Called To Be An Influencer – Part 3

0:00 We're going to get into the Word, the Bible, chapter 3 of Proverbs, and we are in our third part of this section, famous section of Scripture, verses 1 through 6. I'll read verse 1. You guys know the routine. If you'll pick it up in verse 2, and we'll get back into the way of wisdom, and here we are being called to be an influencer. What does all that mean? He says, My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands. Let not mercy and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. And so I'm favor and high esteem in the sight of God. Amen. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he shall correct your paths. Father, we pray today that you would be our strength both in giving the word of God out in this gathering and receiving it as students.

1:04 We pray, Father, that we would leave this building today. When the actual church leaves this physical building today, we thank you that this building is not the church. We are the church. and when you turn us loose today may we be a people that go out and affect and influence the world for Christ in such a way Lord God that it is worthy of these last days worthy of your gospel worthy of your near return worthy Father in the sense also that we've got the greatest message that this nation could ever hear within our hearts and Lord may we no longer be shy about it. Father we pray that you'd make us influencers filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Holy Spirit and speaking by the Holy Spirit the word of God.

1:58 We ask you Lord to do this please to your glory in Jesus name and all of God's people said Amen. You may be seated church and as we look to this call to be an influencer and you know by now as this is our third week in this particular message series that we're talking about being witnesses. Influencer, witness, you guys know by now it's all rooted in the word, the original Greek word martyr. To be a martyr is to be a witness or an influencer for the things of the kingdom of God. And you might say, well Jack, I don't know if I like that word martyr because wasn't Charlie Kirk recently martyred? Yes, he was. But the word martyr means we do not live to display ourselves. We are dead to us and we are alive to God. In that case, we are a perpetual martyr for the kingdom because it's all about Christ, not about us. Just as exactly as John the Baptist said, I must decrease as Christ increases.

3:01 and that is the ministry of all of us in the church and in Christian service. By the way, let me just add this right now. Lisa and I were discussing something this morning about, it was about a topic going on and this person was saying this, you know, the church, the parking, it's too difficult. We understand it's difficult. That's why we're building this big parking structure next door. Be patient. Well, you know what? the church and you know jack only wears a robe every so often he should wear it more often or you know or what about i'd like church only when there's a choir and it sounded like goldilocks thing you know the first church of goldilocks my i want this here and it was all of this stuff in each of the, listen, in each of the situations, the people that were critiquing the church when asked, so where's your community within the church? It's a big church. We get that.

4:09 But where's your community? What do you mean by that? Well, where do you serve where you are with a group of people that you know and love and you guys have potlucks together and you go out and have fun. Where do you serve? Oh, oh, I don't serve. Note that in each of the conditions, they had tremendous critique about the church and the carpet is still brown because it was the cheapest carpet we could find, to be honest with you. But notice that when questioned, they're not serving. The church is built by people who serve. But why do we serve? Each other, exactly, each other's a blessing, okay? But we do this for the Lord Jesus. Just as Lee shouted out a moment ago. It's all for Jesus.

5:03 It's not about us. And what Paul, well, I'm going to talk about Paul in a second, but being an influencer and being that martyr, it's not about what I can get out of it. It's about what I, as a believer, give to the body of Christ. What did John F. Kennedy say as president? Don't ask, and I'm going to flub it up, don't ask what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country. And that is great, by the way. That is how a nation ought to function. How much more the church. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, listen to what Paul the Apostle wrote to the church at Corinth. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 22, there he says, the Jews request a sign. The word Jews here refers to not the Jewish people. It refers to the Jewish religious leadership of the nation of Israel.

5:59 For the Jews request a sign. We want to see a miracle, and then we'll believe in Jesus. Do you remember when you read the Gospels, how often they came to Jesus and said, show us a sign. And Jesus would do a miracle, and they would walk away still in unbelief. Which, by the way, means, think about it. If you're here today, and you're saying, just show me a miracle, and then I'll believe. Apparently, that's not going to make you a believer. Somebody has wisely said, seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing. Believing opens up your eyes to understand. Apparently, a miracle can be done right in front of you, and it will not change a thing. The Jews request a sign. The Jewish leadership, they wanted a sign from Jesus. They wanted a sign from the apostles. Miracles were done. They still didn't believe. The Greeks, or the Gentiles, they seek after wisdom. We want intellect.

6:51 You can leave all that religious mumbo-jumbo to yourself. We want intellect. We want philosophy. We want amazing words. We want the enlightenment 365, seven days. We want more revelation. Give us more knowledge. Watch this. Paul says, but we, that's the church, preach Christ crucified. Wow, wait a minute. Crucified to the Jews, a stumbling block, and to the Greeks, foolishness. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ, be honest, is a massive, awesome, but massive display of a life being given up. Jesus didn't defend himself. He goes to the cross, doesn't open his mouth, lays himself down upon the cross, which by the way, he said in advance, he said, no one takes my life from me. I'm going to lay it down and I'm going to raise it up. He was in control, but he didn't publicly defend himself. And for that, some people have come to the conclusion that Jesus was weak. He was never weak. Jesus willed himself to be the atoning sacrifice for your sins and mine. And to be crucified, if you don't believe that, then Christ is a stumbling block. We want strength to deliver us. And Christ dies on the cross.

