WEBVTT - 50/50 Faith 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:04.560 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.080 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:10.399 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.440 it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.200 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:19.560 How many are excited about this series that we're in. 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:25.800 The series is called Maybe God. The subject is his voice, 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:29.120 his will, his ways. How do I know if this 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.760 opportunity comes from the Lord? Now have a scripture for 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:33.760 you today that I think will be a great blessing 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:37.880 in your life. It's in First Samuel, chapter fourteen, verse 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:40.839 number six. The Bible says Jonathan said to his young 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:45.760 armor bearer, Come, let's go over to the outpost of 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:50.879 those uncircumcised men. He's talking trash about the Philistines. He 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:56.520 calls them a derogatory name. He's talking about their uncircumcision. Wow, 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.800 he must be fired up about something. He's a little belligerent. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.520 He's getting bold now again. Afford to wait around and 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:05.680 wait for something to happen from heaven when God has 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.200 already given him a certain power on the earth. So 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.000 he turns to who he has available at this point 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:13.480 and says, let's go. It's just me and you, but 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.399 touch somebody. Say let's go now. I want you to 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.200 me a favor. If you're the only one on your 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.960 row who praises God today during this sermon. I want 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:22.640 you to go and look at somebody next to you 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:26.480 and say, well, you go with me. Amen, he said, 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:30.640 let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:33.640 Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:37.240 hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:41.480 few in this third installment of Maybe God. My subject 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.600 in my lesson today is called fifty fifty faith. I 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:47.560 want to teach you on this principle that has been 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.360 so useful in my life as a leader, and it's 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:53.160 useful for me as a husband, as a dad, and 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:57.000 just as a man. Fifty fifty faith. I believe this 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.400 principle is going to set you free in some of 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:03.080 the areas where indecision has imprisoned you, and you've been 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.840 waiting around, and God is going to show you something 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:09.560 today by the power and virtue of His word and spirit, 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.120 that only He could show you about fifty fifty faith. 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:20.120 Praise the Lord I celebrated my thirty ninth birthday this week. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.960 Appreciate your pity. You know that last one with the 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:32.959 three in front of it. I'm owning it. I am 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:37.040 so owning turning forty. I am so owning these little 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.760 gray whiskers that are popping up. I'm not dying them 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:44.400 or anything like that. Uh huh. I'm gonna tell them 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.120 to get a close up on these gray these great 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:49.800 things on the camera. Just zoom right into the greyest 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.360 pat you can find in this beard. I'm proud of it. 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:54.679 I don't care what my kids say about it, and 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.120 when they tell me that my jokes are cringy and 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.760 stuff like that. One of my kids told me that 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:02.079 the other day, and I just asked him a question back. 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:04.080 He said, your jokes are so cringey. And I just 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:06.040 asked him a question. I said, how many people show 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:14.600 up to hear you speak? Since I'm so cringey conversational 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:20.160 parenting approach, you might want to try it sometime. But 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.040 one of the things I think keeps happening to me 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:24.680 and is really happening to me at this stage of 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:26.640 my ministry in life, because I have been doing this 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:30.160 as a pastor over thirteen years. Is that I feel 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.959 so good saying that it felt cool. I've been doing 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:37.360 this over thirteen years. That's a long time to do anything. Amen. 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:43.880 I've never been less certain and I've never been more confident, 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.440 all at the same time, all at the same time. 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.240 And it's a strange thing, how when you give up 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:56.720 your need for certainty you can gain a true confidence 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:01.320 that is independent of circumstance. Can I preach to somebody 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.600 today right here in this back left section of Valentine? 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:07.920 The passage that I read to you is one of 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:10.360 my favorites. If they were giving out an Academy Award 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.320 for best Old Testament Narrative Scripture, I would want to 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:18.360 nominate Jonathan is best Supporting Actor because he's not as 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:22.039 famous as David, but he's a pretty good example for me, 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:23.760 and it has helped me a lot. This passage has 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.720 helped me a lot through the years. Every couple of 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:29.120 years I preach it, and when I circle back to it, 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:31.839 I see a different dimension of faith. I see a 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:34.840 different dimension of the kind of confidence that we can 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:38.480 have in Christ and in his promises. But I also 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:41.440 see all of the uncertainty and self doubt that it 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.840 also entails and that my faith is not a formula, 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:47.960 