Watch Out! | Joby Martin

3:06 How are we? You look good. If you got your Bibles, and I hope you do, we're gonna end up in 1 Peter chapter five, and it's an honor to be here. I love being at the Summit Church. I love your church. I love your pastor. You guys have taught us so much at 1122. You guys taught us how to do multi-site, how to reach our city by doing campuses all over the city. You guys taught us how to do prison ministries. We are in 21 different prisons in Florida and we learned how to do that from you. So way to go, way to go. I've been here all weekend talking to the men. I'm gonna keep talking to the men. Ladies, you are so smart, you can make the transferable application. I don't have to connect the dots. The men, not as smart, let's just be honest. So I'm gonna talk to the men. The Bible says this in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 13 and 14. Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, let all that you do be done in love.

4:02 And so the Bible tells us to act like men. I think the way to understand this verse is act like men is like the hub in the middle of the wheel and the imperatives around it are how we are to do that. And the way the apostle Paul starts is this, be watchful. That means to be on watch is how some translations translate that. This is a military term. For those of you that served in the military, thank you, thank you, thank you. and when you are on watch, you know that you are in a defensive position and because we are at war. Most of us didn't wake up this morning and realize we were at war, but we are. The Bible says that we have an enemy and he's a thief and he only wants to steal, kill, and destroy. And if you don't know that you're in a fight, there's no way you're gonna win. You know what a sucker punch is? The Alamance campus knows.

4:54 I met those brothers last night, all right? A sucker punch is when punches start happening and you didn't know punches were gonna happen and that makes you the sucker. And this is what Paul says. Wake up, boys. You have been placed on this wall. You have been called and created to be a man, to be prophet, priest, servant, king, provider and protector. And the enemy's trying to take you out. And if he can take you out of your role, then by definition the people that you love the most will be left defenseless listen I'm a big hunter we got any hunters in the house all right I hunt a lot praise God all right my guys I probably need to spend more discipleship time with you okay and I know some of you like I'm a vegan I love a vegan I love them a deer's a vegan I don't know if you know that they're delicious so I'm into it I'm into it and so here's the thing that I think it's funny about I think it's funny when they call hunting a sport. You know why? Half the teams don't know the game has started. You know what I mean?

5:57 That's why. I mean, I don't always get one, but they never get me. The deer just thinks it's going to lunch. It doesn't know it's going to my freezer. Now here's the reality. That's most Christians sitting in church today. We are at war and men, if the enemy can take out the defender, by definition, those that you love most will be left defenseless. I wanna go to 1 Peter 5, beginning of verse six. The reason I wanna go there is Peter's gonna use the same word that Paul uses about be on watch. And what Peter is going to do here is Peter is gonna warn his church and he's talking to the men in the church. And we know this because he says, to the elders among you. And he's not just talking to the men that have the position of elder. He encourages every man in the church to live in such a way that they would be qualified to be this kind of man.

6:49 And then what he's going to do is gonna kind of give us the photo negative. He's gonna tell men to do these things because he knows that there are ways, schemes, methodea that the enemy uses to take men out. It says this in 1 Peter 5, verse six, humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded. Here's our word. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you to him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. I see here Peter laying out some of the schemes of the enemy that he has historically taken men out. Here's what's so wonderful about God's word.

8:05 This is not an old book. This is a timeless book. This thing is living and active. It doesn't just tell you what happened, it tells you what always happens. And so Peter is warning men about some ways that the enemy historically has taken men out. I'm gonna give you five of them. It's not an exhaustive list. This is just what Peter addresses. The first one is this. One of the ways that the enemy takes out men is this. Pride.

8:33 Pride. This is why he says, humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time, he may exalt you. Let me tell you the problem with pride. You hardly ever see it in yourself. Because when you look in the mirror, you like what looks back. I've never met the man that's like, my problem is pride. And in fact, right now, if you thought, oh, I need to send this to my brother-in-law, you're the problem. I mean, ask yourself, are you prideful? And if you're like, not really, what a prideful thing to say about yourself. Pride is simply thinking too highly of yourself. Paul tells us in Romans, don't think too highly of yourself. Pride is when we compare ourselves to others instead of comparing ourselves to the almighty, magnificent God. Pride is when we think the world is about me.