8:14 And to that, the Jews were ashamed. The leadership, that is. And the Greeks, it makes no sense because their leaders come in on mounted steeds with a grand army. Think of the Roman Empire. And that's how you establish something. And Christ comes along and not only fulfills Bible prophecy, but he comes and he lays himself down. And you say, what does this have to do with the book of Proverbs? Well, watch what he says here. Verse 24. But to those who are called, excuse me, called, excuse me, to those who are called, that's all who believe, both Jews and Greeks, born again believers, here it is. Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Can you say amen to that? Wow. You want power?

9:05 We want power. Jesus is the power. You want wisdom? We want wisdom. Jesus is the answer. He is the wisdom. He's the absolute answer. And of course, Jesus Christ, I love it to this day. To this day, you know this. There's no greater influencer in the history of mankind than Jesus Christ. In every culture of the world.

9:31 Remarkable. And yet there are still today people. I just heard the other day, Bill Maher. somebody mentioned Jesus Christ to Bill Maher and he said well you know we're not even sure if he ever lived Bill Maher's not dumb he's not a dumb guy but boy is he lacking wisdom he missed that one now in fact I think Jesus Christ his life is probably the most documented life in all of human history what do you know about George Washington we've got eyewitness accounts and we've got writings but you've never met him George Washington's never changed your life. But Jesus Christ, recorded by those who walked with him, recorded by those who hated him, recorded by those who could care less, the Roman Empire. Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, is recorded in the secular annals of Roman history.

10:28 And so you want to challenge yourself as to what it is that you believe, and are you walking in the wisdom of God? And so, very quick, verses 1 and 2, regarding the wisdom of God and you and I walking as influencers, we saw, remember that we are to look back at what God has done in our lives, verses 1 and 2. We start looking back at the good things that God has done in and for our lives. And during that first and second installment, and today as well, we remember that God's law, God's instruction is given to us that we might live life. God loves you and he tells you what to do and what not to do, not because he's an ogre or he somehow wants to quench your life. He's telling you, this is how you live. Turn left up there, turn right there, and then back up over here, because he wants you to live. He's not trying to quench your party.

11:22 He's trying to bless your life. And when we obey him and the instruction he gives us, it's a great, great blessing. And it leads to, ultimately in our lives, being influencers. And then we saw in our last study last week, we are to recognize what God's great plan is. And that's vitally important. We saw that when he says here in verse 3, let not mercy and truth forsake you and bind them. I love the intensity of this. Don't let mercy and truth get away from you. Bind them. Lay hold. Take a firm, strong grip. Bind them around your neck. Write them. Etch them. Emboss them on the tablet. of your heart. And the blessing comes. And so you'll find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. We left off right there at that very thing.

12:14 When we decide today, I'm going to follow not my will, but thy will be done, then you can expect God to live out his will in your life, a yielded vessel. In some of our homes or our garages, or maybe, do you guys have like a drawer like we have? Lisa's probably going to say, don't say that. But you know, in your garage, you have toolboxes and stuff like that. But I don't know about you, but our home had this. And then so when Lisa and I got married, I made sure that our home had one. And that is a drawer that has stuff in it. It's always a mystery, by the way. You open it up and there is, you name it. You could find anything in there. When you're bored, go to that drawer and look around. You'd be surprised what you might find. But in there is always seemingly some type of tool to get something done. Even if it's bubble gum. You can chew it and get that thing to stick in the wall. It's quite remarkable.

13:09 But what's amazing about all of this is the fact that God wants to use your life like any particular tool that can be used for anything. Even if today you think, well, I'm nothing in the kingdom of God. First of all, I hope by the end of this message you'll rethink that. Because maybe today you'll see that when you look at yourself and you see, and please hear me clearly, I'm not trying to puff you up to make you feel good. I'm trying to have you see yourself as Christ sees you. And here it is, a tool that can be used even from that drawer. Well, I'm nothing but a paperclip. Have you seen what we can do with a paperclip when we need to? I mean, we all become MacGyvers. We can pick the lock. We can make this thing happen. We can hold the world together with duct tape. And you look at yourself and you say, well, I'm a Christian and I'm going to go to heaven. But what about now? I'm just kind of waiting around. My thumbs are like this because I'm waiting to get to heaven. No, no, no. Don't sit around with your thumbs like that waiting to get to heaven. You need to realize that in that drawer you reside and God is saying, I want to use you as an influencer in the kingdom of God. And when you do that, your life is blessed because God's instructions lead to blessing and the blessing leads to you being an influencer in the lives of people that you meet.

14:34 Those that you live with, family members. You know, they're the hardest to win to Christ. And they should be the hardest because they know us. That's why it takes your family members so long to come to Christ if you're the only witness. It's not that your witness is failing, it's that they're waiting to see, is this really gonna work in his life? I've seen this before. Jesus says, imagine this, Jesus said this, a prophet has honor everywhere he goes except in his own home. And Jesus said that of himself.

15:07 Remarkable. and we also know that that obedience leads to that instruction, which leads to God's good influence upon our lives. Psalm 139, verse 17. Psalm 139, verse 17 says, How precious also are your thoughts. Think about that, church. To me.

