0:00:04.664,0:00:27.098
Let's open our Bibles one [br]last time to John 15.

0:00:27.098,0:00:31.928
Beginning in verse 1:

0:00:31.928,0:00:35.763
"I am the true vine and My [br]Father is the vine dresser.

0:00:35.763,0:00:38.104
Every branch in Me that [br]does not bear fruit,

0:00:38.104,0:00:39.537
He takes away;

0:00:39.537,0:00:41.263
and every branch that bears fruit,

0:00:41.263,0:00:44.656
He prunes it so that it [br]may bear more fruit.

0:00:44.656,0:00:46.689
You are already clean because of the word

0:00:46.689,0:00:48.960
which I have spoken to you.

0:00:48.960,0:00:50.586
Abide in Me, and I in you,

0:00:50.586,0:00:52.893
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself

0:00:52.893,0:00:55.021
unless it abides in the vine,

0:00:55.021,0:00:58.482
so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

0:00:58.482,0:01:01.728
I am the vine, you are the branches.

0:01:01.728,0:01:04.034
He who abides in Me and I in him,

0:01:04.034,0:01:05.366
he bears much fruit,

0:01:05.366,0:01:08.527
for apart from Me you can do nothing.

0:01:08.527,0:01:10.155
If anyone does not abide in Me,

0:01:10.155,0:01:12.963
he is thrown away as a [br]branch and dries up

0:01:12.963,0:01:14.403
and they gather them

0:01:14.403,0:01:16.092
and cast them into the fire,

0:01:16.092,0:01:17.748
and they are burned.

0:01:17.748,0:01:19.190
If you abide in Me

0:01:19.190,0:01:20.622
and My words abide in you,

0:01:20.622,0:01:21.808
ask whatever you wish

0:01:21.808,0:01:24.024
and it will be done for you.

0:01:24.024,0:01:25.619
My Father is glorified by this,

0:01:25.619,0:01:27.012
that you bear much fruit

0:01:27.012,0:01:30.150
and so prove to be My disciples.

0:01:30.150,0:01:31.994
Just as the Father has loved Me,

0:01:31.994,0:01:35.294
I have also loved you.

0:01:35.294,0:01:36.675
Abide in My love.

0:01:36.675,0:01:38.074
If you keep My commandments,

0:01:38.074,0:01:39.408
you will abide in My love,

0:01:39.408,0:01:41.676
just as I have kept My [br]Father's commandments

0:01:41.676,0:01:43.619
and abide in His love.

0:01:43.619,0:01:45.315
These things I have spoken to you

0:01:45.315,0:01:47.623
so that My joy may be in you,

0:01:47.623,0:01:50.538
and that your joy may be made full.

0:01:50.538,0:01:53.024
This is My commandment, [br]that you love one another

0:01:53.024,0:01:55.371
just as I have loved you.

0:01:55.371,0:01:57.910
Greater love has no one than this,

0:01:57.910,0:02:01.020
that one lay down his [br]life for his friends.

0:02:01.020,0:02:05.417
You are My friends if you [br]do what I command you.

0:02:05.417,0:02:12.378
Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

0:02:12.378,0:02:14.392
Father, we come before You

0:02:14.392,0:02:16.434
in the name of Your Son

0:02:16.434,0:02:22.908
for this last meeting together.

0:02:22.908,0:02:26.472
Lord, we need Your help

0:02:26.472,0:02:29.870
that Your truth may go forward,

0:02:29.870,0:02:33.440
that Your people might be edified.

0:02:33.440,0:02:37.966
Lord, direct everything this last meeting.

0:02:37.966,0:02:40.845
Direct our words, our thoughts, Lord.

0:02:40.845,0:02:45.130
Lead us in the way You would have us go

0:02:45.130,0:02:47.966
that we would not only begin [br]to understand this passage,

0:02:47.966,0:02:50.953
but that it's application to [br]our life would be a reality -

0:02:50.953,0:02:55.469
a growing reality.

0:02:55.469,0:02:57.161
Lord, we know so many things

0:02:57.161,0:03:01.078
and so few of them are applied.

0:03:01.078,0:03:04.135
Lord, help us not to be [br]hearers of the Word,

0:03:04.135,0:03:06.399
but also doers of the Word

0:03:06.399,0:03:08.617
to be truly blessed.

0:03:08.617,0:03:10.220
Lord, for those who are here

0:03:10.220,0:03:11.855
that may not know You,

0:03:11.855,0:03:13.705
that even in this text,

0:03:13.705,0:03:17.919
they might see their [br]great need for a Savior.

0:03:17.919,0:03:20.703
Lord, I ask all of this in Jesus' name,

0:03:20.703,0:03:22.989
Amen.

0:03:26.712,0:03:29.499
In the last sermon before [br]I began to preach

0:03:29.499,0:03:31.335
I gave you a summary of all the things

0:03:31.335,0:03:33.570
that we had been studying.

0:03:33.570,0:03:36.150
I see little need to do that

0:03:36.150,0:03:38.956
in this evening session

0:03:38.956,0:03:41.656
because it should be [br]still warm in your mind,

0:03:41.656,0:03:46.687
the full summary of [br]what we've gone through.

0:03:46.687,0:03:49.347
Actually, the notes that I've [br]been preaching from

0:03:49.347,0:03:52.381
were the first sermon I was [br]supposed to preach on Friday night.

0:03:52.381,0:03:54.802
It's just that it's all [br]kind of been extended.

0:03:54.802,0:03:57.430
I have six more sermons,

0:03:57.430,0:04:01.666
but I don't think that we will [br]get to all of them this evening.

0:04:01.666,0:04:05.331
We've been talking about the [br]impossibility of the Christian life.

0:04:05.331,0:04:07.877
That is not a cliche. [br]It's not a hyperbole.

0:04:07.877,0:04:11.512
The Christian life is an [br]absolute impossibility

0:04:11.512,0:04:15.001
apart from abiding in Christ

0:04:15.001,0:04:20.584
and drawing spiritual life [br]and strength from Him.

0:04:20.584,0:04:25.320
In the Christian life, [br]Christ and the Gospel

0:04:25.320,0:04:27.716
are not one element,

0:04:27.716,0:04:30.242
they are the element.

0:04:30.242,0:04:34.325
Christ is everything.

0:04:34.325,0:04:38.006
When the Christian doctrine and the Gospel

0:04:38.006,0:04:40.388
is truly proclaimed as it [br]ought to be proclaimed

0:04:40.388,0:04:41.472
and men reject it,

0:04:41.472,0:04:42.663
what they need to know is

0:04:42.663,0:04:44.546
that they are not rejecting a religion,

0:04:44.546,0:04:46.589
they are not rejecting certain principles,

0:04:46.589,0:04:49.331
they are rejecting a Person.

0:04:49.331,0:04:52.799
If you're here today and you're [br]apathetic toward Christianity,

0:04:52.799,0:04:55.754
maybe you're here out of [br]coercion, manipulation,

0:04:55.754,0:04:57.608
maybe you have to because your parents

0:04:57.608,0:04:59.404
still have authority over you,

0:04:59.404,0:05:01.280
you're here, you abide by those rules,

0:05:01.280,0:05:04.398
but your heart is not here at all.

0:05:04.398,0:05:05.584
Know this:

0:05:05.584,0:05:09.922
You are not rejecting a religion.