and it can never be. The more I try to 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.400 make it into a formula, the less valuable it becomes 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:53.880 to me. When life challenges all of my presuppositions, and 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:57.440 all of my ideas about what kind of ways God 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.960 wants to work collapse under the weight of real life, 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.440 under the weight of real bills, under the weight of 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.559 real medical reports. And I need the kind of faith 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.160 that is not dependent on my presuppositions. I need the 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:12.760 kind of faith that can deal with some ambiguity. I 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.080 need a faith, like Richard Rre says, that can be 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.680 patient with mystery. I need a kind of faith that 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.560 is not dependent on my plans to prevail. I need 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:22.400 the kind of faith that can stand up against the 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:24.719 worst thing that happens. I need the kind of faith 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:29.680 that can shine when God goes dark, when I don't know, 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:31.840 when I can't say it, when I can't see it, 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:33.840 when I don't feel like I can make it. I 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:42.440 need a faith that can withstand these seasons. Now around 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:46.920 the verse that I read you is a little episode, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.479 and if you've been tracking with the series, I've used 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:53.919 a few different Old Testament passages from Judges and Samuel 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:58.599 to try to give us some sort of arc, or 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:03.159 to give us give us some kind of context for 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:08.280 the way that transition creates opportunity for us to trust God. 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:12.920 In this particular transition a negative one for the nation 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:18.080 of Israel. King Saul has really lost his way and 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:23.480 he's abdicated his leadership because of this. The Philistines who 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:26.760 would torment the Israelites all the way until the rule 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.200 of David, remember Sampson began to deliver them. That's last week. 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:32.080 And you need to go on and watch that message 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.359 about the parentheses and the pivot and how there's a 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.640 purpose even if I have to leave it blank right now, 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:40.040 God is going to do something in this empty space 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:42.760 in these parentheses. And I'm gonna put the parentheses there 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:44.800 and I'm gonna let God fill them because He's too 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.400 wise to make a mistake in my life. And that 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.640 message is online. It's on YouTube and Facebook and elevation 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:54.800 app and MySpace, and if they still had my Space, 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:56.920 we will put it up there. Roku all of it. 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:00.520 When when I was preaching that it talked about the 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:04.120 beginning of deliverance, are partial deliverance and the beginning of 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:07.680 deliverance happened through the judges. But now Saul the King 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.520 was unable to commit himself fully to the ways and 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.640 the will of the Lord, rather than to engage in 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.080 a relationship with the living God, he has begun to manipulate. 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.480 When he begins to manipulate and treat God as some 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.560 kind of mechanism to get what he wants when he 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.360 wants it, he loses that unique ability that we have 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.080 to hear the voice of God. When you lose the 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:30.120 ability to hear the voice of God, you waste energy, 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:34.880 you waste resources, you waste worry on situations that God 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.440 didn't even want you to give your attention to. So 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:41.000 that's why I need to hear his voice. Saul, having 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:45.040 lost that ability, is now surrounded by his enemies, so 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.440 much so that his people that he was responsible for 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:52.920 leading or hiding in rocks, in caves, in thickets. I 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:54.520 just wanted to put the word thickets in there, because 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:56.520 I don't get to use it on an everyday basis. 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.200 But we're all hiding in places. Sometimes we find ourselves 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:05.600 talked away in mindsets, in patterns, in isolation, away from people, 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:09.679 away from life, away from joy, away from risk, away 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:14.080 from opportunity. And this was the situation in Fir Samuel L. Fourteen. 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.800 Pick up verse twenty three from thirteen. Now a detachment 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:21.520 of Philistines had gone out to the pass at mcmash. 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.920 It's always helpful to point out that the enemy always 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:28.640 attacks you at the passages. He always attacks you at 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:32.520 the places of transition, from what you knew to what 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.680 you don't know, from where you were to where you're going. 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.480 And so when he can set up an ambush at 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.720 the passage, he can keep you from moving forward in 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:46.680 those transitional pivotal moments of your life. And then one 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:51.679 day somebody shout. One day, one day, Jonathan, son of 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:56.120 Saul said to his young armor bearer, come, let's go 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.200 over to the Philistine outpost on the other side. But 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:04.079 he did not hell his father. Be very careful who 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.320 you talk to about what God is doing inside of you. 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:13.920 Be very careful who you communicate with about the impressions 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.240 that God is stirring inside of you. If you talk 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:21.640 to the wrong people about the right idea, your idea 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.440 will die before it has the opportunity to conceive and 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:27.920 give birth to what God is doing in your life. 