9:26 pride is when you look at a group photo and judge the quality of the photo by who just you that's what pride is and it's a struggle man let me ask you some questions do you always seek credit like when you're at work and you know it was your idea because you're the smartest person in the room and everybody knows that and you know it was your idea that pushed the deal through do you sit there just waiting for them to give you the credit that you deserve? Do you always have to be right? Do you require a thank you? The reason it's easy for me to write this list is because this is a problem for me. There's no doubt about it. And so what does the Bible say to do if you're prideful? It says, humble yourself. Humility is not a personality type. Humility is a posture. and here's the reality. You got two options when it comes to Jesus.

10:20 You know what they are? You can bow or you can bow. That's what's gonna happen. I don't know if you realize this but you can bow or you can bow. That one day the trumpet blast, the heaven will be cracked open, Jesus is coming back on a horse dressed in white. By the way, you know who wears white to a fight? You know you're gonna win and it ain't gonna take long. Praise God, all right? He's got fire eyes, a sword out of his mouth, tattoos on his quads. Check that, Baptist. How about that? It says Lord of Lord, King of kings. I don't think it's a Sharpie, but I could be biased. Anyway, he's gonna come back and the whole world will bow down and everyone will know him as Lord, either Lord of your salvation or Lord of your judgment. And the reality is, is if you bow your knee to Jesus now, he will lift you up in salvation. And if you do not, I love it. And by love it, I mean, I hate it. When people say, when I meet Jesus, I'm gonna ask. You ain't asking nothing.

11:12 You're gonna fall on your face, mess your diaper and just be like, please don't kill me. That's what's gonna happen, man. Humble yourself. God has given us an antidote to pride. And it's worship. It's worship. Every single time we worship, essentially what we're saying is it ain't about us. You realize worship is war. You know what got the devil kicked out of heaven? Pride. If you read about it, If you read about the devil in the Old Testament, he was the angelic choir host. He was made of gemstones. God was the source of light and he was supposed to refract and reflect the light. And then one day he got tired of being looked through and he wanted to be looked to. And seven times he says, I will sit on your throne and God cast him out like lightning. And every single time we worship, we go to war because we tell the devil of hell, you can go sit on the throne of hell because you do not sit on the throne that is worthy of my worship.

12:15 And here's the thing, man, here's the thing. A big part of what worship is, listen, this is not Christian karaoke in a TED Talk, man. That the presence of God embodies his people when they get together and make much of him. And it's also a reminder, it ain't about me. Like when people at my church are like, well, I don't like that song. That's adorable, cupcake. We're not singing to you. That's the whole point. It's not about you. You're not worthy of worship. This ain't top 40. We're not taking a vote. We're singing to him and you gotta get into it. My Bible, Paul tells Timothy to tell the men to lift holy hands in the sanctuary. You hear that, guys? Some of you worship like a mannequin. It's just in my heart. Is it?

13:07 I watched you watch the game last night. Seemed like there was a lot of this going on. We raise our hands, man. You know why you raise your hand? When your team wins, you raise your hands. And when we lift our hands at the sanctuary, that's what we're saying. Jesus won, and I'm on the winning team. Right? Some of you, I know you, I mean, we're in chapel here. Listen, I know we're real smart people here, okay? When all you smarties grew up in school, you remember how many times you were like, ooh, I know that answer.

13:39 Isn't that it when we worship? No matter what problem the world throws at me, I know the answer and his name is Jesus. That's why you lift your hands. Remember when you were raising your littles, man? And they would come up to you and they'd be like, hold me. Sometimes that's what it is in worship. Like, Abba, Father, I need you. Now some of you, a couple of you are really gonna get this one. You remember this one? All right, you got me.

