go ahead,
Speaker 1: and God went with him. So that's a simple principle.
Speaker 1: Divine empowerment often awaits human initiative. And so Paul went
Speaker 1: out and he went to check on the churches and
Speaker 1: it was a very effective trip, a very effective preaching tour.
Speaker 1: He couldn't take Barnabas, so he took Silas, which is
Speaker 1: good because Silas liked to sing, and they needed to
Speaker 1: sing at midnight when everyone's chains were so tight, so
Speaker 1: that everyone's chains could come loose, because God will put
Speaker 1: in your life who you need for the season that
Speaker 1: you're in. Just because Barnabas left doesn't mean God did.
Speaker 1: So pick up Silas and hit the road, and Paul said,
Speaker 1: let's go. Let's go, and Acts sixteen four records what
Speaker 1: happened next. They traveled from town to town, and they
Speaker 1: told all the churches good news. We met with the
Speaker 1: Council of Jerusalem. You don't have to be circumcised, and
Speaker 1: all the men said so. So Paul's like, all right,
Speaker 1: put down your knives. We're not doing that anymore. Just
Speaker 1: here's what you do. Don't worship idols, don't eat food
Speaker 1: with the blood still in it, strangled animals, and you
Speaker 1: can come to the kingdom. And they went around delivering it.
Speaker 1: And what would happen next verse The churches were strengthened
Speaker 1: in the faith everywhere Paul went. God gave him the
Speaker 1: grace to go, and God gave him the evidence, and
Speaker 1: the church grew daily in numbers. And then verse six
Speaker 1: happens verse success. Paul and his companions traveled, let's go
Speaker 1: throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept
Speaker 1: by the devil from preaching the word in the province.
Speaker 1: Rick Parker, you signed upset. What's wrong? Did I mispronounce Phrygia? Rick?
Speaker 1: You can't wear a pink Floyd T shirt in church?
Speaker 1: What's wrong? With you, man, gentile, say the verse wrong,
Speaker 1: having been kept by the Oh, the Holy Spirit, having
Speaker 1: been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching. I understand
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit keeps me from doing certain things. Please
Speaker 1: don't look at me like you've never had the Holy
Speaker 1: Spirit have to restrain you. Please don't look at me
Speaker 1: like there's never been cusswords coming out of your mouth.
Speaker 1: And something that was God on the inside of you
Speaker 1: yanked him back yet and it was like swallowing down
Speaker 1: vomit to get it from coming out. It tasted bad.
Speaker 1: Graphic illustration. I understand the Holy Spirit kept kept me
Speaker 1: from going off, and I understand the Holy Spirit kept
Speaker 1: me from certain parties, But I didn't know the Holy
Speaker 1: Spirit would keep you from preaching having been kept. Isn't
Speaker 1: that a weird verse? You've heard this sermon? This is
Speaker 1: the third time you heard the sermon having been kept
Speaker 1: by the I want to blame the devil here, because
Speaker 1: everything that I want to happen in my life that
Speaker 1: doesn't happen, I give the devil credit for it. Every
Speaker 1: every dream that I have that doesn't come true, it's
Speaker 1: the devil. It's the devil. The devil is more popular
Speaker 1: than God. In most sermons, it's the devil. It's just
Speaker 1: a it's a but the but the devil and the
Speaker 1: Lord really spoke to me the last time I went
Speaker 1: down that that that that line of logic and and
Speaker 1: and the sense that I got is he was telling me,
Speaker 1: stop giving the devil credit for stuff I'm trying to
Speaker 1: do in your life, and particularly stop giving the devil
Speaker 1: credit for the moments where I hold you back. Because
Speaker 1: Paul was the most preacher that ever lived. There was
Speaker 1: nobody better to preach in Asia than Paul. And wat's
Speaker 1: what he says. He said, I wanted to do a
Speaker 1: good thing. My desire was right. It wasn't out of
Speaker 1: bad motives. I was trying to strengthen the church. I
Speaker 1: was trying to build people up in their faith. I
Speaker 1: was trying to do what I thought God told me
Speaker 1: to do. And I went to Galatia and God let me.
Speaker 1: And I went to Phrygia and God left me. But
Speaker 1: when I tried to go to the border of Mysia
Speaker 1: and Inner Bathnia, watch what says next, the spirit of
Speaker 1: Jesus would not allow them to What's up with God
Speaker 1: holding Paul back from preaching the gospel. Why would God
Speaker 1: send his son and not spare his son. And then
Speaker 1: Paul goes to try to preach, and God says no,
Speaker 1: So Jesus go into all the world and preach the gospel.