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:33.120 How many know I'm right about that. Saul was staying 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:35.640 on the outskirts of Gibea under a pomegranate tree, and 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:39.840 migrant with him were about six hundred men, among whom 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.079 was a Hijah who was wearing an ephod. He was 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:46.160 a son of Ichabod. He was a son of Ichabod's brother, 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:50.920 rather Ahita, son of Phineas, the son of Eli, the 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:55.360 lord's priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:59.640 had left. On each side that Jonathan intended to cross 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.800 to the Philistine outpost was a cliff. One was called Bozez, 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:09.559 and the other sinnat. Bozez means slippery, Sinnam means thorny. 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.640 Nobody told me it would be easy. God didn't promise 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:16.480 me that his will would be convenient. Quit thinking that 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:19.280 proof positive that you're in the will of God is 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:22.680 that it feels good to you. Quit thinking that proof 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:24.640 positive that you're in the will of God is that 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:28.600 everybody understands it. Quit thinking that proof positive that you're 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:30.800 in the will of God is that it just falls 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.120 into place. No, he had to go through a thorny place, 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.800 a slippery place, an uncomfortable place, an uncertain place. And 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.560 just because I'm in an uncertain place doesn't mean I 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:43.720 don't have a certain purpose. I'm gonna need somebody to 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:49.200 shout on that right there, right there, right there, touch somebody, 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:52.600 say I'm in his will. And one of the proofs 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.360 that you're in his will is that you are experiencing warfare. 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.480 It could be in terms of an internal resistance that 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:01.000 you feel, or even if some things are going crazy 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.920 in your life. And on each side was a challenge. 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:09.520 On each side was a challenge. One cliff stood to 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:13.679 the north toward Mickmash, the other to the south toward Gheba. 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.320 And Jonathan said to his young armor bearer, come let's 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:21.240 go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.040 the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.760 the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few. God, 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.400 I love your word. I'm gonna take a moment and 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:32.440 just talk to him about it. Thank you for putting 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.320 that one little word in your word. Not the one 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.320 where he said nothing can hinder the Lord, not the 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.840 one where he said, come let's go over, But that 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:45.400 one low word where he said perhaps because that word 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:50.439 gives me hope It gives me hope for my insecurity. 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:54.320 It gives me hope for my impossibilities and my uncertainty. 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.680 It gives me hope to know that sometimes, even in 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:02.200 the midst of making progress in my life, even in 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:05.079 the midst of obeying the revealed will of God, there 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:08.319 are going to be moments where one minute I have 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:12.360 great faith and the next moment I'm overcome by great fear. 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:19.319 But watch the Armor Bearer, he says back to Jonathan, 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.480 who had a crazy idea, do all that you have 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:27.920 in mind. Go ahead. I am with you heart and soul. 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.680 And Jonathan said, come on then, since you're talking like that, 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:34.240 come on then, since you want to do it too, 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.240 come on then, since you don't think I'm crazy for 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:40.839 wanting to move toward the enemy even though we're outnumbered, 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:43.679 come on then, since you don't have any more brain 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.959 cells or common sense than I do, come on, then, 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:50.800 sometimes you need somebody who will help you, even though 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:53.440 your plan sounds like a bad plan, to try to 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.120 find God in it, just so you don't stay stuck 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:02.320 in standing still. Come on, then, I like how he 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:04.120 talked to him. He's like, come on then, And then 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.240 the Armor Bear is like, go ahead then, and he's like, well, 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:08.720 come on then, and they're pumping each other up. They're 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:11.160 chest pumping each other, you know, and they don't have 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:14.080 anybody else because watch this, the people who should have 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:20.440 had faith have been overtaken by fear. Now, this is 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:22.959 the part of the passage that's going to give me 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.720 the contrast as we look at together two different ways 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.520 that we try to figure out God's will, and everyone 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:33.760 has a way that you try to figure out what 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:35.760 the will of God is, even if you don't call 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.120 it trying to figure out what the will of God is. 