15:31 How precious are your thoughts to me, O God. How great is the sum of them. If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand. And when I awake, I am still with you. We read that verse last week, and this is where we kick off from here. God's thoughts toward you, according to his word, is a precious thing, an encouraging thing. Romans chapter 8, verse 31, and you want to seize upon this for your life. You want to memorize this. What then shall we say to these things? Paul made this great list of the great things of life and adversity and challenges and blessings and difficulties and good moments of life. What then shall we say to these things? The word if there is in the English Bible, but in some of your margins of your notes, you'll see the Greek word. It's translated since.

16:23 I like since. Watch this. Since God is for us. That's the reality. Since God is for us, who can be against us? everybody listen up God has called you and he's instructing you so that you might enjoy his good hand to be a blessing to others but in a world that is hostile toward you and I in the midst of all of these things if God is for us since God is for us who can be against us and the first time I ever read that I'll never forget it I read that as a young believer and this is how I read it what then shall we say to these things? If or since God is for us, who can be against us? Get in line. Who? There's a lot of people against us. It doesn't mean that no one's going to be against us.

17:16 It means who can be against us with effect. If you stand for Jesus, those people are going to be against you. It's okay. It's completely fine. Why? Because Christ is for us. since God is for us, who can be against us? In other words, it doesn't matter if that line is 1,000 miles long or maybe it's that one husband or that one wife that's just eating you alive for being a Christian. Wednesday night, I met a family that made their journey here from Oregon and the husband gave up on the family. I can't take this Christianity anymore. I don't want anything to do with it. Left the family, left the kids, left the wife. and what did they do? They doubled down on Jesus. He took off. She's raising the kids, and they came down here during their summer break, and they came to church on Wednesday night.

18:13 Listen, that's how you handle adversity. If God is for them, who could be against them? It doesn't matter who's against us. Right now, the rise of Islam wants you and I dead. Wake up to the realities. Stop acting like it's not for real. It's for real, folks. it's for real just stop pulling the sheet over your head it's a global jihad it has begun and Christians are in the way if God is for us who can be against us it's absolutely thrilling and so with all of these things remember this the scripture tells us now granted it's promised first to the Jew in the book of Jeremiah but all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ, amen You guys awake? Okay. You know this one. For I know the thoughts that I thank toward you.

19:05 Make this your own, says the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil. To give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me. And I will listen to you. This is the word of God. And you will seek me and find me. When you search for me with all of your heart. If you make these few verses your life's marching orders, you'll do just fine. Pursue him. Seek after him. This is all the binding. And this is all the writing of the neck and of the heart of the word of God upon us. Is that it will transform your life. And if your life is seen by others as a life that is touched by God. Graced by God.

19:49 What a wonderful witness that is. And people will have to ask. Which I think is the best question of all for us to be asked. Is who's your God anyway? Why is your life like this? All these things are happening to all of us, but you are not succumbing. You're not rolled up in the corner, balled up in the corner in a fetal position, freaking out. What's with you? And that's your moment. That's my moment to tell them it's Jesus Christ, the word of God that causes me to stand. It's glorious. It's awesome. And so we saw in verse three, touched on it last time, about binding around your neck and writing them on the tablet of your heart. Look at Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs chapter 4 tells us this. Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23 to 27. Keep your heart.

20:43 So you bind these things around your neck. You write them on the tablet of your heart. How do you do this? You do that to do this. Keep your heart. Guard it. Watch over it. Listen, young people. Guard your heart with all diligence. For out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth. and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left. Remove your foot from evil. What a statement. By the way, these are the words of a father to a son. How much more should all of us in this day and age, we are 3,000 years removed from Solomon's day, this wisdom today, if it could be wiser, which it can't be, it's eternal, but if it's more needed today than ever before, I would say yes to that.

21:51 Look at that marching instructions to your son, to your daughter. This is what we need to do. This is applying, this is the writing, This is the binding of this great truths of God around us. And then verse 4 teaches us that we need to be going on into being that new person that God has created us to be. And I think that's enough in the recap. Number 3, we ended here. Verses 5 and 6, and it is this. Rest in what his good or his goodness is.

22:24 Verses 5 and 6. And the first thing we see here is that we are lived by his understanding. And he tells us, trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. So here comes the instruction. And instruction, obedience to this instruction equals life to us. In James chapter 1, verse 22. Watch this. But be doers of the word. Now listen. Should you memorize Bible? Yes. Should we read the Bible? Yes, should we study the Bible? All these are, you know this. This is yes. but if we are just consumers of the Bible If I say I've been going to church for years, maybe so much so that I could recite sermons.

23:26 Maybe you and I remember sermons that were delivered by this person or that person. You might know so much. Maybe collectively we might know so much. But as a church, what are we affecting? Maybe you know. Maybe I know so much. Listen, this is personal. but does my life affect the world that is around me? Do not raise your hand, please, friend, but if you say today, if I say today I'm a Christian, how I live my life, how you live your life, is it provable? Remember, I ended last week's message by saying, do we really believe the Lord? And we all, you know, yes, but then we worry about daily issues as though God's not faithful. But we're going to trust him for the big, remember I said this about the big day when we go lay our head down on the pillow to die. We're going to trust him to get our soul into eternity but we can't trust him to get us through this health thing or this financial thing or this relationship thing. We'll trust him on our deathbed but we can't trust him to rescue our marriage. Then my question is do we really trust them. We've gone to church every Sunday, but is that the reality that's coming out of us?