0:05:09.922,0:05:12.889
You are not rejecting a set of principles.

0:05:12.889,0:05:15.125
Now to do that is very, very dangerous

0:05:15.125,0:05:18.423
because ones who set aside the Law of God,

0:05:18.423,0:05:20.421
the Law of Moses,

0:05:20.421,0:05:23.509
were to be put away.

0:05:23.509,0:05:25.950
But I want you to know what you're doing.

0:05:25.950,0:05:29.541
You are apathetic towards the one Person

0:05:29.541,0:05:35.055
that God loves more than [br]all of creation combined -

0:05:35.055,0:05:38.816
His Son.

0:05:38.816,0:05:41.870
When you reject Christianity,

0:05:41.870,0:05:47.877
know this, you are rejecting the One

0:05:47.877,0:05:53.085
for whom the entire world was created.

0:05:53.085,0:05:55.893
Know this also:

0:05:55.893,0:06:00.508
That God will deal harshly with you

0:06:00.508,0:06:05.109
for your arrogance against His Son.

0:06:05.109,0:06:08.154
Know this, that maybe in your humanism,

0:06:08.154,0:06:09.362
maybe in your youth,

0:06:09.362,0:06:10.956
maybe in your foolishness,

0:06:10.956,0:06:13.729
you've set your heart as stone against God

0:06:13.729,0:06:15.123
and none of what I'm saying

0:06:15.123,0:06:17.599
causes you to tremble.

0:06:17.599,0:06:19.165
Like a young man once said:

0:06:19.165,0:06:21.632
"I'm not afraid to stand before God.

0:06:21.632,0:06:24.504
I'll face Him and my fate."

0:06:24.504,0:06:26.039
And the old preacher told him:

0:06:26.039,0:06:27.983
"Young man, you will melt before God

0:06:27.983,0:06:33.467
like a tiny wax figurine [br]before a blast furnace."

0:06:33.467,0:06:36.140
Your proud heart demonstrates nothing more

0:06:36.140,0:06:40.352
than your own stupidity.

0:06:40.352,0:06:43.242
Creation testifies against you.

0:06:43.242,0:06:44.839
And you yourself know

0:06:44.839,0:06:47.127
that the very God you are rejecting

0:06:47.127,0:06:51.934
is the One before Whom you will stand.

0:06:51.934,0:06:53.114
So I want you to know

0:06:53.114,0:06:55.767
that when I deal with these texts,

0:06:55.767,0:06:58.141
there are two groups of [br]people here tonight.

0:06:58.141,0:06:59.937
There are people who are here

0:06:59.937,0:07:02.829
because they love Christ,

0:07:02.829,0:07:03.991
and in loving Christ,

0:07:03.991,0:07:08.046
they are seriously concerned [br]for pleasing Him

0:07:08.046,0:07:10.554
and for growing in holiness.

0:07:10.554,0:07:12.121
There are others here

0:07:12.121,0:07:14.324
who care not for holiness.

0:07:14.324,0:07:16.839
And the reason why they [br]do not care for holiness

0:07:16.839,0:07:20.426
is because the simply [br]do not care for Christ.

0:07:20.426,0:07:26.590
And that is a very, very [br]dangerous place to be.

0:07:26.590,0:07:29.214
Now, we're going to begin.

0:07:29.214,0:07:32.063
We've gone through several pages of notes.

0:07:32.063,0:07:34.271
And we've seen a lot of things,

0:07:34.271,0:07:36.808
but now we're going to turn our attention

0:07:36.808,0:07:39.669
to something that is extremely important.

0:07:39.669,0:07:41.881
As we look at our text, we see something.

0:07:41.881,0:07:44.386
That ten different times [br]in this short text,

0:07:44.386,0:07:45.851
there's a word that appears.

0:07:45.851,0:07:48.279
It's the word "abide."

0:07:48.279,0:07:49.893
And I have said over and over

0:07:49.893,0:07:51.818
that the only way that the Christian

0:07:51.818,0:07:54.120
can be fruitful in the Christian life

0:07:54.120,0:07:58.760
is to abide in Christ.

0:07:58.760,0:08:01.995
Now, if I tell you this, [br]it's very important

0:08:01.995,0:08:03.833
I explain to you what that means.

0:08:03.833,0:08:05.393
You know, preachers are famous

0:08:05.393,0:08:06.836
for telling people what to do

0:08:06.836,0:08:09.033
and then not telling them how to do it.

0:08:09.033,0:08:11.053
I remember one time as a young Christian,

0:08:11.053,0:08:13.863
this man, he preached for something [br]like an hour and a half

0:08:13.863,0:08:17.017
on the necessity to walk in the Spirit.

0:08:17.017,0:08:19.043
And it was a fabulous sermon.

0:08:19.043,0:08:20.794
And it proved to my young heart

0:08:20.794,0:08:22.571
that I needed to walk in the Spirit.

0:08:22.571,0:08:25.357
The only problem is he never [br]told us what that meant.

0:08:25.357,0:08:28.004
So I went up to him after the service,

0:08:28.004,0:08:29.865
not intending to wrangle.

0:08:29.865,0:08:31.916
I was happy with what I heard.

0:08:31.916,0:08:33.433
I thought it was very edifying.

0:08:33.433,0:08:35.615
I just thought I'm a very [br]immature Christian,

0:08:35.615,0:08:38.404
I don't have a clue what it [br]means to walk in the Spirit,

0:08:38.404,0:08:40.299
so I went before him and I said,

0:08:40.299,0:08:43.013
"Sir, wow, that was just wonderful!

0:08:43.013,0:08:44.516
I see that in the Scriptures.

0:08:44.516,0:08:47.342
I need to walk in the Spirit.

0:08:47.342,0:08:50.881
But sir, I don't know what that means."

0:08:50.881,0:08:56.512
That man became very put out with me.

0:08:56.512,0:08:58.011
He said every manner of thing,

0:08:58.011,0:08:59.819
but he never told me what it meant

0:08:59.819,0:09:01.167
to walk in the Spirit.

0:09:01.167,0:09:03.189
And I walked away as the young Christian

0:09:03.189,0:09:05.833
saying that man just [br]told us to do something

0:09:05.833,0:09:08.591
that he himself does not know how to do.

0:09:08.591,0:09:10.941
And therefore, he just [br]told us to do something

0:09:10.941,0:09:13.265
that he himself is not practicing.

0:09:13.265,0:09:14.973
And so we always want to be careful

0:09:14.973,0:09:17.121
whenever we're exhorting people

0:09:17.121,0:09:20.137
to do a certain thing,

0:09:20.137,0:09:23.139
to actually be able to explain [br]to them what it means.

0:09:23.139,0:09:25.162
And so I have told you that the only way

0:09:25.162,0:09:27.264
you can be fruitful in the Christian life

0:09:27.264,0:09:29.364
is to abide in Christ.

0:09:29.364,0:09:30.698
Now what does that mean?

0:09:30.698,0:09:34.129
First of all, the word abide is [br]not that complex in Greek.

0:09:34.129,0:09:34.975
It's "meno."

0:09:34.975,0:09:39.883
It's to remain, to abide, to stay.

0:09:39.883,0:09:42.985
Now when we bring in the [br]metaphor of a branch,

0:09:42.985,0:09:45.861
you can see that a branch [br]must be connected

0:09:45.861,0:09:49.286
vitally to a vine in order for that branch

0:09:49.286,0:09:51.876
to continue with life and even bear fruit.