Speaker 1: Paul's like, okay, God says no, not there. I'm just
Speaker 1: trying to do what you told me to do. Try again,
Speaker 1: Maybe we can get in my sea. Go and my
Speaker 1: sea got to the border. No, and most of us
Speaker 1: right here, most of us would have gone back home
Speaker 1: because the moment that we make progress and then the
Speaker 1: progress stops. And I know your risk is starting to hurt,
Speaker 1: and there will be a reward in heaven and a
Speaker 1: crown with some big jewels in it when you get
Speaker 1: done with this sermon and an ice pack. But see,
Speaker 1: here's the thing about being a good parent. You really
Speaker 1: don't know what kind of parent you are until you
Speaker 1: have to tell your kid no. Yeah. True, Because I
Speaker 1: play this game with the kids, and I know it's terrible,
Speaker 1: but sometimes I ask them who would they choose to
Speaker 1: live with. It's just a game, you look so disturbed, sweetheart.
Speaker 1: Is just a game I'll never it's not realized. Yeah,
Speaker 1: It's just a terrible, evil game that I play with
Speaker 1: my kids. And I used to feel like it was
Speaker 1: a compliment when they said me, until I realized that
Speaker 1: the one they would choose to live with is usually
Speaker 1: the parent who doesn't know how to say no. And
Speaker 1: you say, God is a good, good father, So I
Speaker 1: like the song too, But is he still good when
Speaker 1: he says what every good parent has to say every
Speaker 1: once in a while. No, No, I'm not going to
Speaker 1: make it easier. No, I'm not going to bring them
Speaker 1: back into your life. No, I'm not going to take
Speaker 1: the thing away. See, Paul had experience with this, you understand,
Speaker 1: because he had something that he called a thorn in
Speaker 1: his flesh, something that he wanted God to take away
Speaker 1: because he thought I could be so much more effective
Speaker 1: if it wasn't for this thing that's holding me back.
Speaker 1: And we all have that thing, and so Paul asked
Speaker 1: God take it away, and God said no. And so
Speaker 1: Paul came back a second time and he said pretty please,
Speaker 1: and God said no. And he asked him a third
Speaker 1: time with a cherry on top, and God said no.
Speaker 1: The answer is still no. And this is my question,
Speaker 1: is he still good when the answer is still no?
Speaker 1: Or do you have a conditional faith that when God
Speaker 1: says no, you go home. That when it doesn't happen overnight,
Speaker 1: and that when you don't see results right away, not
Speaker 1: only do you quit the gym, but you quit church
Speaker 1: and you quit praying. And so we tried here and
Speaker 1: we tried there, and God said no. So I guess
Speaker 1: it must be God's will for us to go back home.
Speaker 1: But Paul didn't see it that way. Paul knew that
Speaker 1: just because God says no doesn't mean it's over. And
Speaker 1: I prophetically proclaim that over someone's life today. I don't
Speaker 1: know what no. You've been told by God, by life,
Speaker 1: by the doctor, by another person. I don't know what
Speaker 1: the no is, but I don't have to know what
Speaker 1: the no is. Here's what I know, because He who
Speaker 1: began a good work in you will be faithful to
Speaker 1: complete it. It's not over. It's not over, show him
Speaker 1: on the screen. It's not over. In fact, here's what
Speaker 1: I learned about God. Some times when he says no,
Speaker 1: is because there's a greater opportunity that I don't know
Speaker 1: about yet. And God is so good help me preach. Now.
Speaker 1: I'm closing the message, but this is for somebody who's
Speaker 1: been told no, and the pain hasn't gone away, and
Speaker 1: the memory hasn't gone away, and it hasn't gotten easier,
Speaker 1: and the seas haven't gotten smoother, and it doesn't seem
Speaker 1: to be changing in your situation. But God came to
Speaker 1: give you strength in your spirit. It's not over. Just
Speaker 1: because God said no doesn't mean he's left you alone.
Speaker 1: He is with you in the no, like he was
Speaker 1: with you in the yes. He's a good father. He
Speaker 1: knows what's on the other side of no. So don't
Speaker 1: go home. Don't go home just because God said no.