24:50 Is there evidence and proof? But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his face in a mirror, a natural face, his natural face in a mirror. He sees himself, verse 24, for he observes himself and goes away and he immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, the Bible, and continues in it is not a forgetful heir and is not a forgetful heir. That's key. But a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. And when you're blessed in what you do, it will cause others to be influenced for the glory of God. It's very encouraging. Very encouraging. I want to give you some verses. And in my notes, I have this written down here in the scripture in this verse 5 when it says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

25:50 That is that teaching by contrast. Trust in the Lord. Just make sure you don't lean on your own understanding. So the word lean, look at the meaning of this word lean. It's awesome. Self-assurance. to trust in your own abilities, self-supportive, self-centered. Folks, can I say, I'm just going to talk about myself. My dad, my mom worked hard to make sure that that was happening in my life as parents, meaning this, your mom and dad probably taught you, and I'm not knocking it, by the way, hear me out. Your mom and dad should have taught you to be self-assured, to trust in what you're doing to be self-supportive and self-centered in the sense of if something's going to happen, you're going to have to make it happen. We've all heard this kind of talk before. It works in the world.

26:45 Look, if you're going to hire somebody, you want somebody who's self-motivated. And they're going to have reason for why they want to do a good job. Maybe it's money. Maybe it's a promotion. Maybe it's... It doesn't matter. They are driven. Are you hearing me, everybody? Why are you so quiet? Okay, are you hearing me? They are, they have their reasons. Some of you, look, some of you don't want to hear a word from the boss. Not a word. Just give me more money. No, seriously. If I'm doing a good job, I don't care if you tell me if I'm doing a good job or not. I know I'm doing a good job by my output. Just give me more money. I'm not here to be your friend. I'm here to pay my bills. And so you work at your job. Some people don't care about the money. Some people thrive on getting the good report on the review.

27:38 When I worked in, I've only had two career jobs, construction and then 13 years at Baxter Healthcare in Newport Beach. I didn't care if somebody said, you did a great job on that project last week. I don't care what you think about that. I just don't care. I've never been wired that way. I want to see the words you just told me, Mr. Manager. I want to see it reflected in my raise when my review comes up. I'm sorry, but that's me practical. In the world, that's how we function. In the church, with Christ, we are not to be self-centered. We are not to be self-motivated. Please understand that. The best description is this. Regarding our trust in God and our relationship with one another, from my eyes, out from my eyes, from this head, my eyeballs should see you, and you should be the target of my affection, of my Christian love, compassion, and care.

28:49 Because I believe God will take care of me. Does this make sense? It should make sense to you. The world doesn't teach us to think like this. It can't. When Christ comes in, his kingdom is uppermost, and you are those within his kingdom, and I'm to serve you. But look, your eyes look out just like mine to others as well. In other words, each and every one of us live for the interest and the welfare of the other one around us, and we're all super blessed and influenced by one another's walk. This is Christianity. Somebody said, I forget who it was, but they were critiquing. It was a Roman emperor, and he was critiquing Christianity, and he said, they're all about others. He was shocked. They are all about others. Because all the gods of the Roman Empire were all about self.

29:44 Isn't it amazing? It's truly amazing. They will know us, Jesus said, by our love, one for another. and so in my notes I wrote down to lean or not to lean that is the question numbers chapter 23 verse 19 numbers 23 19 says God is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he would he should repent has he said and will he not do or has he spoken and will he not make it good what God says God will do do you believe that what God says he's going to do it We don't understand it. Sometimes we don't see it happening, but he will keep his word. Next verse. There'll be three verses in total, passages in total. Matthew 5, verse 17 and 18. Do not think that I came to, Jesus is speaking. Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I should stop right here.

30:40 Jesus said this. Do not think I came to destroy the law or the prophets. translation. Jesus said, don't think I've come to contradict or not fulfill the entire Old Testament. Why do I say this? I hope most of you are beautifully ignorant about this, but there might be one person here that is not, where there's a group that call themselves Christians. They will not read the Old Testament because they said it has no bearing. It's worthless. list. You don't need to read it. All you need to do, listen, only read the words of Jesus. You don't even need to read Paul. You don't need to read anybody but the words of Jesus. Really. In fact, they use that, by the way, as Christians to justify particular sins that they practice, and they say Jesus never said anything about it. Now you know who I'm talking about. Jesus said, I didn't come to destroy the prophets or the law.

31:44 Are you kidding me? I came to fulfill it. Wow. So the next time somebody in this modern age tells you, well, you know, Jesus didn't talk about that. Oh, yes, he did. He said everything about the law and everything about the prophets, I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one yacht, one tittle, one comma, one hyphen of the Hebrew language will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. He's saying not only will every word be fulfilled, but I'm going to fulfill even the little commas. Wow, the exactness of God's word.

32:28 It's no wonder why I don't want to now lean on my own understanding. I have none compared to him. and what understanding I have it's dim as we saw last week dark at best and then 2 Timothy 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 12 says Paul the apostle says I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day understanding this that in all of life and your life, my life right here, right now I know this though I may not understand everything God does and I lean in upon him. I do not trust in my own heart. I lean upon him because I have been persuaded. And here's the beautiful thing, Christian. Have you been persuaded or are you being persuaded? You wanna be able to come to that place to be able to say like Paul, I've been persuaded in whom I've believed.