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:42.400 You have a way that you make decisions that you 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:45.960 hope will be most advantageous. You have a way that 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:49.360 you try to discertna wisdom, and you can't always get 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.880 it from a book, and you can't always get it 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.960 from a class, and you can't always get it. Here's 0:13:55.960 --> 0:14:00.720 what I figured out. We're all making it up as 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:07.840 we go. This part of my sermon is meant to 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:15.280 encourage you. All the people that are writing parenting books 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:20.560 about fifteen steps to raise a perfect kid, they left 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.200 out some footnotes, and the bottom line is they just 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.560 had good luck in the gene pool. Because God can 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.600 give you a kid that can make you question all 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:35.480 of your theories. I love my children. I'm just saying, 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:37.840 all of us as parents are making it up as 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.160 we go, all of us, all of us are trying 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.000 to figure out with each child, and they're all different. 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:47.280 I know Hollywood was faithful to me, but sometimes I'm like, 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:49.880 how could they all be so different if it was 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:53.520 just a common factor of me and you? But I 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:57.000 trust her, But sometimes they're so different, and I'm like, well, 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.480 you respond like this, and you respond like that, and 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:03.080 watch John Nathan's plan. This is the dumbest idea that 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:04.680 you can find in the Bible. The only one I 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.200 can think of as dumber is Moses stretching out his 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.960 stick over the Red Sea. That's pretty dumb. Or maybe 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:13.520 David throwing a rock at a giant who has a sword. 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:17.640 That's pretty dumb. Or maybe Jesus commanding the lunch from 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:19.720 a little boy in the crowd and trying to feed 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.480 fifteen thousand people with it. That's pretty dumb. Or maybe 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:25.880 Mary going to Joseph and saying I'm pregnant but it 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.480 wasn't another man, it was the Holy Spirit. That's pretty dumb. 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.040 Or maybe it was a widow going around borrowing jars 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:33.920 from her neighbors when she didn't have any oil and 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.320 thinking something with That's pretty now that I come to 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:38.640 think of it. A lot of the stuff that God 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:40.960 did in his word looked like a dumb decision to 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:49.720 the people while they were doing it. Listen, how dumb 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:55.520 this is. Listen, Listen, how stupid this strategy is. Somebody say, 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:58.960 bad idea? All right, come on, then we will cross 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:07.920 over toward them and let them see us. I thought 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:09.920 you were supposed to sneak up on somebody if you 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:14.600 wanted to kill him. But whatever, if they say to us, 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:16.920 I'll watch us. He's making this up because I want 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:19.840 you to notice one thing about this passage. God gives 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:23.440 Jonathan the victory, but God doesn't say a single word. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:29.119 The only people who speak in this passage are Jonathan, 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:35.240 his assistant, and his enemies. God doesn't say a word. 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:41.320 But Jonathan he makes up this this strategy. He's an innovator. 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.200 He's like, all right, my dad's under the tree by 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:49.400 the threshing floor, and the priest isn't doing anything, and 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:53.680 so let's go over and show ourselves and expose ourselves 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:58.400 to our enemies. And if they say, wait there until 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.320 we come up to you, we will stay where we 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.200 are and not go up to them. But if they 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:06.920 say come up to us, we will climb up, because 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:09.800 that will be our sign that the Lord has given 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:15.399 them into our hands. And just when it can't get 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.359 any dumber, Verse eleven, both of them showed themselves to 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:24.280 the Philistine outpost. Look, sat the Philistines. There's two of 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:29.080 them and dozens of us. The Hebrews are crawling out 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.040 of the holes they were hiding in. The men of 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.000 the outposts shouted to Jonathan and his armor bearer, come 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:37.119 up to us, and we'll teach you a lesson. So 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.199 Jonathan said to his armor bearer, climb up after me. 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:43.400 The Lord has given them into the hand of Israel. 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:45.679 How are you gonna speak in past tense about a 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.600 battle you hadn't even fought yet? Because I know something 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.719 that is greater than what I know with my mind. 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:57.320 I know with my faith. Faith is the substance of 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.560 things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seem 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:07.080 so way it gets dumber. Jonathan climbed up, using his 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:13.280 hands and feet. You know how vulnerable you are climbing 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:18.840 up something dorny or slippery, using your hands and feet, 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:25.880 quick thing just for you. I love y'all. Victory requires vulnerability. 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:34.439 Victory requires vulnerability in anything. You have to make yourself 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:38.520 vulnerable to experience a great relationship. You have to make 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:43.200 yourself vulnerable to step into a new dimension in your business. 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.119 You have to make yourself vulnerable to connect on any 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:48.520 meaningful level with the life that God has given you. 