0:09:51.876,0:09:54.499
So somehow you and I must be

0:09:54.499,0:09:58.074
vitally connected with Christ.

0:09:58.074,0:10:00.597
Now herein lies two sides of a coin,

0:10:00.597,0:10:03.372
and it's often the case in Christianity

0:10:03.372,0:10:04.968
to have two sides of a coin.

0:10:04.968,0:10:07.225
One is positional,

0:10:07.225,0:10:09.945
and the other is our actual experience.

0:10:09.945,0:10:12.886
Now I want to say [br]positionally first of all

0:10:12.886,0:10:15.353
what I was explaining in the last session.

0:10:15.353,0:10:18.822
If you are truly a Christian -

0:10:18.822,0:10:20.225
and I don't say that lightly

0:10:20.225,0:10:21.920
because most people in America

0:10:21.920,0:10:23.684
who call themselves Christian

0:10:23.684,0:10:24.809
are not Christian,

0:10:24.809,0:10:27.068
and some of you who call [br]yourselves Christians

0:10:27.068,0:10:29.057
are possibly not Christians.

0:10:29.057,0:10:30.918
It's very important to understand.

0:10:30.918,0:10:32.333
Let me put it this way,

0:10:32.333,0:10:34.536
if you consider yourself [br]a carnal Christian,

0:10:34.536,0:10:36.498
you're lost.

0:10:36.498,0:10:39.478
You're just lost.

0:10:39.478,0:10:41.407
Do Christians sin? Yes.

0:10:41.407,0:10:44.063
Can Christians fall into [br]grievous sin? Absolutely.

0:10:44.063,0:10:47.211
Can Christians live a [br]continuously carnal lifestyle

0:10:47.211,0:10:51.598
without fruit? Absolutely not.

0:10:51.598,0:10:54.174
And so if you are a true believer,

0:10:54.174,0:10:57.149
you are vitally connected to Christ.

0:10:57.149,0:11:00.682
He is the vine. You are a branch.

0:11:00.682,0:11:04.148
He is the Head. You are the body.

0:11:04.148,0:11:05.780
We have many metaphors like that

0:11:05.780,0:11:07.926
to indicate this unique position

0:11:07.926,0:11:09.711
we now have with Christ.

0:11:09.711,0:11:11.918
Another is the Bible talks oftentimes

0:11:11.918,0:11:14.736
in spheres locatively.

0:11:14.736,0:11:18.130
For example, you're in the sphere of Adam.

0:11:18.130,0:11:21.621
Or you're in the sphere of Christ.

0:11:21.621,0:11:24.645
You're in the sphere of condemnation.

0:11:24.645,0:11:28.910
You're in the sphere of justification.

0:11:28.910,0:11:32.359
You are in the sphere of the flesh.

0:11:32.359,0:11:34.699
You are in the sphere of the Spirit.

0:11:34.699,0:11:36.577
So if you're genuinely a Christian,

0:11:36.577,0:11:38.069
you are a branch

0:11:38.069,0:11:40.238
and you're vitally connected.

0:11:40.238,0:11:42.251
But here's what we need to understand:

0:11:42.251,0:11:44.158
this position that we have

0:11:44.158,0:11:47.016
does not lead us ever in the New Testament

0:11:47.016,0:11:49.694
to being passive.

0:11:49.694,0:11:54.763
But it always promotes [br]a zealous application

0:11:54.763,0:11:56.712
of this truth;

0:11:56.712,0:12:00.216
a desire for this truth to [br]be worked out in our life,

0:12:00.216,0:12:01.586
to become manifest.

0:12:01.586,0:12:04.146
And let me use a word that [br]many people are afraid of:

0:12:04.146,0:12:06.998
to be experienced.

0:12:06.998,0:12:09.479
That it's an actual reality.

0:12:09.479,0:12:12.440
One of the men that was so very key

0:12:12.440,0:12:14.898
in my discipleship until today

0:12:14.898,0:12:17.940
uses a word all the time

0:12:17.940,0:12:20.984
that always brings me back to center.

0:12:20.984,0:12:22.708
And he'll say this:

0:12:22.708,0:12:29.498
Yes, Paul, but is it a [br]reality in your life?

0:12:29.498,0:12:31.147
When he listens to a sermon,

0:12:31.147,0:12:33.740
he'll say: there was reality there.

0:12:33.740,0:12:36.099
And that's kind of what [br]we're talking about.

0:12:36.099,0:12:38.694
Not just a theological supposition

0:12:38.694,0:12:40.984
or a theological or propositional truth,

0:12:40.984,0:12:44.843
but is it a growing reality?

0:12:44.843,0:12:48.836
Is it the experience of your life?

0:12:48.836,0:12:51.857
Do you experience fruit-bearing?

0:12:51.857,0:12:56.196
Do you experience communion with Christ?

0:12:56.196,0:12:58.425
You can quote all my favorite creeds,

0:12:58.425,0:13:00.445
but that does not guarantee

0:13:00.445,0:13:06.499
that you experience the [br]truths that are found there.

0:13:06.499,0:13:09.389
Now, as a Christian, we [br]are united with Christ,

0:13:09.389,0:13:14.395
but in the Christian life, [br]sanctification is progressive.

0:13:14.395,0:13:16.783
I think you all would agree with that.

0:13:16.783,0:13:18.314
It's progressive.

0:13:18.314,0:13:20.948
Well, let me explain what that means.

0:13:20.948,0:13:23.121
When you think of [br]progressive sanctification,

0:13:23.121,0:13:25.998
you probably think that as [br]you grow in your Christian life,

0:13:25.998,0:13:28.417
you become more holy, [br]more holy, more holy -

0:13:28.417,0:13:30.296
that's true. That's true.

0:13:30.296,0:13:32.977
But a lot of times we leave [br]things out of that formula

0:13:32.977,0:13:34.359
that ought to be included.

0:13:34.359,0:13:36.474
For example, repentance.

0:13:36.474,0:13:39.587
Did you know repentance is [br]subject to sanctification?

0:13:39.587,0:13:42.447
There's a sense in which [br]I repented unto salvation,

0:13:42.447,0:13:44.277
but I am growing in repentance -

0:13:44.277,0:13:45.568
did you know that?

0:13:45.568,0:13:47.835
I'm growing in saving repentance.

0:13:47.835,0:13:50.088
I repent more now.

0:13:50.088,0:13:52.321
I see more sin now.

0:13:52.321,0:13:53.970
I'm growing in faith.

0:13:53.970,0:13:56.736
My faith is subject to sanctification.

0:13:56.736,0:14:00.174
There was a time when [br]I believed unto salvation,

0:14:00.174,0:14:03.547
but that faith has become [br]subject to sanctification

0:14:03.547,0:14:05.748
over the last thirty years. It's deeper.

0:14:05.748,0:14:07.244
It's stronger.

0:14:07.244,0:14:08.226
It's the same way -

0:14:08.226,0:14:12.357
a new believer immediately [br]starts bearing fruit.

0:14:12.357,0:14:13.354
Really.

0:14:13.354,0:14:16.100
And many times, the first [br]few months of our life,

0:14:16.100,0:14:20.718
we see abundant amount of fruit.

0:14:20.718,0:14:23.041
But, we ought to be growing

0:14:23.041,0:14:24.964
in our fruit-bearing.