14:04 That's what worship is, man. Worship is surrender. And so a part of the antidote that God has given us to war against pride that takes us out is humble yourself by worshiping. God, this is about you. This is not about me. You were the only one worthy of my worship. another thing that tends to take men out is this worry and anxiety worry and anxiety anybody struggle with worry raise your hand if you do kind of makes you worry to do that doesn't you like all right how what are we talking about this for well peter tells his church cast all your anxieties because he cares for you you see the enemy is so tricky like god gives men these cultural mandates, these responsibilities. I mean, one day we will stand before the Lord and give an account for our families, for everything that he has called us to steward. Responsibility is a really big deal. And then the enemy gets in there and he takes this responsibility and begins to twist it.

15:12 And then we think we're actually in control. And that's where worry comes from. You see, worry and fear are like first cousins. And the difference between fear and faith is when you look into the future, who do you think has control? Because if you think it's up to you, you'll be gripped with worry and fear. But if you understand that God's still got the whole world in his hands, then you can have faith. And so what Peter says is, is why don't you use this tactic of the enemy and every single time worry begins to rise up, why don't you cast your anxieties on him? Because he cares for you.

15:55 The first pastor I worked for at a seminary, he used to say this all the time. If you're gonna worry, why pray? And if you pray, why worry? Worry is like anti-prayer. Worry is saying, I got this. And prayer is saying, God, I need you to take this. And so for you, is prayer a first response or a last resort? I love the way the apostle Paul talks about it. He says this in Philippians chapter four, beginning in verse six.

16:28 He says, be anxious for nothing. Think about if the apostle Paul was your counselor. You come to Paul, this is why they don't let me do counseling, JD, at our church, because I follow in the apostle Paul kind of counseling situation. What's your problem? I struggle with worry and anxiety. Okay, here's what I want you to do. Don't. How do you just not, how do you just don't worry? That's like trying to sleep. You ever try to sleep? You're like, it's making it worse.

16:59 So Paul says, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, so that thing you're worried about, see if it falls in the everything category. And if it does, you're not supposed to worry about it. Well, Paul, how the heck are we gonna do that? And he goes, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. What Paul did there is he just gave four different words for praying. Let me put this on the bottom shelf. When the enemy begins to trigger you with the circumstances of your life that make you worry, why don't you use what the enemy meant for evil and why don't you bring that to the Lord and pray, pray, pray, pray? Why? Because he cares for you and he can do something about it. And then there's a promise. Be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, and then here's the promise.

17:52 And the peace of God that transcends understanding, ESV says surpasses. I grew up on the NIV 84, all right? And the peace of God that transcends understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. You ever met somebody just absolutely walking through the valley of the shadow of death? and you look at their circumstances and you're like, all right, how did you get out of bed this morning? I mean, because what you are walking through looks like my worst nightmare and I don't know what I would do if I was going through. You ever been there? And yet they have a piece that doesn't make sense on paper and you're like, how'd you get out of bed? And they go, I don't even know how to describe it. Well, here's what happened. The piece of God that transcends understanding is guarding their heart and mind in Christ Jesus. And here's the thing.

18:44 Here's why you can't get your head around it, me either. Jesus says, don't worry about tomorrow. You know why? When do new mercies come? New mercies come in the morning. And so God only gives you the mercy that you need to make it through today because that's all you need. And so if you begin to worry about things that he hasn't given you mercy for, it'll tear you up. And so don't be anxious about tomorrow. Don't be anxious about anything, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your request known to God and the God of peace that transcends understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. The third way I see men get taken out is this. This is a big one. It's laziness. It's abdication of responsibility. This is why Peter says, be sober-minded, be watchful. That means wake up, get your head on a swivel.

19:38 Be sober-minded. Some of you just need to be sober. like if you're a grown man in the kingdom of God sitting on your cat smoking weed drinking a couple beers ain't for you man that we are soldiers in the army of God there's some things that we tell our flesh no to so that we can be ready to go to war and listen about a lazy man's a dangerous thing but Eddie used to always say men are like flatbed trucks they drive better with a heavy load and so where have you abdicated responsibility? Where are there some distractions in your life?