33:26 He has come through for me time and time again. He'll never abandon me. He'll never let me go. He'll never forsake me. He's consistent. He's constant. He's not a man that he should lie. What he says, he will fulfill. amazing and then look at the latter end of verse or I should say the front end of verse 6 we want to seek him for everything we want to seek him for everything it says in verse 6 in all your ways acknowledge him and so here's the call to obedience this is the instruction follow me God is saying in this acknowledge me acknowledge me in all of your ways consult me first so I wrote there in my notes you can see that if you have them on page 7 it says in everything of life in every way of life in all ways so does that mean that does that mean that God is concerned in the little tiny things absolutely By the way, we say they're little tiny things.

34:38 I think some of the tiniest things are the most important things. I mean, let's be honest. The most important stuff going in and around our lives is the stuff we cannot see. And we're not talking about spiritual stuff. That's Wednesday night. Last Wednesday night, we started on a series on entering into the dark realm, unveiling Satan's tricks and tactics against us. and I told Matt this morning I said I don't know if I should have started that series last week because ever since I started it the wheels are coming off the chariot so to speak you know you wake up sick you wake up blind you wake up so I don't know it's like wait a minute but then it's like whoa what's going on it's good news I said last Wednesday night when we study the tactics of the enemy and reveal his secrets Satan doesn't want that stuff known and if he attacks, that's a good day.

35:34 Number one, he's confirming the word of God with his backhanded way. Isn't that weird? But also this, greater is the power of God that lives within us than the power of the demonic world that is out there that without God's hand upon us has no strength over us. God's power leads us. But I love the fact that we are to experience his leading, his guiding, in our lives this way. When he invites us, it is the God of the Bible who is saying to you today, friend, right now, you grab this and go with it. In all of your ways, acknowledge me. So watch this. Do you have decisions that are before you? Do you have to, is a date coming down the calendar like a train? That date keeps arriving. Like, I talked to some high schooler kids the other day because I haven't had enough coffee.

36:32 What's the test? The tests are coming tomorrow. SATs come tomorrow. Yes, all of this. And they're nervous. What is it in your life? Is it a job thing? Is it a decision that you have to make? Here's the danger.

36:52 I'm going to sample the wind. I'm going to lick my finger and hold it up into the sky nice and high and figure out which way the wind is blowing. No, no, no, no, don't do that. Well, I'm gonna consult with all of my friends, even Christian friends. I'll talk to all of my Christian friends. Listen, it's nice, there's wisdom in a multitude of counselors, but it doesn't mean that what they say is what you do. Listen, Galatians chapter one, read it for yourself, started about verse 13. Paul the apostle said that when he was called by God, He did not confirm it with flesh and blood, but he immediately went into the wilderness of Arabia and sought the Lord.

37:34 Friend, don't do anything without confirmation from God. Let him guide you. In all your ways, acknowledge him. Let's look at the word ways and the words acknowledge. knowledge in all of your ways, to aim with your foot. Is that not true? Come on, that is so simple. But here's the point. Is not our great and infinite God involved in your minute little step? Totally.

38:09 And note this. I forget who said this. Lao? Lao Tzu? Who's the guy that said? Did Sun Tzu say this? The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step? Or was it? Whatever. Doesn't matter what his name is. Some Chinese guy said. A thousand mile journey begins with one step. But here's the thing. You're not on the journey unless your foot's in the right direction.

38:49 If you're supposed to go that way and your foot is facing this way, you're not going to make it. You have not started the journey. Watch, listen. You can go all this way, but your journey is supposed to go this way. How many people come to Christ, they get saved, but they dilly-dally around. And they're like the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness. They've been a Christian for 40 years, but they don't have 40 years experience. They're 40 years as a Christian with one year experience. They're little, old, and wrinkly with no experience. They're 40 years old with one year experience because they just chase their tail in the wilderness because they're still leaning upon their own understanding. And in all their ways, they did not acknowledge him. Better yet, listen, acknowledge him in all of your ways, starting today, no matter who you are today, young believer, middle, old, I say old, I'm talking time, not age.

39:49 Start now today. Every single one of us as a church, we determine this. I'm gonna acknowledge him in all my ways. I'm gonna start going in that direction right here, right now. And let me tell you, I've seen this. I know you've seen this. We've watched predominantly women say, I wish my husband would come to Christ. That's usually by far how it goes. My husband needs the Lord. I wish he would come to Christ. And then she's done all the Bible studies. She's got books. She's piled up. She's got lexicons. She's doing the Greek and the Hebrew meaning of the words. Are you hearing what I'm saying? And then her husband gets saved. And that dude blows by her at about a thousand miles an hour. And in five years or in five months, the guy has consumed so much Bible that she's standing like this feeling like she didn't even learn a thing. And you know what? They love it. You want to know why? Because finally, this guy got his act together, came to Christ, and his feet were pointed in the right direction. And God honors the leadership of a man. I'm not being sexist here in this. I'm being biblical. In Christ, we're all equal. But listen, according to the Bible, God has called the man to lead the home.

