WEBVTT - It Was A Good Fight (Larry Brey) 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:03.760 You didn't just buy a ticket. You such something in 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.480 motion just by being here tonight. Some of you bought 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:09.440 somebody else a ticket tonight, and it's going to change 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.319 their life to know that God loves them and has 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.319 not forsaken them, and He is for you and not 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:37.320 against you. Hey, my name's Larry Bribe, but everybody calls 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:40.120 me LB, one of the pastors here at Elevation, and 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:42.080 I get the joy of opening up God's word with 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:44.839 you today here at Elevation Show. So welcome all of 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:50.720 our locations online. Family. My wife and I were one 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:52.959 of the original families that helped start this church over 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:55.680 sixteen years ago, and it's been the biggest joy of 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.000 our life to see what God has done through this ministry. 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:00.200 And I just want to show you just a little bit, 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:02.800 just a visual. It's really good to look back and 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:06.120 remember God's faithfulness because in a moment you're like, well, God, 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:08.080 what are you gonna do? Just look back. What he 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:09.720 did in your past is probably what He's gonna do 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:12.880 in your future. He's been good to you, and we 0:01:12.920 --> 0:01:15.920 have so many new people here at Elevation, and I 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:17.760 just want to give you just a glimpse of maybe 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:19.600 some of the things that you might know about that 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:21.520 that God established in their past. So here at Valentine, 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:23.160 I'm gonna get everybody on the floor to help me. 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:26.720 Everybody else stays standing. All the locations stay standing by 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:31.280 everybody on the floor here, just take a seat. Elevation 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:33.720 began with eight families selling their homes and quitting their 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:36.720 jobs back in two thousand and five. My wife and 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:38.560 I were one of those original eight families. Just to 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.720 give you a point of reference, have the front row 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:44.400 stand up here, stand out and then one, two, three, four, five, 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:48.000 six you six stand up so right there. So February 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:52.320 tap on the shoulder. There you go. February two thousand 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:55.400 and five. This is the size of Elevation Church. Do 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:57.800 not despise the day of small beginnings. Look how good 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:06.360 our God is. A year later, a year later February 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:08.320 of two thousand and six, February fifth, we'd have our 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:12.240 very first worship experience at Elevation Church. Center section. It's 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:14.480 one hundred and twenty people stand up just the center 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:16.839 section right here now. We had one hundred and twenty 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:18.440 one that day, So jj I need you to stand 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:21.960 up as well. This was our very first church service 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.320 at Elevation Church. Look what God did one hundred and 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:32.560 twenty one people. So when I tell you we had 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:36.200 sixteen people, now we've got twenty physical locations at Elevation Church. 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:38.600 Isn't that crazy what God has done? When I show 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:40.800 you that one hundred and twenty one that first Sunday. 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.799 Now every weekend we have one hundred and forty nine 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:47.160 different countries logging into watch one of our worship services. 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:54.880 Isn't that amazing? Now? Take take the wide shot Balantine. 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:57.440 Everybody stand up on the floor. Now take the watch 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:00.720 up so everybody, what you see on the screens, this 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.119 represents the number of people that had been baptized this 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:09.800 year at Elevation Church. One thousand, five hundred and sixty 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:12.799 seven people. Come on once, you praise God for that. 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:22.080 That's amazing. Look at his son sixteen years. Maybe God's 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.120 been very good to our ministry. But also we wouldn't 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:27.360 be here today. We're not for our pastors, Pastor Stephen, 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:35.760 Pastor Holly Ferdick. And I've been following Pastor Stephen for 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:38.760 twenty years. I figured it out. I've listened to about 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.320 twenty five hundred different sermons or teachings. Or preachings over 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.120 that twenty years from Pastor Stephen, and he is annointed 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.800 on the stage here. There's not a better preacher on 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:50.560 the planet. He is a general in the army of God, 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:56.520 and he is speaking into this world. It's amazing. But 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:58.800 twenty years ago, when I was first getting to know him, 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:00.800 when my brother passed away from cancer, he was the 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:03.760 first one that called me. When I was getting ordained. 