20:15 Pastor Curtis preached an incredible sermon this week about it's not just you gotta get the sin out of your life, but there's some dumb stuff that's entangling you and you've gotta get it off. In that passage, it says lay aside. I don't love that translation. It sounds like laundry. That's not what you're supposed to do. Lay aside means like get off of me. Is that thing a sin? I don't know, but it's stupid and it keeps me from running the race that God has called me to. You see, a lazy man is a dangerous thing. See King David. When did his life begin to unravel? It was in the time of year where kings go to war and he's laying on the couch and everything goes bad after that. So where are you distracted? Where have you put more energy and emphasis in your hobbies instead of your calling? And now this one's easy. So what do you do? Something.

21:07 Just do anything. I don't even go to this church, and I know what to do here. You just do what Pastor John just told you to do. Just show up to the thing. Join a group, serve, go on a mission trip. I mean, they make it so easy. You don't have to pray about it. We prayed about it. This is what you gotta do. Just take a step. Just get involved. Do something. Listen, because we live in a world that spends billions of dollars a day on the relentless pursuit of your own comfort. Listen, if you wanna be comfortable, don't be a Christian. I mean, think about what Jesus called. Jesus is following me. You know what it means to be a follower? You just take steps after the one you're following. This is not a theological conundrum here. And Jesus went to the cross. And he says, follow me and daily take up your cross. And so what's your next step of obedience?

22:00 Because if you quit taking steps, by definition, you're not following anymore. And we don't have any standards of Jesus. We have followers of Jesus. and so what is he calling you to do? And again, you live in a world that spends billions of dollars a day. It's like, you do you, boo. You just do whatever's comfortable. Jesus says, no, no, no, you follow after me. Listen, we got an elder in my church, Dr. Paul. He used to be a brain doctor or something. He was real smart and he's 92 years old, 92. He just got back from a mission trip to Malawi. not Maui, that's what most doctors do. They go to Maui and collect seashells. Dr. Paul is standing up medical clinics in Malawi for the glory of God. So tell me your excuse again. You know, I know you're 38 and real tired. That's adorable cupcake. He's 92 years old.

22:53 The biggest fight I've ever gotten in with our elders with a very pure art. Some of the young guy elders, like the 70 year olds, come to me and they're like, Dr. Paul won't listen to anybody, Pastor. Maybe he'll listen to you. Can you tell him to not go on so many mission trips? I was like, no way. There's no way I'm having that conversation. First of all, he's 92 years old. He's earned it. Secondly, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid he's gonna die? He's gonna die. He's 92 years old. What do you think he's gonna do, man? But what do you think he wants to do? Waste away with an Afghan, watching the soap operas all day, being comfortable? Your comforts kill more granddaddies than anybody else. You realize this. Don't you think he wants to go out swinging for the glory of God? Yeah, man, get in the game. God's not done with you. Don't be lazy. And then also, men, one of the places we get lazy at is at home. Is at home.

23:46 You wanna be the leader of your home? I get it. How about be the lead repenter? Be a good place to start. How about be the lead confessor? You wanna really lead and set the spiritual temperature of your home? I hate the phrase. The husband's the spiritual leader. That's not in the Bible. He's just a head. Somebody made that up at like a Bible study, okay? You're responsible for the whole thing. Everything is your responsibility, including the heart, soul, mind, and strength of your wife and kids. One of the primary ways you could get in the game is this. You could pray out loud over your people. You see, we don't live on the homestead anymore. We don't get to fight the grizzly bear to prove our love for our people anymore. But you know what you can do every day of your life? get on your knees and fight against the dragon of hell who's trying to steal, kill, and destroy the people that you love most.