0:14:24.964,0:14:27.080
A believer, the moment that they believe,

0:14:27.080,0:14:28.897
they enter into communion with Christ

0:14:28.897,0:14:30.478
and they experience that.

0:14:30.478,0:14:33.227
The love of God is shed [br]abroad in their heart.

0:14:33.227,0:14:36.672
But as they grow in Christ,

0:14:36.672,0:14:39.597
this initial experience [br]of the love of God,

0:14:39.597,0:14:41.146
of the indwelling of the Spirit,

0:14:41.146,0:14:44.013
it ought to increase.

0:14:44.013,0:14:46.649
It ought to become more mature.

0:14:46.649,0:14:48.423
And that doesn't mean that they go

0:14:48.423,0:14:50.222
from experience to experience,

0:14:50.222,0:14:53.073
or this greater manifestation [br]to greater manifestation.

0:14:53.073,0:14:57.266
But it's referring to reality.

0:14:57.266,0:15:01.407
Every one of these things that [br]happen to us at salvation,

0:15:01.407,0:15:05.593
they become a deeper reality.

0:15:05.593,0:15:07.710
And they begin to manifest themselves

0:15:07.710,0:15:11.926
in a greater way in our life.

0:15:11.926,0:15:15.385
Now, I'm going to take a definition

0:15:15.385,0:15:16.512
from D.A. Carson.

0:15:16.512,0:15:19.284
I'm going to quote him [br]a few different times

0:15:19.284,0:15:22.069
throughout the teaching that [br]we're going to do tonight

0:15:22.069,0:15:24.932
because he says some things [br]that are absolutely marvelous.

0:15:24.932,0:15:27.464
D.A. Carson is a well known [br]New Testament scholar

0:15:27.464,0:15:30.016
and he has been very [br]helpful to almost every minister

0:15:30.016,0:15:31.912
who cares about the Word of God.

0:15:31.912,0:15:35.134
But he defines "abiding" in this way:

0:15:35.134,0:15:37.591
He says, "the imagery of the vine

0:15:37.591,0:15:39.050
is stretched a little

0:15:39.050,0:15:41.322
when the branches are [br]given the responsibility

0:15:41.322,0:15:43.425
to remain in the vine."

0:15:43.425,0:15:44.862
Now if you notice, He says:

0:15:44.862,0:15:47.395
"I am the vine. You are the branches."

0:15:47.395,0:15:49.846
But then He goes outside of this metaphor

0:15:49.846,0:15:52.177
and He tells us that we [br]need to do something

0:15:52.177,0:15:54.373
to continue abiding.

0:15:54.373,0:15:57.654
You know, branches just [br]kind of sit there, don't they.

0:15:57.654,0:16:00.120
But there is something that we must do.

0:16:00.120,0:16:02.260
And basically, it's we must cultivate

0:16:02.260,0:16:04.321
this relationship which we have.

0:16:04.321,0:16:08.005
Now he says this, "The point is clear.

0:16:08.005,0:16:13.265
Continuous dependence upon the vine,

0:16:13.265,0:16:17.416
constant reliance upon Him,

0:16:17.416,0:16:22.184
persistent spiritual imbibing..."

0:16:22.184,0:16:23.780
What does imbibing mean?

0:16:23.780,0:16:28.227
It means to drink, to absorb.

0:16:28.227,0:16:31.256
"...Continuous persistent spiritual

0:16:31.256,0:16:33.701
imbibing of His life -

0:16:33.701,0:16:36.536
this is the indispensable

0:16:36.536,0:16:40.934
and essential action, [br]condition, or ingredient

0:16:40.934,0:16:44.222
of spiritual fruitfulness."

0:16:44.222,0:16:46.963
Now, up to this point, you [br]realize what I've been doing?

0:16:46.963,0:16:48.748
I've been building up to this moment.

0:16:48.748,0:16:50.694
I've been trying to show you

0:16:50.694,0:16:55.101
that you cannot do anything

0:16:55.101,0:16:59.125
apart from the life and power of Christ.

0:16:59.125,0:17:00.606
I've also talked a great deal

0:17:00.606,0:17:02.061
about the providence of God -

0:17:02.061,0:17:04.325
how God in His providence

0:17:04.325,0:17:06.117
will send trials our way,

0:17:06.117,0:17:09.434
difficulties, things we cannot overcome,

0:17:09.434,0:17:13.151
obstacles that we ourselves cannot endure.

0:17:13.151,0:17:14.537
Now why does He do this?

0:17:14.537,0:17:15.913
Is it because He hates us?

0:17:15.913,0:17:16.995
Absolutely not.

0:17:16.995,0:17:20.303
All these strong winds are designed

0:17:20.303,0:17:23.703
to convince you and me

0:17:23.703,0:17:29.222
that we simply cannot.

0:17:29.222,0:17:30.843
In the Christian Manifesto,

0:17:30.843,0:17:33.064
which is of course the [br]Sermon on the Mount,

0:17:33.064,0:17:36.595
the first virtue that is given us is this:

0:17:36.595,0:17:39.603
Blessed are the poor in spirit.

0:17:39.603,0:17:42.098
Blessed are those who live

0:17:42.098,0:17:51.038
in a profound dependence upon God.

0:17:51.038,0:17:55.551
What is the most God-honoring [br]thing that we can do?

0:17:55.551,0:18:00.170
To live in a profound dependence upon God.

0:18:00.170,0:18:01.991
What is the most dishonoring thing

0:18:01.991,0:18:04.904
that Israel ever did? Independence.

0:18:04.904,0:18:06.932
Is that not true?

0:18:06.932,0:18:08.445
The most dishonoring thing

0:18:08.445,0:18:10.314
that Israel did under the old covenant

0:18:10.314,0:18:12.163
was independence.

0:18:12.163,0:18:14.961
"We don't need You. [br]We can do this on our own."

0:18:14.961,0:18:16.816
Do you realize that almost every

0:18:16.816,0:18:18.727
saving activity of God

0:18:18.727,0:18:23.771
does not begin until first He empties men

0:18:23.771,0:18:26.455
of all hope of saving themselves?

0:18:26.455,0:18:29.107
Whether it's Israel in Egypt;

0:18:29.107,0:18:31.673
whether it's Joseph in the prison;

0:18:31.673,0:18:34.051
whether it's Gideon [br]against the Midianites -

0:18:34.051,0:18:35.522
what is He constantly doing?

0:18:35.522,0:18:38.780
He's constantly emptying us

0:18:38.780,0:18:41.521
of ourselves, of self-confidence,

0:18:41.521,0:18:43.364
of self-reliance.

0:18:43.364,0:18:44.275
Why?

0:18:44.275,0:18:46.263
So that we will live in absolute

0:18:46.263,0:18:48.516
or full dependence upon Him.

0:18:48.516,0:18:50.450
Can you see how vital this is?

0:18:50.450,0:18:52.222
Now you may be thinking to yourself,

0:18:52.222,0:18:53.691
"Brother Paul, just go on."

0:18:53.691,0:18:56.686
No, I can't.

0:18:56.686,0:18:59.711
Like I used the example two nights ago,

0:18:59.711,0:19:03.466
it was necessary that Peter fall.

0:19:03.466,0:19:04.513
Why?