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:05.960 He was the one that came alongside me, put his 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:07.880 arm around and said, I see God's hand on your life. 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.680 When my wife and I went through miscarriage, he was 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:13.880 the first one that called and said, you're gonna be okay. 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.000 My dad passed away a couple of years ago, called 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:21.320 me every day just to check in on me. As 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:23.400 good as a preacher as he is, he's an even 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:27.159 better pastor. You're in a good house. You're in a 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:31.159 good place. Would you help me? Thank Pastor Stephen and Holly. 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:41.480 We love you, we honor you. I'm gonna give you 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:43.719 one versus scripture and then I'll let you sit down. 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:45.200 This is our verse for the day, and I pray 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:47.440 that God would use it in a mighty way. Two 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:52.080 Timothy Chapter four, Verse seven, it says I have fought 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:57.320 the good fight. I have finished the race. I have 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:03.000 kept the faith. The title for today's sermon it was, 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:06.320 it was, it was a good fight. Look at your neighbor. 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.200 Put your dukes up, say it was a good fight. 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:12.640 You could put some boxing gloves in the chat. You 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.600 guys can have a seat after you have threatened to 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:19.080 hurt somebody with violence. Thank you, Worship team. I love 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:22.279 a good fight. I'm a big MMA fan, you know 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:25.400 McGregor Diaz. I loved it one and two. I'm praying 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:28.440 for a trilogy. I would love the my generation. The 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:30.719 greatest boxing match of all time is hol of Field. 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.640 Evander Holafield and Mike Tyson won not two with the 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:37.560 ear thing. That wasn't so good. The best fight my 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:39.600 wife and I had, it was amazing. It was at 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.919 our one year anniversary. We'll celebrate twenty two years this year. Yeah, 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:48.599 my girl. At our one year anniversary, I made dinner, 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:50.599 I had music on. I am trying to score up 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:55.400 mortal merital points for marital blessings, and at dinner, I said, baby, 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:58.560 in a word, how would you describe our first year marriage? 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:03.200 She said, like flowers? It was like beautiful and before 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:04.719 I tell you and I said, please don't judge me. 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:08.200 I was young, I didn't know what I was doing. 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:10.360 Jane said, well how about you, how would you describe 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:14.680 it in a word? I said hard, Like she was 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:18.120 all being married to me is hard. I'm like, yeah, no, no, no, 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.080 that's not what I've meant. That was a good fight. 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:25.760 But when we read this text, I have fought the 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:27.880 good fight, I have finished the race. I've kept the faith. 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.920 It's really important that you understand the context in which 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:32.800 that's written. Whenever you study the Word of God, to 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.520 always study it in context. It's one thing of a 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:37.159 sixteen year old looks at you when you're in a 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:39.640 really difficult season, and that sixteen year old looks at 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:42.680 you and says, I know it's hard, but stand strong, 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.479 you can do it. You're gonna make it okay. It's 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:46.920 like my sixteen year old comes home and says, it 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.800 was a really hard day, work day. I'm like, yeah, yeah, 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:53.800 it was really real hard. Now, when a sixty one 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:58.360 year old looks at you, who's a military veteran who 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.800 spent time in prison of war camp, who's got all 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:06.159 the scars, looks at you, and says, I know it's hard, 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:12.040 but stand strong. You can do it. You're gonna make it. 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:14.280 Cares a little bit of weight there, doesn't it. So 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:16.640 as we read these words out of Tewod Timothy, we 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:18.360 need to understand the person who wrote it is a 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:21.720 guy named Paul. Paul is a super possible. He wrote 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:24.080 thirteen books of the New Testament. It's funny. In the 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.400 New Testament there's twenty seven books. All the other people 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:28.960 who wrote books in the New Testament, the names of 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.640 the books are written by the person who wrote them. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.240 you know first and second Peter, but Paul's. They're all 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:38.240 identified by who'd receive them. Otherwise we'd be reading thirteenth 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:41.720 Paul today. He wrote that many books of the Bible. 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.040 And when he writes this book of the Bible, you 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:46.920 need to understand context is who wrote it, who'd they 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:48.520 write it to? And then why did they write it? 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:54.280 Paul writes this to Timothy as protege he'd left in 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:57.400 charge of ephesis. Paul is in prison, and prison is 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.520 actually an understatement. He's in a dungeon at this point. 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:01.480 If you go to Rome, you could actually see the 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.000 place that's a hole in the ground that's sunken down there, 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.360 and it's a dungeon. That's where he's last spent the 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.960 last days of his life. So as he pens this 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:12.320 letter to his protege Timothy, he writes two books to him, 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:14.680 first Timothy, second to me. Second to me is the 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.320 last book he writes. And as he writes it, and 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.239 he writes these words, I have fought the good fight. 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.520 I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:28.800 He knows he's going to die. These are his last words, 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.280 and he writes his last letter to his favorite person. 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:34.000 And if you and I were at the end of 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:35.880 our life and we are coming to the last words 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.120 we would speak, who would we speak them to? What 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.720 would we tell them? There's something in the text that 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:45.440 speaks to us about the fight that you're facing today. 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.840 Because Paul wasn't just admonishing Timothy. He's speaking to us 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:51.439 in this moment today, and he's telling it was a 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.280 good fight. And Paul knew the difference between a good 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:56.640 fight and a bad fight. As he writes the Book 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.559 of Philippians, he writes that one in prison that's more 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:01.319 like an air. It wasn't a Dungeon. That was a 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.160 really nice place to be in prison. He writes that one, 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.880 and people are talking trash about him, and they're saying, well, 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.800 look at Paul. He's not annoying it. If he were, 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.800 he wouldn't be in prison. But they're preaching the right gospel. 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:16.160 Paul said, that's a bad fight. He said, false motives 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:18.280 are not in the gospels preached. I rejoice. I ain't 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:21.760 gonna fight that fight. But chapter three of Philippians, there's 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:23.960 some people that are judaizers that are telling all the 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:28.239 new Christians, hey, yes, follow Jesus, plus also get circumcised. 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:32.439 Paul comes on glooe. He calls them those evildoers, those mutilators, 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.560 those dogs. He says, that's a good fight. So we 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:37.800 need to understand the difference between in a good fight 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:41.040 and a bad fight, because if you don't know how 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.319 to differentiate, you fight everything, and some of you are 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:46.480 fighting everything, and you're fighting battles that God has never 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.600 told you to fight. So when he pens this letter 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.880 to Timothy, he says these words and Tewod Timothy two 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.240 twenty two. It's my probably one of my favorite verses. 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:59.439 Tewod Timothy two twenty two two two two two, He says, 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:03.200 flea the lustful desires of your youth. Some of you 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:05.600 are fighting the battle by continuing to go to your phone, 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.720 and you're getting defeated every time. And God is saying, 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:10.560 how about you just throw that thing away? Don't even 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:13.360 fight that one, stay away from that fight any worth it? 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:16.040 He then he says in verse twenty three, he says, 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:20.120 have nothing to do with foolish or stupid arguments, for 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:22.840 you know they lead to nothing but quarrels. Some of 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.280 you that needs to be your screensaver, some of you 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.480 that needs to be put on your computer. And the 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:29.400 next time you want to go to Facebook and you 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.160 want to post that because you know you're waiting for 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:33.120 a fight, and you know you're about to get into 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:36.520 an argument, May the word of God convict you? Bad fight? 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:41.839 Bad say bad fight? Why would you keep fighting that one? 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:43.559 So I love the way that Paula sets this up. 