24:41 Men, pray out loud over your wife every day. And I know what some of you are saying, well, pastor, I ain't that good at praying. Biggest word I know is delicatessen and I don't know how to work it into the prayer. Okay, let me give, I'm gonna tell you. Ladies, don't listen, just plug your ears real quick. Husbands, starting today, this is what I want you to do. Before y'all go to bed tonight, I just want you to say, honey, how can I pray for you? Now listen, she's gonna say words. listen when she gets finished it might be a minute just listen and then this is what you do man you take her by the hand and then you just say dear God they just repeat verbatim everything she just said just say it word for word and then just go amen and you're gonna look up she'll be crying a little bit and you're like what's wrong nothing's wrong bro you're killing it And then ladies, ladies, listen, don't, don't, just don't be like, that's not what I said.

25:38 Don't correct, it's theology. No, no, no, no, no, listen. Men are simple, man. They're like puppies. They repeat what is rewarded. If he does this, if he does, don't be like, only reason you do it is this pastor joking. No, no, no, no, no, drip, drip, drip. That's what Song of Solomon says. Not good, not good, okay? Here's what I need you to do. Ready, ready? This is it. Hergulese, Hergulese. That's it, man. That's it. Be sober-minded, be watchful. The fourth thing that takes men out is isolation. Oh, we're the kings of isolation. This is why Peter says your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. You ever watch the Animal Planet? Which one does the lion take out? There's all these cute little antelopes all together in a herd, they're fine. there's this one gimpy one out there by itself.

26:31 It's like, I don't need a herd. He gone, every time. Listen, man, you gotta get in the herd. Look around, we need each other. Listen, the three most dangerous words a grown man can say is, I got this. You ain't got this. In fact, the beginning of the gospel is you ain't got this. The beginning of the teaching ministry of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, The first beatitude is blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are you when you realize you're spiritually bankrupt. Blessed are you when you realize you don't bring any merit to your salvation equation. Blessed are you when you realize I need somebody to do for me what I can't do for myself.

27:14 Think about it this way, man. Are you isolated? Can you name four friends right now that if you were in need could carry you to Jesus? At our church, we call these mat carriers Based on Mark chapter two, there was a paralyzed man on a mat. He had four friends. They each picked up a corner and carried him to the mat because the reality is at some point you're gonna be on the mat financially, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. If you don't have four brothers that'll carry you to Jesus, you're not doing this right. And if you can't identify them, you gotta deputize them. This is what I need from you. This is what I'm going to offer you because Christian community is like a retirement account if you wait until you need it to build it. It's too late, bro.

27:56 And so who are you praying for? Maybe a bigger question, who is actually praying for you? And don't be like, well, my mom. You ain't telling her the truth. There's no way. So on the night Jesus was betrayed, after the last supper, he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. It means the place of crushing. And he knows what's about to come. And the Bible says that he's praying with such intensity. He's sweating like drops of blood. He falls on the ground. He feels like he's gonna die. And he goes and he gets three of his dudes, Peter, James, and John. And he goes, can y'all just stay awake and can y'all please pray for me? so if Jesus Christ God the son the second person of the trinity that spoke all things into existence and by his very power holds all things together if he felt like he needed some brothers praying for him then who in the heck do you think you are to think you can do it on your own you're too dumb to talk to man don't be isolated be bold enough to take that step to link your shields of faith with some other brothers in the war that we could be about this thing together.

29:11 Join a Bible study. Join a serve group. Get involved. And then the fifth one is this. A little hermeneutical license. It's not explicit in the scripture. I'll tell you what I mean. Verse nine, Peter says, resist infirm your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the rest of the world. I've been in full-time vocational ministry for 33 years. And the same kind of suffering and temptation and the most common thing that I see take men off that wall is lust. It's lust. I think it's the granddaddy of them all, especially in our sex-saturated society. It's lust, it's pornography, it's infidelity. And here's the problem, man. Too many men think I got this, and bro, you ain't got this. Too many men think, well, it's just pictures.

30:04 No, no, no, it's a pathway and it leads somewhere. In John chapter 10, Jesus says there's a thief, an enemy, and he only wants to steal, kill, and destroy. But I'm the good shepherd and I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. So we're not merely talking about right and wrong. We're talking about pathways of life and death. And every single time you hear the voice of the good shepherd and you follow in obedience after him, it always leads to life and life abundantly because you get him. And every single time we say, forget you, God, I do what I want. You don't get to tell me what I can look at and who I can sleep with. No, no, no, no. It marches you down a road that leads to death and destruction. We see it over and over and over and over. This is why I think in 1 Corinthians 6, the apostle Paul simply says this when it comes to sexual temptation.