41:06 But listen, when a man doesn't lead the home, the home's going to be a disaster. And the wife's got to pick up the parts that she shouldn't have to carry. She's trying to walk directly on that journey with their foot pointing straight toward it. And the man's goofing off. He's doing circles in the backyard. a bunch of question marks appearing over his head. But when he gets his life right with God, God seems to take a man and put rocket fuel on him when they get right. And I think that's the mercy of God, by the way, for the poor woman. I mean, the man wakes up and steps up and gets going. What a beautiful thing that is. And so that word, let's go back to the word, because I got all excited and I left off to aim with your foot, to walk toward the desired end. Ooh, I like that.

41:59 Hey, look, I want to go to heaven. That's the direction my feet are pointing. To walk directly to or towards the finish or end point. Heaven to finish the journey or journeys of life. To finish well. Where are you going? Don't answer, but where are you going? what direction are you heading where will you be in 10 years if Christ doesn't come back where will you be in 5 years where are you going in the world we have no problem answering that question the world demands it of us it could be a corporation that demands it it could be a university that demands it it could be a high school you're in the 9th grade now and we have a pretty good idea that you're going to be in the 12th grade 4 years from now at least that I think that's how California math still works. you'll be the same person, but you'll be much more equipped for life.

42:58 The world does that. Why not we as believers? In fact, honestly, we're going to heaven. It's going to be our forever home. I think we should talk about heaven more. I think we should imagine more about heaven. I think we should dream about it more. I think we should just absolutely encourage one another more about heaven. It's where we're going. You ever been on a trip? You ever get a brochure? You ever get a brochure? Oh, you want to go on a vacation next year? Where do you want to go? Let's get a brochure. And you go to AAA and you get a little map or you go online and you have Viking River Cruise send you a brochure to find out that you can't even afford the brochure. Why do you do that? Because you want to know about the trip. And if you sign up to go, you start getting, you know, what kind of weather at that time of the year? And what should I wear?

43:52 And we need to start packing. We're six months away. We need to start packing now. If we're like that in life, why can't we be like that as Christians about heaven? Start packing. Get dressed. Heaven's coming. We're going there. Are your feet pointing in the direction of heaven? What a thrilling thought. And then acknowledge. What an amazing word to acknowledge. Get a load of this. I love this word. We're going to read a verse or two on this one. It's the Hebrew word yada. Just the word yada is beautiful. Doesn't it sound great? Yada.

44:26 Yada. Hey, what are you doing over there? Yada. Isn't it great? It's a great word. Listen, it means to know or to find God by discovery. To find God wherever you're at. The word yada means to discover the presence of God in the very place where you are. Wow, really? Oh, yeah. In fact, that's one of the great themes of the Bible, isn't it? From Genesis to Revelation, you read about men and women of God thinking that they're all alone finding God right in the middle of their situation.

45:07 In sitting, in working, in leisure, in walking, in being or existing. Yadah. This is going to matter to you here in a moment. It's precious. Psalm 46, verse 10. Be still and yadah that I am God. be still and discover that I am God right in the middle of the situation you're in be still and discover that I'm here wherever you go. You know, wherever you go, God's there before you get there, and he's with you as you're going there. He's God. You can't be somewhere that he's not. Didn't Jonah have that dumb idea? Didn't Jonah say, that's it. I'd rather die than obey God.

46:02 God said to go east, I'm going to go west. And he goes down, he gets a ticket and gets on a boat, sails to Tarshish. God knows this. This big great storm comes sent from God. God sends the storm. Jonas tells the guys, listen, this big storm is because of me.

46:25 I'm not obeying God. And they're like, what God do you worship? He's the one and only God. You guys, don't worry about it. Your God just can't do anything. My God's so powerful. He's handling this storm. And they're like freaking out. And he says, just throw me over. Jonah, I'd rather commit suicide than obey God. This is a prophet of God in the Bible. I'd rather commit suicide. Just throw me over. It'd be fine. So they said, all right.

46:58 Look, you want to kill yourself, that's your business. But we have family to sail back home to. and, you know, may the luck of the Lord be with you. Because they throw him overboard. And the Bible says, because yada. Can you imagine Jonah? All right, that's it. I'm just going to sink down to the bottom. And he might, look, he hit that water. It couldn't have been long. We're talking seconds. The Bible says, God prepared a great fish. Sorry, Sunday school class. It wasn't a whale. the Hebrew word for whale it's not the word that's used there it's fish what kind of fish? I don't know and you can't catch it God prepared a great fish and it swallowed him. Which, by the way, it's happened in history before. There are people who have been swallowed by fish and spit up.

47:53 Go look it up. In fact, there was a guy back in the 1890s, I think it was, that was paraded around and the billing in the circus was the modern day Jonah. Listen, the fish swallowed Jonah. Jonah's like, this is good, this is good. Okay, so I'm not going to drown. I'm getting eaten by fish. Anything but obey God. The problem was, God was in the storm. God was on the boat. God was in the water. God was inside the fish. Jonah's in the fish, and God speaks to him. that's amazing. Where are you? Where are you? Think about it. Where are you? Are you in jail? God's in jail. Are you lost at sea? God's there, except he's not lost. Where are you?

48:45 He's there. And the Bible says to not only be aware that he's in every way that we invite him into being there. look, God is so good, when you do not acknowledge him, he'll get your attention, which means he's still there too. My lack of acknowledging God doesn't remove him from his sovereignty. God's omniscience, he's all present God. I may be disobeying him, but if I'm a child of God, the road might be rough. That journey that starts with a thousand, that journey of a thousand steps begins with one step. It may be a rough road. Friends, the path may have a lot of stones and briars on it. It doesn't mean that God's not in it. But things get much smoother when I follow him.