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.120 But the fight he's talking about here isn't people. It's 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:50.920 the fight of faith, because he says, I have kept 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:55.040 the faith, and the word he uses their fights fought 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:59.360 is It's in the original language. It says agonisomy. It's 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:04.160 not in the time restaurant Ago nees O Mine. There 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:07.240 was a TV show in the eighties, the ABC Wide 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:10.040 World of Sports. They would talk about the thrill of 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.680 victory and the agony. That's where we get a word 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.800 agony from Paul is giving you a lesson from the 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.120 battle he's facing that it's gonna have agony connected with it. 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:22.960 And this wasn't just something Paul realized at the end 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:25.520 of his life as he's sitting in a dungeon. It 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.480 was something he knew what happened him thirty years earlier 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:31.840 when he started following Jesus. It wasn't he got to 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:33.839 the destination like, oh, I'm glad I kept the faith. 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.200 He said, no, No, there is a race from the 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.839 moment he came to a relationship with Jesus and he said, 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.240 this is the race. It is to testify. It is 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.880 about faith in Jesus. That's the race. That's the fight. 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:48.600 It's the fight of faith. In fact, in Acts chapter twenty, 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.080 Paul says this. In verses twenty two to twenty four, 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:55.640 he says, and now, compelled by the spirit, I'm going 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.439 to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:02.079 I only know than in every city. The Holy Spirit 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:05.720 warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:09.600 I consider my life worth nothing compared nothing to me. 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:11.960 My only aim is to finish the race and complete 0:12:11.960 --> 0:12:15.600 the task the Lord Jesus has given me the task 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:20.840 of testifying to the good news of God's grace. You See, 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:24.839 a good fight does not need a good result, because 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:26.520 what he says there is I'm going to Jerusalem. I 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:28.439 don't know what's gonna happen to me there. It might 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:30.440 be good, it might be bad. But he goes, I 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.120 know what's gonna happen. I'm gonna face prison and hardships 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:36.480 in persecution along the way. So when Paul writes to Timothy, goes, 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:40.240 everybody who follows Jesus is going to suffer persecution. It's 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:43.960 going to happen. See, a good fight is about the 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:48.000 good news, because he says there the task of testifying 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.840 to the good news of God's grace. A good fight 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:54.480 is always connected to the good news. It's not about 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.640 a good outcome. But it begs us to ask the question, 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:00.520 what is your faith in? Is it in the good 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:03.959 news or is it in a good outcome? Because when 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:07.800 we start throwing around the word I got faith. Really, really, 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:09.800 what's your faith in? I got faith and my vikings 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:11.480 are gonna win the Super Bowl this year. I got 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:13.120 faith my knee is going to feel better, and I 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:15.040 got faith that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:20.720 Praise God, Heaven. And we we cheapen the word faith 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:26.679 by connecting it to infeariorr things. That's why I love Jesus, 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.200 he says. If anyone would follow me, he says, he 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:32.199 will hate his father and mother. He's not saying you'll 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:34.920 literally hate them. What he is saying, when you compare 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:36.680 the love you have for me, it will make everything 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:40.240 else look like hatred. May we make faith a top 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:45.080 shelf issue? Would you become so legalistic in your own 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.319 life that you would, really you would only let faith 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.520 be connected to Jesus Christ and the good news, not 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:55.240 a good outcome. Is my faith that God is with 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:56.680 me in the middle of it? Or is my faith 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:59.760 that I'll eventually get out of it? See? A good 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:01.920 is all about faith. What do you have faith in? 