31:00 I mean, listen, you will talk about extremes. Jesus says if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If your phone calls you to sin, throw it in the trash. He didn't say that part. I added that part. I think he's okay with it. He's like, but I can't get my email. It would be better to go to heaven without getting your email than your whole life go to hell. This is what he's saying. All right, that's extreme. This is extremely important. And so Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter six, he just simply says this about sexual immorality. flee sexual immorality. Now, let me tell you what a big deal this is. Every single time we have failed sexually, it's because we flirted and we didn't flee. Every single time, it's because we thought, no, I got this, this isn't that big. This isn't even a sin, and it might not be. It might just be stupid.

31:53 It's just heading you towards death and destruction. Let me put it in perspective for you. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter six that we are to stand firm against the devil and his evil schemes. To stand firm means to fight, to stand up, to take a stand, to put on the full armor of God and you give him what's coming to him because greater is he who is in you than this snake you're staring down. What this means, boys, is after the service here in 20 minutes, if you were to walk out to your truck and the devil of hell himself is sitting in your truck, I mean, pitchfork horns, he's like, whatever he looks like.

32:28 Then you'd be like, bro, you got to get up out of my truck, man. You put the armor of God on the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, feet fitted in the shoes, readiness with the gospel, the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of the God. You come get you some brothers and we'll go to war with you. Me and Pastor J.D. will get out there and we will call down the name of Jesus and be like, I belong to him, that truck belongs to me. You don't have authority to be in my truck. You better get up out of my truck. and at the name of Jesus, he has to flee. That's what you do to the devil of hell. And if you go out there to your truck and your ex-girlfriend is in your truck, run for us, run! You can't handle it, you can't handle it. Like you think it's just a little text? You think she just sent you that little DM? You think it's just some pictures you don't realize is a pathway?

33:24 That girl at work, you know, that you're talking to a little bit too much, you'd be like, no, she gets me. Oh, she's gonna get you. But not like you won't. It's because the enemy is trying to steal, kill, and destroy. And again, you better have some band of brothers to help you on this. When you fight the devil in the dark, you're always gonna get your butt kicked.

33:48 And so over and over and over, the enemy keeps taking men out. Do you realize when men lead and love well, everyone flourishes? Do you realize the amount of pain that so many of you listening right now have suffered because some man did not do what God had called him to do. Do you realize virtually every nonprofit started is because some men didn't stand firm and act like men. This is a really, really big deal.

34:23 And so Peter says, all right, this is a fight. And after you have suffered a little while, this is a struggle. If you're gonna follow after Jesus, boys, it's gonna be a fight. And guess what happens in a fight? You get punched in the face sometimes. which means this, if it hasn't been a struggle, if you hadn't taken a couple shots, it could be because you're not playing for Team Jesus. If you hadn't bloodied your nose because you're pushing against this culture heading in the wrong direction, it could be because you're just going with the flow and you're indistinguishable from this culture.

34:55 And he says, so after you have struggled a little while, he's gonna give us some good news because I know what some of you are thinking. You're like, well, hey, that was entertaining. I appreciate the sermon, Pastor, but boy, I sure would have wished I had it 25 years ago before I torched my life. Man, I got some really good news. It ain't how you start, it's how you finish.

35:20 Yeah, there's an enemy, and he's constantly trying to define you by your scars, but by the grace of God, Jesus says, no, no, no, no, you're gonna be defined by mine. You ever think about this? In the book of Revelation, the Bible says that Jesus will wipe away every tear. Mamas, you know how you wipe away a tear, right? What do you do? You put those thumbs right there and you do the windshield wiper out, squeak, right there, right?