0:19:04.513,0:19:08.201
He made that self-reliant, independent,

0:19:08.201,0:19:12.240
John Wayne type of declaration there

0:19:12.240,0:19:14.311
in the supper, in the Passover:

0:19:14.311,0:19:16.960
Though all deny You, I will not.

0:19:16.960,0:19:18.512
He had to fall.

0:19:18.512,0:19:22.106
It was necessary that Satan sift him

0:19:22.106,0:19:23.917
and that he fall. Why?

0:19:23.917,0:19:27.417
To rid him of that.

0:19:27.417,0:19:28.878
(unintelligible)

0:19:28.878,0:19:30.849
Look at this! The great Peter,

0:19:30.849,0:19:32.332
the rock, denies Christ

0:19:32.332,0:19:35.821
before a little servant girl.

0:19:35.821,0:19:39.039
It was necessary.

0:19:39.039,0:19:41.038
Some of the old preachers used to say

0:19:41.038,0:19:43.128
Christ spent three years

0:19:43.128,0:19:45.339
emptying the disciples so that He could

0:19:45.339,0:19:50.139
fill them in a second [br]on the day of Pentecost.

0:19:50.139,0:19:52.964
I mean, God can fill you like that.

0:19:52.964,0:19:56.851
The emptying part is problematic.

0:19:56.851,0:19:58.569
And so He's constantly doing this,

0:19:58.569,0:20:03.164
constantly sending things [br]our way to empty us.

0:20:03.164,0:20:06.687
But to cause us to cling to Him;

0:20:06.687,0:20:07.887
to cling to Him.

0:20:07.887,0:20:12.075
Now, there are three aspects of abiding

0:20:12.075,0:20:13.465
because I've just told you,

0:20:13.465,0:20:14.934
you need to cling to Christ.

0:20:14.934,0:20:18.112
You need to lay aside self-[br]reliance and independence,

0:20:18.112,0:20:19.753
and you need to cling to Christ.

0:20:19.753,0:20:21.206
But now you're probably saying

0:20:21.206,0:20:22.427
if you're a thinker,

0:20:22.427,0:20:25.713
okay, but again, how do you do that?

0:20:25.713,0:20:27.714
Well, there are three aspects to this.

0:20:27.714,0:20:30.675
And I'm going to take part [br]of D.A. Carson's definition

0:20:30.675,0:20:33.384
and use it within these three aspects.

0:20:33.384,0:20:36.081
First of all,

0:20:36.081,0:20:40.427
abiding in Christ is through

0:20:40.427,0:20:45.191
continuous dependence on His Word,

0:20:45.191,0:20:48.606
constant submission to His Word,

0:20:48.606,0:20:55.220
persistent spiritual imbibing of His Word.

0:20:55.220,0:20:58.223
Now look in verse 7.

0:20:58.223,0:21:01.918
Chapter 15:7, "If you abide in Me

0:21:01.918,0:21:07.135
and My words abide in you..."

0:21:07.135,0:21:08.500
Now look at verse 10,

0:21:08.500,0:21:10.455
"If you keep My commandments,

0:21:10.455,0:21:11.933
you will abide in My love,

0:21:11.933,0:21:14.376
just as I have kept My [br]Father's commandments

0:21:14.376,0:21:19.153
and abide in His love."

0:21:19.153,0:21:24.840
Now, you know the old song that says:

0:21:24.840,0:21:27.105
"Trust and obey, for there's no other way,

0:21:27.105,0:21:29.721
to be happy in Jesus,[br]but to trust and obey"?

0:21:29.721,0:21:31.774
Well, that might sound kind of trite,

0:21:31.774,0:21:35.766
but let me just share with you something.

0:21:35.766,0:21:37.908
Trust and obey. There's no other way

0:21:37.908,0:21:40.186
to be happy in Jesus. I'm sorry.

0:21:40.186,0:21:42.334
I know that you live in a culture

0:21:42.334,0:21:44.787
where you can go into [br]every Christian bookstore

0:21:44.787,0:21:46.302
and find one thousand books

0:21:46.302,0:21:49.603
on ten steps to do this. I'm sorry.

0:21:49.603,0:21:51.167
Quick fixes here and there,

0:21:51.167,0:21:52.861
microwave Christianity,

0:21:52.861,0:21:55.364
instantaneous this and [br]that - no, my friend.

0:21:55.364,0:21:59.181
You have been given a book

0:21:59.181,0:22:05.972
which I dare say most of us despise.

0:22:05.972,0:22:07.506
You say, "I don't despise it."

0:22:07.506,0:22:09.519
Let me share with you something.

0:22:09.519,0:22:11.599
Have you ever been a street preacher?

0:22:11.599,0:22:13.182
You know there's something worse

0:22:13.182,0:22:14.809
than the crowd turning around

0:22:14.809,0:22:17.474
and all of them getting really mad at you?

0:22:17.474,0:22:19.257
You know what's worse than that?

0:22:19.257,0:22:21.663
They neglect you altogether.

0:22:21.663,0:22:23.298
You're standing there preaching

0:22:23.298,0:22:25.825
and they all walk by you for hours

0:22:25.825,0:22:27.553
like you're not even there.

0:22:27.553,0:22:29.442
There was a time in my life

0:22:29.442,0:22:34.786
when I actually thought I was invisible.

0:22:34.786,0:22:36.821
No, the worst thing you can do to me

0:22:36.821,0:22:39.816
to despise me is neglect;

0:22:39.816,0:22:44.864
that I'm not even worth arguing with.

0:22:44.864,0:22:46.308
Now do you see

0:22:46.308,0:22:48.539
the neglect of God's Word?

0:22:48.539,0:22:50.145
You see, we're always wondering,

0:22:50.145,0:22:51.258
where is the power?

0:22:51.258,0:22:52.967
Or you see a man or a woman

0:22:52.967,0:22:54.380
who seems to be fruit bearing

0:22:54.380,0:22:55.778
and full of power and zeal

0:22:55.778,0:22:57.411
and you want to find their secret.

0:22:57.411,0:22:59.057
The problem is there is no secret

0:22:59.057,0:23:00.642
and when they give you the answer

0:23:00.642,0:23:02.862
you're not going to like it.

0:23:02.862,0:23:05.492
What is it?

0:23:05.492,0:23:13.556
I have no wisdom or [br]understanding of my own.

0:23:13.556,0:23:15.854
I do not know how to walk

0:23:15.854,0:23:18.267
from the bedroom to the bathroom

0:23:18.267,0:23:22.615
apart from the Word of God.

0:23:22.615,0:23:28.414
This world is a minefield full of danger.

0:23:28.414,0:23:33.411
I have no telepathic ability to discern

0:23:33.411,0:23:35.593
where all the mines are hidden.

0:23:35.593,0:23:39.813
But I have a map.

0:23:39.813,0:23:42.765
I do not know how to [br]discern the things of God,

0:23:42.765,0:23:47.076
but I have been given truth in Scripture.

0:23:47.076,0:23:48.931
I'm sorry, my dear friend, if you were

0:23:48.931,0:23:50.497
waiting to find out something

0:23:50.497,0:23:53.356
that would really just be brand new to you

0:23:53.356,0:23:55.583
about how to abide in Jesus.

0:23:55.583,0:23:57.993
I'm sorry!

0:23:57.993,0:24:01.724
But it is this first and foremost,

0:24:01.724,0:24:06.444
He has given you His Word.

0:24:06.444,0:24:09.549
And again, I go back to old John Bunyan.