49:36 It didn't have to be the way it was for Jonah, but he made it that way. Here's another one. Are you guys still okay with this? 1 Kings chapter 19. 1 Kings 19. Elijah you ought to read about him he's amazing in fact the Bible says that he has desires and thoughts and feelings just like you and I sometimes we have a tendency to elevate God's saints to the point where we can't relate to them Then he, God, said, Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke rocks in pieces before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake.

50:31 But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire. but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice. So it was when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave because he was hiding from Jezebel, remember? The great man of God. He's terrified because a woman was going to kill him.

51:02 He stood in the entrance of the cave and suddenly a voice came. well what do we know about the voice? It's still and it's small. Doesn't sound like fire, doesn't sound like the wind, the voice doesn't sound like an earthquake. It's a still small voice. A voice came to him and said, what are you doing here? Elijah, I love how God talks.

51:26 Earthquake, fire, wind, rocks breaking open. Elijah's standing there in the door of the cave and he's terrified because the woman might kill him. And this voice, the voice of God says, what are you doing? What are you doing here? Here's the amazing thing about that. God was there. God was there Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and he will direct your paths.

52:02 Verse 6 ends this way. Follow him as he leads the way. He shall direct your paths. Here comes the blessing. To direct. The Hebrew word here in Proverbs is this. To be made smooth.

52:24 Straight. Right. agreeable, level, balanced, to be in alignment with God being your director. Think about it. Smooth by that, I'm sure that the word doesn't mean an easy life. Life's tough, period.

52:46 It's been my experience, and this is just one reporter reporting. Take this with a grain of salt. This is just my experience. I wouldn't argue so much about how smooth the path has been over life since accepting Christ but I will argue to the death as to how certain and sure the direction of that path is I don't understand some things I don't understand, you know what I don't understand? I don't understand why the construction site here right now going on disrupted a little family of possum and one little possum terrified. on such a hot day, and he gets scooped up, and I told the guy, bring him to my house.

53:36 Bring him to my house. He gets to my house. He's in the bushes. He's all happy. It's all wonderful, and I go back to studying, and he's hiding in a bush somewhere doing what little baby possums do, and then later that night, he comes out, and he's eating some cat food that's out there because they love cat food. And then the skunks came and they tried to beat him up and so he was kind of hiding over there and he's just so cute, little tiny possum. And he got all excited and was making all kinds of little jumpy moves and he's like happy.

54:15 And in the morning I wake up and that little possum had drowned in our pool. Hear the sound you just made? That's exactly the sound of my heart when I said, God, what's up with this? Now, I'm telling you right now, you guys, look, for those of you who are visiting, when I shared these things, now you know this is not the church for you to come back to. This guy's crazy. I said, Lord. what?

54:46 He loses his home at a church. I mean, I'm really laying it on the Lord. He loses his family at church. He comes to the pastor's house. And I'm doing everything I can to cater to this little guy. In our backyard, there's no stranger to crazy animals all the time. I know what I'm doing. God, I know what I'm doing. I've done this before.

55:21 Now, Lord, listen, I'm leaning on my own understanding now. I know how to do this. But Lord, you let him fall in the pool. How does this work? Think about it in your life. Why is it that a precious young woman in our lives, she's very much a daughter of mine?

55:49 Why, I didn't say it was my daughter, so don't start writing and posting things. This family and this young woman, since her birth, she's been a daughter to us. Why did she miscarry yesterday her first child?

56:09 We don't know these things. We would say it doesn't make sense. I understand that. God understands that. I don't see how this works out for good, but God says it will. How does the little possum, how does that work out for good? I don't know. But did you know that stuff like that, yada, yada, somehow it does. A sparrow falling to the ground does not escape his notice. That's what he said. Do we believe him? See, all of a sudden, do we believe him or do we not believe him? Does he care when a little bird falls from the second story of this children's ministry building and falls to the ground, and we see this little thing? What is going on here? See, our lives, we want it all as it should be. You know why?

57:02 That is evidence. Atheists, listen up. It's proof that you've been created in the image of God because you know what beautiful is. You know how things ought to be. And when you see things like that, you go, what's with that? And God says right back to us, if you're listening to this still small voice, this is the fallen world that I came and entered into. to rescue it from. If I wouldn't have come, this is how it would continue to plunge into forever without any hope of being rescued. I don't know why your child died. I don't know why you lost your job at this moment. I don't know. Only God knows. But I can tell you this. One of the great indicators of you and I living in the last days, it's intensifying.

57:56 Every single one of us who name the name of Jesus are being tested. What decisions will you make? What actions will you take? I want to finish this off with the time that I have going very quickly now, and I hope that this speaks to you. Let this wash over you. That we need to follow him as he leads the way. Hosea chapter 4, verse 6. I'm going to read this in several versions. Listen to it carefully. Hosea chapter 4, verse 6. Notice the New King James Version says this. My people are destroyed, he gives you the reason, for a lack of knowledge. that's New King James Hosea chapter 4 verse 6 my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge the New Living Translation says my people are being destroyed that's actually very accurate my people are actually in the process of being destroyed because they don't have any vision or reason they don't have any knowledge because they don't know me next I think we have a Thank you.