35:45 So when Jesus wipes away the tears of his children, what is the very thing that we're gonna see? It's the scars that give him the ability to do that. You see, the enemy's constantly trying to define you by your worst moment. I got really good news. That therefore now, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Only Jesus gets to tell you who you are. And so when we struggle and when we screw up and when we sin, we run to the cross and not from it. Here's what he says. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, establish you to be to him, be the dominion forever and ever and ever. So regardless of what you've done or how old you are or what your past says, guess what? God gives you grace.

36:46 And grace doesn't merely save us. Grace sustains us. And grace not only washes away our sin, but when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, then we are imputed with the righteousness of him. So when we stumble and fall, we fall on the same grace that saves us and God picks us back up. And he says, the God of all grace has called you, you, not the super righteous person sitting next to you, but you, if you were in Christ Jesus, the person that struggled in these areas, God has called you and the empty tomb and the alarm clock are empirical evidence that he's not done with you yet, and he has called you to his glory. That God can use your story for his glory. God is in the business of taking a mess and using it to declare the greatest message of all time.

37:46 Do you know what that is? 1 John says it this way, this is love. Not that we first loved God, not that we got our act together and we made ourself approved by God because of our good behavior. No, no, no, no, no. This is love. Not that we first love God. God first loved us and sent his son as the propitiation for our sin. Propitiation means a payment that satisfies. Here's what this means. If you were in Christ, Christ is in you. And if Jesus is the payment that satisfies, please hear this, that God cannot be dissatisfied in you. that when he looks upon you, he sees the perfect righteousness of his son. You were wrapped in the righteous robe of the heavenly father. You have put on the breastplate of righteousness. You know what I love about that?

38:39 You ever seen a chubby breastplate? You ever watch like Gladiator? Regardless of what you got going on under here, when you put on that breastplate, it's like perfect peps and abs. Look at me now. And when God sees you in Christ Jesus, his righteousness covers you. Think about what God tells his son at his baptism. Jesus walks out to be baptized and he says, behold my son in whom I am well pleased. How much ministry has Jesus done yet? He hadn't preached a sermon, hadn't done a miracle, definitely has not died on the cross, been raised from the grave to redeem the world. And before he does anything he was assigned to do, God has already placed his approval upon him. When we come to God through grace to be the men and the women and the students that God has called us to be, then he promises I will restore and confirm and strengthen and establish you for the glory of God.

39:44 One of your pastors preaching at 1122 one time said this, Failure is not final. So regardless of what you've done or where you've been, failure is not final. Get back on that wall. In the kingdom of God, there are no second chances. There's the blood of Jesus in from now on. Sometimes you'll hear people say, we serve the God of second chances. I know what they mean. They have good intentions. It's just dumb. It's dumb. You don't need a second chance. Do you really think your problem is you didn't get enough chances? You know? if I took a calculus exam, guess how I would do? Not good. Well, I've never taken calculus. And I'm a Martin, like I can't, that's not my thing. And if I failed it miserably, but the professor was like, in my mercy, I'm gonna give you another chance. I would just fail again and again and again. I need somebody to do for me what I can't do for myself.

40:39 And so you don't need a second chance. In the kingdom of God, it's the blood of Jesus. and from now on. And if you have been washed in the blood of Jesus, you are a new creation. The old you is dead. You don't have to do the things you used to do. You're not the person that you used to be. And may we be the kind of men and women and students that step boldly into the calling of God in his life with the cross hovering over us, declaring God loves us and Jesus is the proof. And he's not done with. Would you please stand? Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious heavenly Father God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. God, I pray for the men. I thank you for the high and holy calling of being a man. God, I pray that we would know we don't have to apologize for it, but we need to steward it well because when men lead in love well, everybody flourishes.

41:44 And God, I pray for this church. I pray that the spirit of God would move in a powerful ways I pray that men would be leaders lead confessors lead repenters lead prayers in their homes in their schools and the workplaces and God I pray that we would run to you God I pray that we would not fall for the schemes of the enemy but we would be washed in the blood of the lamb and that when we get run over by that grace train of the gospel, God, it would change everything about everything, about everything. We pray this in the good, strong name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.