Speaker 1: Oh but I'm trying so hard. And I asked God,
Speaker 1: don't my e group leader. I guess, eh, I guess
Speaker 1: it wasn't meant to be. I guess it wasn't meant
Speaker 1: for me. Paul said, no, Let's go to Troe ass
Speaker 1: is that verse A. And when they went to a
Speaker 1: trow as they passed by my sea. That's where Paul
Speaker 1: wanted to go go ahead, and God wouldn't let him,
Speaker 1: so they had to pass by. Sometimes you have to
Speaker 1: pass by your plans to get to God's purpose. Gar
Speaker 1: me with spiritual ears. He passed by what he planned
Speaker 1: to get to what God purposed. So he passes by
Speaker 1: my sea see you, and goes to Troas, where he
Speaker 1: waits in confusion. But he's chained to grace, and he
Speaker 1: waits because he knows that if God says no, I
Speaker 1: won't remove it, the obstacle, the thorn, I will give
Speaker 1: you a grace that is greater, so that you can
Speaker 1: overcome it. It's a no, God, it's not over. It's
Speaker 1: a greater opportunity. Because while Paul was at Troass, not
Speaker 1: the place he planned, the place God purposed, he saw
Speaker 1: vision in the night. And this vision, it wasn't a
Speaker 1: vision of God. It was a vision of a man
Speaker 1: from Macedonia. And he was standing there begging Paul come
Speaker 1: over to Macedonia and help us. And God didn't show
Speaker 1: up looking like an angel. God showed up looking like
Speaker 1: a need. And God might be speaking to you about
Speaker 1: your next season in the context of the need that's
Speaker 1: standing right in front of you. It feels so deep
Speaker 1: for somebody man, because they're just about to go home.
Speaker 1: Just go home, it's over. That's what the enemy has
Speaker 1: been telling you. Just quit trying to be free, just
Speaker 1: quit trying. Just give it this just who you are. No,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm loved by God. That's who I am. And
Speaker 1: he's a good father. And if he says no, there's
Speaker 1: something that he knows that I don't know. And that's
Speaker 1: what makes him God. And that's why I worship him,
Speaker 1: and I serve him. He doesn't serve me. So Verse ten.
Speaker 1: After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready, Luke says,
Speaker 1: at once, and we left from Macedonia, concluding that God
Speaker 1: had called us to preach the Gospel to them. Eleven
Speaker 1: And from Troas, the place where we were uncertain, we
Speaker 1: put out the sea and sailed straight for some Othrus,
Speaker 1: and the next day we went to Neapolis, and from
Speaker 1: there we traveled to Philippi. I thank my God in
Speaker 1: every remembrance of you, in every prayer with joy for
Speaker 1: your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now.
Speaker 1: And we got to Philippi, the place we didn't plan for,
Speaker 1: but the place God wanted us to be all along. See,
Speaker 1: because Philippi was a Roman colony and the leading city
Speaker 1: of that district of Macedonia, and Philippi was the first
Speaker 1: place in Europe where Paul established a church. In fact,
Speaker 1: it was the first place in the Western world that
Speaker 1: Paul established a church, those of us in the western world.
Speaker 1: We are a part of a church that started because
Speaker 1: God told Paul no. And I just wonder today, what's
Speaker 1: on the other side of your no that you will
Speaker 1: miss if you go home because you're disappointed. If you
Speaker 1: receive God's yes with praise, why not receive his no
Speaker 1: with trust? I just want to minister men nowhere out
Speaker 1: of time. But people are frustrated and hurting and disappointed
Speaker 1: and been struggling with stuff for generations and generations. And
Speaker 1: you keep thinking that because it didn't turn out the
Speaker 1: way that you planned, that you must be outside of
Speaker 1: God's will. You're where you're supposed to be. You're who
Speaker 1: you're supposed to be. And it was Him all along.
Speaker 1: It was him and the yess, it was him in
Speaker 1: the nose. It was him on the mountaintop when you
Speaker 1: had it, when you were succeeding, when you felt it,
Speaker 1: And it's him in the valleys. He's the same God, yesterday,
Speaker 1: today and forever. And would you praise him right now
Speaker 1: for his purpose, that He who began a good work
Speaker 1: in you will be faithful to complete it. A given
Speaker 1: pray for the yes, given pray for the nose didn't
Speaker 1: pray for the light, didn't pray shut up, get a place,
Speaker 1: sir well. I hope you enjoyed the podcast today. If
Speaker 1: you did, there are just a couple things I'd love
Speaker 1: for you to do. Number One, subscribe to our show.
Speaker 1: That way, the most recent episode will always be in
Speaker 1: your feed, waiting for you ready when you are. And Secondly,
Speaker 1: if this ministry has impacted you and you'd like to
Speaker 1: help us continue to reach others, you can click the
Speaker 1: link in the description and you can give now and
Speaker 1: I'll see you next time on the Elevation Podcast.