0:24:09.549,0:24:11.664
They said of him if you cut his veins

0:24:11.664,0:24:15.968
he would bleed the Bible.

0:24:15.968,0:24:18.910
The old story that's been told [br]in several different ways

0:24:18.910,0:24:20.286
about Stoneface;

0:24:20.286,0:24:22.930
about supposedly a man who would come

0:24:22.930,0:24:25.401
and visit a town and be [br]a blessing to the town,

0:24:25.401,0:24:26.901
and he would have a face

0:24:26.901,0:24:29.737
like the face that was carved [br]into a natural formation

0:24:29.737,0:24:30.628
on a stone.

0:24:30.628,0:24:32.398
And everyone waited for that person

0:24:32.398,0:24:34.076
and one time a little boy was born

0:24:34.076,0:24:35.532
and he kept hearing the story

0:24:35.532,0:24:38.040
about one day someone [br]would come to save the town,

0:24:38.040,0:24:39.792
and he kept looking at that stone

0:24:39.792,0:24:41.050
and looking at that stone

0:24:41.050,0:24:42.477
and looking at that stone,

0:24:42.477,0:24:44.602
until at the end of his life he realized

0:24:44.602,0:24:46.065
he had become that face

0:24:46.065,0:24:49.546
and he was the one [br]who had helped the town.

0:24:49.546,0:24:52.268
It is just us going into the Word,

0:24:52.268,0:24:53.427
going into the Word,

0:24:53.427,0:24:54.516
going into the Word,

0:24:54.516,0:24:55.648
going into the Word.

0:24:55.648,0:24:58.703
Not even seeking to be [br]transformed by the Word,

0:24:58.703,0:25:01.328
just recognizing the [br]importance of the Word

0:25:01.328,0:25:02.954
and living in the Word.

0:25:02.954,0:25:05.091
And eventually, without [br]us even knowing it,

0:25:05.091,0:25:09.428
we begin to take on its characteristics.

0:25:09.428,0:25:11.585
Do you see that?

0:25:11.585,0:25:13.512
Let me give you an example -

0:25:13.512,0:25:16.615
a rather, vulgar, trite, common example.

0:25:16.615,0:25:18.065
Let's say that you come to me

0:25:18.065,0:25:20.128
and you have a big spot on your forehead

0:25:20.128,0:25:21.390
that's just a bloody mass.

0:25:21.390,0:25:22.924
And you say to me, Brother Paul,

0:25:22.924,0:25:24.831
I've been to every doctor in the world.

0:25:24.831,0:25:26.765
No one can figure out why I have this.

0:25:26.765,0:25:29.189
Could you please try to pray to the Lord

0:25:29.189,0:25:30.624
that He would give you wisdom

0:25:30.624,0:25:33.349
with regard to why I have [br]this on my forehead?

0:25:33.349,0:25:35.283
And I say, well, I'm no doctor,

0:25:35.283,0:25:37.392
but sure, I'll pray about it.

0:25:37.392,0:25:39.970
But I decide one day to be even practical,

0:25:39.970,0:25:42.569
and I decide to follow [br]you around for 24 hours.

0:25:42.569,0:25:46.747
And I notice that at 1:00 in the morning -

0:25:46.747,0:25:48.520
the clock strikes 1,

0:25:48.520,0:25:50.737
and you get up out of bed

0:25:50.737,0:25:53.736
and you hit your forehead [br]against a brick wall one time

0:25:53.736,0:25:54.978
and go back to bed.

0:25:54.978,0:25:57.049
And then I watch, it's 2:00.

0:25:57.049,0:25:59.098
You get up precisely at 2:00

0:25:59.098,0:26:00.380
when the bell strikes,

0:26:00.380,0:26:02.152
and you hit your forehead twice

0:26:02.152,0:26:04.211
on a stone wall and go back to bed.

0:26:04.211,0:26:06.250
Now, I notice as you go through the day,

0:26:06.250,0:26:07.519
every turn of the hour,

0:26:07.519,0:26:10.182
you hit your head against a wall

0:26:10.182,0:26:11.457
that many times.

0:26:11.457,0:26:13.304
At the end of 24 hours, I come to you,

0:26:13.304,0:26:14.300
and I say this:

0:26:14.300,0:26:17.773
Look, I'm no doctor,

0:26:17.773,0:26:21.456
but I think I figured out your problem.

0:26:21.456,0:26:23.390
If you will stop banging your head

0:26:23.390,0:26:24.945
against a brick wall

0:26:24.945,0:26:28.398
every time the clock strikes the hour,

0:26:28.398,0:26:31.021
I think your head will heal.

0:26:31.021,0:26:32.408
You say, that's absurd.

0:26:32.408,0:26:34.582
I say the same thing to you.

0:26:34.582,0:26:36.924
You neglect the Scriptures.

0:26:36.924,0:26:38.354
I'm sorry.

0:26:38.354,0:26:40.897
And then, do you know what evangelicalism

0:26:40.897,0:26:42.772
has done in America?

0:26:42.772,0:26:47.447
It has conformed itself to your flesh.

0:26:47.447,0:26:48.997
If I have heard it one time,

0:26:48.997,0:26:50.611
I've heard it a thousand times,

0:26:50.611,0:26:52.965
people and teacher and pastors

0:26:52.965,0:26:55.450
and supposedly educators in Christianity

0:26:55.450,0:26:57.635
saying: we don't live in a culture anymore

0:26:57.635,0:27:00.302
where people can even [br]pay attention for five minutes,

0:27:00.302,0:27:02.369
so we've got to give [br]them little soundbites

0:27:02.369,0:27:04.416
with regard to Christianity.

0:27:04.416,0:27:05.668
You know what we've done?

0:27:05.668,0:27:07.399
We're the first group of Christians

0:27:07.399,0:27:08.588
who believe the Bible -

0:27:08.588,0:27:09.902
the first group in history

0:27:09.902,0:27:12.251
that no longer believe that our culture

0:27:12.251,0:27:14.420
is to conform itself to the book.

0:27:14.420,0:27:19.330
We're now trying to conform [br]Christianity to the culture.

0:27:19.330,0:27:22.341
I say if our culture has become too dumb

0:27:22.341,0:27:24.688
to read for half an hour,

0:27:24.688,0:27:27.411
that in the church we [br]do not give in to that,

0:27:27.411,0:27:31.652
but we start teaching people how to think

0:27:31.652,0:27:33.236
and how to read

0:27:33.236,0:27:34.789
and how to meditate,

0:27:34.789,0:27:37.141
to turn off televisions,

0:27:37.141,0:27:39.260
to turn off vain conversations

0:27:39.260,0:27:41.859
and to get into the book.

0:27:41.859,0:27:44.457
Let me share with you [br]something about western culture.

0:27:44.457,0:27:45.978
I want to be very careful here,

0:27:45.978,0:27:48.086
but I just want to make a few observations

0:27:48.086,0:27:49.982
that may help you understand you.

0:27:49.982,0:27:53.280
You know everyone says western [br]culture this, western culture that.

0:27:53.280,0:27:56.599
We shouldn't try to take western culture[br]and apply it to other cultures.

0:27:56.599,0:27:58.825
Let me share with you something [br]about western culture.

0:27:58.825,0:28:00.859
Western culture has to [br]do with the Americas

0:28:00.859,0:28:02.134
and also Western Europe.