59:05 King James Version, Proverbs 29, verse 18, King James. Where there is no vision, the people perish. Notice the correlation from Hosea. Proverbs 29, 18, New King James Version. Where there is no revelation, it's the same difference. No vision, no revelation. Where there's no word guiding, the people cast off restraint. English Standard Version. Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraints. In other words, where there's no vision, where there's no purpose, you have a tendency to get lazy, sleepy, lackadaisical, apathetic. I submit, we'll keep going through this in a second, I submit that the church in America, if not the world, is predominantly without vision, without purpose, because it is apathetic.

1:00:00 It doesn't know where to go and what to do, and the book is right in front of them. And they refuse to open it. They do what Charles Spurgeon said. They've gotten away from the Bible and they teach sermonettes for Christianettes. Proverbs 29, verse 18, New Living Translation. When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. It describes our age. And it doesn't have to be that way.

1:00:29 And so I'm going to ask you this. Just answer in your own mind. Do you have a purpose? Do you know the purpose for your life? Let me help. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8. Make this your purpose. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship. His, the word is poem. He wrote us. He's writing the story, folks. created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Do you have a prophetic word in your life? These are things that are meaningful to me and I'm sharing them with you. Do you have a purpose? Christian, you should be able to write down what is your purpose given to you by God. Number two, what's the prophetic word in your life? The prophetic word meaning what is it that is the standard?

1:01:27 It's the bar. For me, it's this. It's Jeremiah chapter 1, verses 4 through 9. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, by the way, I didn't make this up myself. Some men at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, back in the, I think 1980 it was,

1:01:50 I didn't even know they were going to do this. They got up, they walked over in the prayer meeting, and they laid hands on me. It startled me. It actually scared me. I was the youngest guy in the room. Everybody in there is 70, 80, 90 years old. And there's only 15 guys in there. And they got up. And I never prayed out loud in those prayer meetings because I stuttered so bad. But I went to those Saturday night prayer meetings.

1:02:16 And this is what happened. One guy by the name of Phil Anderson got up and he put his hands on me and then the rest of the guys followed him and he quotes this. Let me tell you, listen. He quotes this. From that moment on, this passage became a prophetic vision in my own life. I didn't understand. I stuttered so bad. I said to God, what does this mean? This is crazy. But it's your word. Here it is. With their hands laid on me, they said, the word of the Lord came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak for I am a youth. But the Lord said to me, Do not say that I am a youth, for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

1:03:14 Listen, do not, this is important. And I have to ask myself, and I hope I am giving you this influence Do not be afraid of their faces. I'm telling you, oh my gosh, I have to hold myself together right now. To be in school in all your life, stuttering and being made fun of, I feared everything and everyone. Are you hearing me? Which, by the way, side note, that's why I was a very violent person, because I had no power except to hurt. I couldn't articulate. So I was a violent person. watch this do not be afraid of their faces when God says to you I have a plan for your life I have a prophetic revelation a prophetic word for your life don't tell me your excuses.

1:04:20 I will not listen to your excuses. You're going to waste your time talking to me, Jack, about your excuses. Moses tried it. It didn't work. I made the mouth. I know what I'm doing. I'm going to tell you what to say. And do not be afraid of their faces. I am here to tell you by God's great grace and his mercy. As long as I'm in the word of God, I don't care if somebody says, we're going to skin you alive, burn you at the stake, or call you names, or worst of all, we're going to post something about you. You guys need to understand, I literally do not care because I have been commanded not to be afraid of their faces. And God has been so, so good.

1:05:17 Why? For I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Listen, you, friend, don't rest day or night until you have that word from God. And then we end right here. God's divine guidance. God delights and desires right now to guide each and every one of us, no matter where our station is in life. Let's all stand. He is the guidance system. He's the one who knows everything. He's saying like this, hey, point your foot in this direction. Do you hear my voice? Listen to me. Face me. Put your feet.

1:06:08 Now start walking. So many of you precious saints are missing out on great exploits that God wants to do in your life because you've been fearful of failing. You can't fail when your feet are pointing in his direction. you may learn this or learn that you may learn not to do this or not to do the other on that journey but let me tell you something don't play it safe and stay in the corner while he's calling you to come obey him and live it is his desire and if it's his desire why mess it why goof it up let him lead you and guide you father god we pray right now that you would not only fill us afresh for today in the baptism power of your Holy Spirit, but God, that you would guide us. The very same Holy Spirit that gives us the salvation and gives us the power is the same Holy Spirit that gives us the guidance.

1:07:08 Lord, will you lead us and guide us today? And Father, we pray that as we leave this building, we would be ready to go out there and, so to speak, catch the world on fire for Jesus. that people would see our hearts hot for Jesus. God, give us discernment to see young people, old people, anyone in between who just seem to be bouncing off the rails. They're just kind of like, their life is like in a pinball machine. and like what happened in my life so long ago, maybe you would have us say to somebody, hey, God's got a plan for your life. You ever thought about that? God has established a course, a path, works for you to walk in to make your life beautiful, meaningful, powerful, saved, Christ-honoring, God-glorifying, and when you come to the end heaven may God baptize us now in zeal and knowledge may it be not by our own strength not by our own power but by the power of the spirit of God and all of God's people said amen God bless you church