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:52.480 And so in this position of vulnerability, Jonathan prophesies a 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:56.359 great victory. I feel the Holy Spirit, And it says 0:18:56.400 --> 0:19:00.919 that his armor bearer was right behind him, and the 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.600 Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer followed and 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:09.159 killed behind him. In that first attack, Jonathan and his 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:13.840 armor bearer killed some twenty men in an area of 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.720 about half an acre, all because Jonathan turned to his 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:22.439 armor bearer and said, I got an idea, you know, 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:27.560 he said like that. But I'm at the place now 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:31.240 where I don't really think that the value is in 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:37.879 the idea. The value is in the courage to act 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:42.680 on the impulse. When I put it like that, you 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:44.960 got to realize how many people say things like this 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.600 every day. You know. I remember talking to somebody about Uber, 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:52.080 and they said, well, I could have thought of that. 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:59.280 You know, really, you think thinking of something is the 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:03.520 key to success. It's something anybody can think of something. 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:06.840 I mean today I was walking out the door and 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:11.639 Abby turned me into a dog because of my fuzzy 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.320 sweater and she said, you want your belly, Rob, Do 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:18.320 you want your belly? Rob? I licked her face and 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:20.399 I left and came to church to preach. That's what 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:24.480 dogs do. But she can think of stuff, I mean, 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.359 thinking of it. Holly's telling me now they got like 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:31.160 uber for photography. I really should find out the name 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:32.800 of this and see if I could get a sponsorship. 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:34.840 This message goes to a lot of people. But they 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:37.200 said that you can go on and get a photographer 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.280 anywhere in the world that you are, just like you 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:42.200 can get a car from Uber, and you can get 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:44.880 a photographer anywhere you are. If you're off with your 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:47.280 family and you want to get a family picture like 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:50.200 that so that you don't have to ask some random 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:54.600 stranger who apparently has never used a smartphone in their 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:56.800 life and doesn't know the tap to screen to make 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:58.960 it lighter, you can get a professional to come out 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.360 and capture the memory you know, and when she said, 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.240 I was like, why didn't I think of that? Well, 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:11.280 there's a lot more to it than thinking of it. Huh. 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:13.199 People call me all the time and they'll be like, 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:16.200 I heard this thing, there's a sermon in that somewhere, 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:23.440 and so to that, I'm like, where like just because 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:25.240 they could think of it? You know, I read this 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:27.680 headline you should preach about that. You suhoul to write 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:30.480 a song about that, and I'm like, you should shut 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:32.919 up until you can write one of your own. I 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.600 know you mean, well, but the hard part isn't thinking 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:39.479 of it. The hard part isn't thinking of it. And 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:42.360 this is why when they give you advice sometimes in marriage, 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:47.159 like be the first to say you're sorry. It's not 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:53.000 the thought that counts. Can I upset conventional wisdom for 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:56.800 a moment? One thing that was really really striking to 0:21:56.840 --> 0:22:00.679 me in the text was not what Jonathan did, but 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:03.679 what the people who should have been leading were doing 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.200 at the time when Jonathan had to act on something 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:12.600 that was partial and imperfect. When the Bible says that 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.080 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibea under a 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:20.199 pomegranate tree with six hundred men. I always skipped this 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:24.080 verse because the names were hard to pronounce. I was 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:27.600 preaching this passage when I was seventeen years old, and 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:29.960 I didn't know how to pronounce these names, and I 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:31.600 still don't. But then I figured out, you don't know 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:33.400 how to pronounce them either, So if I just say 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:38.480 it with enough confidence, we'll move on. But in skipping it, 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:42.280 I missed something that became very important to me about 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:47.560 the ephod. It says that the Lord's priest was wearing 0:22:48.200 --> 0:22:53.919 the ephod under the pomegranate tree. Now, the ethod was 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:56.920 more than just an article of clothing. It was an 0:22:57.040 --> 0:23:01.880 instrument for seeking the will of God. On the ephod, 0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:05.760 the high priest would wear a breastplate. On the breastplate 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:08.760 would be twelve stones with the names of the tribes 0:23:08.800 --> 0:23:13.720 of Israel, representing their special presence in the presence of God. 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:17.280 When he would wear the breastplate into the most holy 0:23:17.320 --> 0:23:20.479 place to make atonement for the sins of the people 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:23.560 so that they could be forgiven. Once a year, the 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:26.800 instruction was given to the priest about what to make 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:30.399 sure he kept close to his heart. It started with 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:34.160 Aaron in Exodus chapter twenty eight. If you could give 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:39.000 me this text that he will bear the names of 0:23:39.080 --> 0:23:43.480 the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastplate 0:23:43.920 --> 0:23:49.360 of decision. In the literal translation, it's the breastplate of judgment. 0:23:50.200 --> 0:23:53.200 It was what he wore when the judgment of God 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:57.919 was conferred on the sacrificial animal that took the sins 0:23:57.960 --> 0:24:01.040 of the people away from the camp. It was the 0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:04.480 breastplate of judgment. But here it has translated the breastplate 0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:07.320 of decision as a continual memorial for the Lord. And 0:24:07.359 --> 0:24:12.680 here's why. Next verse, please also put Urrem and Themim, 0:24:13.680 --> 0:24:18.240