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:03.920 Let me ask it to you this way. If you 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:05.719 want to know what your faith is, look what you're 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:10.400 fighting for. If your faith is in your reputation, your 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.920 Lawy's been fighting for how you look. If your faith 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.280 is in your career, you'll fight by cutting corners to 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:20.360 get ahead. If your faith is in the political party, 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.920 well that's not good. Don't do that one. But what 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:27.360 I think Paul does, and I want to categorize there's 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:28.800 three fights I think that we can learn from the 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:30.920 life of Paul that I want to give you today 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.880 that are good fights. Say, good fight, You're going to 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.200 fight something in life. I want the Holy Spirit to 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.600 give you discernment. Is this a good fight? And so 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.480 the first fight is this is how you see Jesus. 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:46.720 Here's the fight is how can you go through a 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:48.840 bad situation and cling to the promise that God is 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:53.000 a good God. How can you go through something bad 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.240 and believe that He is still good? That's the fight 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:58.120 of faith. And some of you would get the gold 0:14:58.120 --> 0:14:59.760 star and a sticker because you've been to Bible camp. 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:05.080 Yay Jesus, you know. But is he a historical figure? 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.440 Is he a fairy tale? Is he a fictional character? 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:09.840 Is he a prophet? Is he a princh? Or is 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:11.840 he a savior? And Lord, I don't know. That's for 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:16.440 you to decide, how do you see Jesus. Here's the thing. 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.520 We were created in his image. In Bigo day he 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:22.800 made the male and female. He created us in his image. 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.000 But will shape God into the image of who we 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:30.840 think he should be? When you think about how you 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:34.640 see God? Does who God is shape the way you 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:38.040 see the world? Or does your experience with the world 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:41.640 shape how you see God? Because I'm talking about the lens. 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:45.400 This is the lens of faith. Here is Christ my lens. 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:47.560 That everything I see I see it through that lens. 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:49.600 Or is this the world? Then now I start to 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:51.080 put it on in Well, God, I guess you're not 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.960 good because this bad thing happened. That's the faith. That's 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:56.000 the fight of faith that's happening right now in your life. 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:58.280 And it's very insidious. You don't even know what's happening. 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:01.920 Because the word agonizoma I wasn't Paul talking about his 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:06.400 bad knees. It was the agony it was. But agonizem 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:12.120 I also suggests an antagonist, an adversary, an accuser that 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.840 wants to keep you from faith in God, because you 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:18.840 really don't have Rocky unless you got Ivan Drago, you 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.720 really don't have Rocky the hero unless you got somebody 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.280 who's a villain. And in the opening act of humanity, 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.240 the stage is set, Adam and Eve are in the 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:32.800 garden and the serpent steps into the scene. Question, can 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:34.800 you tell when the serpent steps into the scene of 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:41.840 your life? Are you aware when the advocate, the adversary, 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:44.960 the accuser steps into the scene of your life? And 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:47.640 this is the crazy part, because if you can't spot it, 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:52.440 you're setting yourself up to follow his script. Why didn't 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.920 Eve spot this serpent stepping into the scene Because God 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.960 created a bunch of snakes, and so if snake comes 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:03.440 along that he's crafty. We often think that he's like, uh, 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.359 he's shown up with a pitchfork and horns. No, he 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:08.760 doesn't show in up like that. He doesn't come in 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.480 kicking things over. He comes in asking questions, and he's 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.200 stepping into the scene of the story, and he's blending 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.399 in with the background of everything else. So before we 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.280 impugne the character of Eve, we need to realize we're 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:27.480 having conversations with snakes all the time, and he's crafty. 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.480 He's blending in because the Bible says and he's like 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:33.880 a roaring lion, raw it's easy to spot. Iful lion 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:43.080 rolls in. Sometimes the enemy the accuser, Hey, babe, hey, 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:45.840 that's how Sometimes they enter the scene of your life. 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:48.640 Sometimes it's it's just a dm that says what you're doing, 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:55.520 because they don't come in kicking stuff over. They come 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:59.680 in asking questions. Because if you can't spot the devils 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:01.840 step into your scene, there's a good chance you'll start 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:06.359 operating according to his script. Because he steps in and 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:10.320 he asks a question, did God really say? All he's 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.879 trying to do is to get a conversation going, and 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:14.920 what he's trying to do is to control the script. 