0:28:02.134,0:28:04.614
I guess you're all familiar [br]with that - Western culture.

0:28:04.614,0:28:06.446
Prior to the advent of Christianity,

0:28:06.446,0:28:09.095
western culture meant we were [br]a bunch of tribal people

0:28:09.095,0:28:11.461
living in Northern Europe [br]running around naked

0:28:11.461,0:28:14.153
painting ourselves blue [br]and eating one another.

0:28:14.153,0:28:16.191
That's western culture.

0:28:16.191,0:28:18.976
So what changed western culture?

0:28:18.976,0:28:22.132
The advent of Christianity.

0:28:22.132,0:28:23.447
Yeah.

0:28:23.447,0:28:24.988
And because of Christianity,

0:28:24.988,0:28:27.419
we stopped worshiping twigs

0:28:27.419,0:28:30.236
and streams and crickets

0:28:30.236,0:28:33.407
and hatchets and horns.

0:28:33.407,0:28:35.231
We came to understand the living God

0:28:35.231,0:28:37.331
and we came to understand creation

0:28:37.331,0:28:39.247
in light of that living God.

0:28:39.247,0:28:41.988
Our culture began to change.

0:28:41.988,0:28:43.875
The very height of literature and art

0:28:43.875,0:28:45.521
and music and everything in Europe

0:28:45.521,0:28:47.744
owes itself to the advent of Christianity

0:28:47.744,0:28:49.269
coming in and changing a group

0:28:49.269,0:28:53.718
of blue-painted barbarians.

0:28:53.718,0:28:55.966
That's what Christianity did.

0:28:55.966,0:28:58.606
But now, because we have [br]rejected Christianity,

0:28:58.606,0:29:01.227
we have rejected the God of Christianity,

0:29:01.227,0:29:04.708
we're becoming cannibalistic [br]barbarians once again.

0:29:04.708,0:29:06.522
Oh yes, we can do all kinds of things

0:29:06.522,0:29:08.582
with computers and technology.

0:29:08.582,0:29:12.059
We are fabulous in IT,

0:29:12.059,0:29:15.892
but we're becoming immoral beasts.

0:29:15.892,0:29:18.288
Now the point that I'm [br]trying to make is this:

0:29:18.288,0:29:20.588
You want some quick fix.

0:29:20.588,0:29:22.110
The quick fix is this:

0:29:22.110,0:29:25.210
spend your life renewing your mind

0:29:25.210,0:29:26.708
in the Word of God.

0:29:26.708,0:29:28.558
Cling to the Word of God

0:29:28.558,0:29:30.633
as though your very life depends on it

0:29:30.633,0:29:38.845
because, sir, I can assure you, it does!

0:29:38.845,0:29:40.719
I'll put it this way,

0:29:40.719,0:29:43.394
D.A. Carson writes this,

0:29:43.394,0:29:44.808
"'If you remain in Me'

0:29:44.808,0:29:46.346
is equivalent to doing

0:29:46.346,0:29:50.990
all that Jesus commands.

0:29:50.990,0:29:53.409
Such words must so (and I love this)

0:29:53.409,0:29:57.911
such words must so lodge

0:29:57.911,0:30:00.949
in the disciple's mind and heart,

0:30:00.949,0:30:02.953
that conformity to Christ,

0:30:02.953,0:30:04.706
obedience to Christ

0:30:04.706,0:30:07.824
is the most natural thing in the world."

0:30:07.824,0:30:09.909
Now, see, you can't get there

0:30:09.909,0:30:11.835
apart from the Word.

0:30:11.835,0:30:14.445
Let me read that again.

0:30:14.445,0:30:15.501
"Such words..."

0:30:15.501,0:30:18.776
That's the teachings of Christ.

0:30:18.776,0:30:21.897
"...Must so lodge

0:30:21.897,0:30:25.069
in the disciple's mind and heart

0:30:25.069,0:30:26.869
that conformity to Christ,

0:30:26.869,0:30:28.587
obedience to Christ

0:30:28.587,0:30:31.265
is the most natural thing in the world."

0:30:31.265,0:30:33.285
Now how is that going to happen?

0:30:33.285,0:30:36.302
Now, let's go back to [br]something I greatly love -

0:30:36.302,0:30:39.907
the Law of God.

0:30:39.907,0:30:41.867
The books of wisdom.

0:30:41.867,0:30:43.698
And what do we see over and over?

0:30:43.698,0:30:45.841
What should the king do in Deuteronomy?

0:30:45.841,0:30:48.303
He should write out all [br]the words of this Law.

0:30:48.303,0:30:49.178
Why?

0:30:49.178,0:30:51.293
To work on his penmanship? Absolutely not.

0:30:51.293,0:30:54.547
That those words might be firmly lodged

0:30:54.547,0:30:56.637
in his heart and mind.

0:30:56.637,0:30:58.491
It's an interesting thing when you go

0:30:58.491,0:31:01.674
to the Bible and you do [br]this kind of study:

0:31:01.674,0:31:05.110
How do you study the Bible [br]according to the Bible?

0:31:05.110,0:31:07.062
And you know you will actually find

0:31:07.062,0:31:11.573
only a few references to study?

0:31:11.573,0:31:12.760
Did you know that?

0:31:12.760,0:31:15.128
Do you know what the great portion is?

0:31:15.128,0:31:17.582
Memorization and meditation.

0:31:17.582,0:31:19.756
Lodging the Word of God in your heart.

0:31:19.756,0:31:22.307
As one old preacher I know [br]who I dearly love says:

0:31:22.307,0:31:25.815
"Folks, this isn't rocket surgery."

0:31:25.815,0:31:28.093
It means rocket science or brain surgery,

0:31:28.093,0:31:29.788
but he combines the two things.

0:31:29.788,0:31:31.552
He goes, "this isn't rocket surgery."

0:31:31.552,0:31:33.760
It's simple. You take the Word of God

0:31:33.760,0:31:35.348
and you read it and you read it

0:31:35.348,0:31:36.948
and you read it and you read it

0:31:36.948,0:31:37.973
and you study it,

0:31:37.973,0:31:39.457
and if you don't understand it,

0:31:39.457,0:31:41.414
you don't care, you keep working on it

0:31:41.414,0:31:46.250
because your life depends upon it.

0:31:46.250,0:31:47.991
As I said the other night,

0:31:47.991,0:31:49.337
some of you who would say,

0:31:49.337,0:31:51.308
"Well, I'm not a reader."

0:31:51.308,0:31:53.594
Yeah, but if your company [br]offered you a job

0:31:53.594,0:31:56.205
paying twice or three times [br]what you're now making,

0:31:56.205,0:31:58.896
but you have a 600 page [br]manual to memorize,

0:31:58.896,0:32:00.955
I guarantee you'd stay up night and day

0:32:00.955,0:32:02.104
to memorize that.

0:32:02.104,0:32:03.437
Your wife would be with you

0:32:03.437,0:32:05.328
pouring you coffee and encouraging you

0:32:05.328,0:32:08.860
because she wants a new bedroom set.

0:32:08.860,0:32:10.346
Your children would be going

0:32:10.346,0:32:14.624
"hip, hip, hooray dad! Go dad! Go dad!"

0:32:14.624,0:32:16.571
And we would do something like that

0:32:16.571,0:32:21.475
for something as pathetic as money.

0:32:21.475,0:32:22.974
To buy silly clothes

0:32:22.974,0:32:27.642
with important designers' names on them.