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:19.600 He's trying to control the narrative. Did God really say, Oh, 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:22.720 come on, Eve, you won't certainly die. It goes from 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:26.160 asking a question to making a statement you won't die. 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:29.600 Then it goes down into making an indictment. All sin 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:31.720 casts a shadow of doubt on the character of God, 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:35.639 because what the enemy is trying to do is to 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:39.800 start at a very subtle shade of doubt that just 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:45.480 slowly gets you creeping into compromising your view of God. 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:50.240 And then you eat the apple. Can you identify with 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:54.600 the devil sneaking in and say, did God really say, oh, 0:18:54.600 --> 0:19:00.399 come on, she's nice. Oh it's not that bad. No 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:05.520 one will ever know everybody else is doing it. And 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:10.199 then when you do it, you dirty dog. We see 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:14.440 the script of the Evil One. Can you identify where 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:18.080 the devil has stepped into the scene and he's tried 0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:21.119 to get you to operate according to his script. But 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:25.439 what Eve failed to do. Jesus redeemed because as he 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.720 is out in the desert forty days of fasting, the 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.200 Evil One comes to him. He slithers into the scene 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:34.320 and he comes up to Jesus, who is hungry. He says, hey, 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:37.120 if you really got turn those rocks into bread, because 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:40.800 I know you're hungry, And Jesus says, it is written, 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:43.600 man does not live by bread alone, but every word 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:45.720 that comes from the mouth of God. Then he tempts 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:47.879 him again, if you really got to step off, and 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:49.960 he goes, no, no, it is written, don't put the 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:52.520 Lord your God to the tests. And it refuses him 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:55.840 each time, not by having a conversation, but by speaking truth. 0:19:56.640 --> 0:20:01.040 That's the difference. So when Paul he writes to Timothy, 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:04.199 he says this to him earlier and two Timothy he 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:06.680 says to me, he says Timothy. How you have known 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:09.240 the scriptures from infancy, which you are able to make 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:14.840 you wise for salvation through faith in Christ. Jesus, he 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:18.000 says to him. He says, all scripture is God breathed, 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:24.320 profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. All 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:26.680 scripture is God breathed. So when God wanted to make man, 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:28.840 he took dirt and he he breathed into it. When 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:30.199 he wanted to make the Word, he took it and 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.359 he he breathed into it. And this is different than 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:35.400 every other book you read, every other book you read. 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:37.240 This is the only book that reads you. It is 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:43.119 the living word of God. And he tells Timothy, Timothy, 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:46.600 I need your life immersed in this because when persecution 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.120 comes and the devil comes along, he's going to try 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:52.320 to get you operating according to his script or you 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:59.280 can operate according to the scriptures. So yes, it's easy 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:00.879 to get the gold star. Say yeah, I know who 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:07.879 Jesus is. It is written this persecution is relentless. It 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:10.119 is the seas on the shore of your life, the 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:12.679 relentless attack of the evil one who's always beating against 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:15.639 your boat, trying to sink you, but you can anchor 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:17.879 yourself in the word of God. Say no, it is 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:24.040 written all scripture is God Breathe profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:26.639 and training in righteousness. And that's what God wants to 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:34.439 do today. Did God really say? Because when persecution comes, 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:37.480 it's your faith that will sustain you. Because whatever your 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:41.679 faith is in, that's what you'll be fighting for. And 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:44.800 God will use persecution to refine your faith, or the 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:47.600 animal will use that same persecution to get you to 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:52.679 forfeit your faith. Persecution is not optional. The great pugilist 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:55.320 and theologian Mike Tyson said, everybody's got a plan until 0:21:55.320 --> 0:22:01.080 they get punched in the mouth. Fight number two is 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:06.680 how Jesus sees you. How Jesus sees you. The first 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:10.320 fight is how you see Jesus now. The second one 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:12.359 is how Jesus sees you. And I want to rewind 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:13.840