0:32:27.642,0:32:30.131
What a pathetic people.

0:32:30.131,0:32:31.898
And yet, we'll let eternity

0:32:31.898,0:32:34.905
escape right through our hands

0:32:34.905,0:32:40.565
and not even move a finger.

0:32:40.565,0:32:45.139
Now, what does this look like?

0:32:45.139,0:32:47.097
I want to read you some texts

0:32:47.097,0:32:48.910
that have been very helpful for me.

0:32:48.910,0:32:51.167
But now, I want you to [br]listen to these texts

0:32:51.167,0:32:53.169
as though you'd never heard them before.

0:32:53.169,0:32:54.465
That's often very helpful.

0:32:54.465,0:32:56.826
I knew of one old pastor [br]that every three years

0:32:56.826,0:32:58.149
he would change his Bible.

0:32:58.149,0:33:00.260
He would spend three years

0:33:00.260,0:33:02.200
going through his entire Bible

0:33:02.200,0:33:03.913
and writing notes, filling the pages

0:33:03.913,0:33:05.344
with notes and notes and notes,

0:33:05.344,0:33:06.853
and then he would take that Bible

0:33:06.853,0:33:08.893
and put it on the shelf [br]and get a new Bible

0:33:08.893,0:33:11.306
because he wanted to hear [br]the Word afresh again

0:33:11.306,0:33:12.334
without his notes.

0:33:12.334,0:33:14.215
He wanted God to speak to him afresh.

0:33:14.215,0:33:16.212
Now, listen to this as though

0:33:16.212,0:33:17.825
you've never heard it before.

0:33:17.825,0:33:19.718
Because right now you probably

0:33:19.718,0:33:21.391
treat it like a cliche -

0:33:21.391,0:33:23.044
a meaningless piece

0:33:23.044,0:33:25.946
of New Testament poetry.

0:33:25.946,0:33:27.442
But I want you to listen to it

0:33:27.442,0:33:30.273
as though you had to take it seriously.

0:33:30.273,0:33:32.355
Now this is the incarnate God speaking -

0:33:32.355,0:33:34.340
Jesus Christ.

0:33:34.340,0:33:36.638
"But He answered and said,

0:33:36.638,0:33:38.266
'It is written,

0:33:38.266,0:33:41.854
Man shall not live on bread alone,

0:33:41.854,0:33:44.638
but on every word that proceeds

0:33:44.638,0:33:46.753
out of the mouth of God.'"

0:33:46.753,0:33:49.281
There's a sense in which [br]I know you believe this.

0:33:49.281,0:33:54.184
There's a sense in which you [br]don't believe this at all.

0:33:54.184,0:33:56.752
He's saying every aspect of your life

0:33:56.752,0:34:00.494
is to be governed, fueled, conformed,

0:34:00.494,0:34:03.023
empowered by the Word of God.

0:34:03.023,0:34:04.388
Let me ask you a question,

0:34:04.388,0:34:05.963
those of you who are married.

0:34:05.963,0:34:07.327
How much time have you spent

0:34:07.327,0:34:08.903
studying marriage in the Scriptures?

0:34:08.903,0:34:10.603
I mean, it's the most [br]important relationship

0:34:10.603,0:34:12.908
you have on this earth.

0:34:12.908,0:34:14.885
Are you doing what it says here?

0:34:14.885,0:34:16.652
That your marriage, you're seeking

0:34:16.652,0:34:18.414
that it be conformed to every word

0:34:18.414,0:34:21.033
that proceeds out of the mouth of God?

0:34:21.033,0:34:23.353
Now marriage is tough [br]enough when you do know

0:34:23.353,0:34:25.428
what God's Word says.

0:34:25.428,0:34:27.067
How much more difficult is it

0:34:27.067,0:34:31.656
when you don't even know [br]what God's Word says?

0:34:31.656,0:34:33.501
Sometimes I'll ask music directors.

0:34:33.501,0:34:34.772
You know, I'll go to a church,

0:34:34.772,0:34:37.018
and it's got a big music [br]program and all this,

0:34:37.018,0:34:38.857
and I'll ask them this one question:

0:34:38.857,0:34:40.779
You're the worship leader? Yes.

0:34:40.779,0:34:42.556
Have you studied worship

0:34:42.556,0:34:44.686
beginning in the book of Genesis 1

0:34:44.686,0:34:47.821
all the way through the [br]book of Revelation?

0:34:47.821,0:34:49.391
Well, no.

0:34:49.391,0:34:50.833
Well, then how do you know

0:34:50.833,0:34:53.065
that what you're doing is pleasing to God?

0:34:53.065,0:34:55.920
How can you know?

0:34:55.920,0:34:57.708
The sad thing is now they say

0:34:57.708,0:34:59.604
well, it doesn't even matter.

0:34:59.604,0:35:02.208
It's just basically left up [br]to what you feel like.

0:35:02.208,0:35:05.096
No, it's not. No, it's not.

0:35:05.096,0:35:06.968
The way you dress -

0:35:06.968,0:35:09.326
I know I sound now like a 1950's

0:35:09.326,0:35:10.954
fundamentalist preacher, don't I?

0:35:10.954,0:35:12.481
But let me ask you a question:

0:35:12.481,0:35:13.564
the way you dress -

0:35:13.564,0:35:16.512
have you gone to Scripture to ask God:

0:35:16.512,0:35:18.133
what am I supposed to do?

0:35:18.133,0:35:19.213
The way you talk,

0:35:19.213,0:35:21.289
your relationships,

0:35:21.289,0:35:23.945
what you participate in [br]and don't participate in?

0:35:23.945,0:35:25.362
Look what He says:

0:35:25.362,0:35:28.589
You do not live on bread alone,

0:35:28.589,0:35:31.317
but you live on every word

0:35:31.317,0:35:34.940
that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

0:35:34.940,0:35:37.077
You know what the Puritan genius was?

0:35:37.077,0:35:38.951
Now, I don't agree with the Puritans

0:35:38.951,0:35:40.198
on absolutely everything.

0:35:40.198,0:35:44.630
They're men, but you know [br]what their genius was?

0:35:44.630,0:35:48.007
They honestly sought to conform

0:35:48.007,0:35:51.371
every aspect of their life [br]to the Word of God.

0:35:51.371,0:35:52.883
Now, like all of us men,

0:35:52.883,0:35:54.292
they failed in some areas.

0:35:54.292,0:35:56.934
They went too far or not [br]far enough in some areas.

0:35:56.934,0:35:58.624
But they are one of the few peoples

0:35:58.624,0:36:00.118
that ever walked on this planet

0:36:00.118,0:36:02.720
that said every aspect of life

0:36:02.720,0:36:05.940
must be conformed to the [br]written Word of God.

0:36:05.940,0:36:08.973
We don't believe that!

0:36:08.973,0:36:11.274
As a matter of fact, we [br]live in a culture now

0:36:11.274,0:36:13.369
where it's just sort of believe

0:36:13.369,0:36:15.020
in an undefined Jesus

0:36:15.020,0:36:18.900
and then do whatever is [br]right in your own eyes.

0:36:18.900,0:36:21.508
No, my dear friend, listen!

0:36:21.508,0:36:25.503
You see, you don't fear.

0:36:25.503,0:36:27.512
And you do trust in yourself.

0:36:27.512,0:36:29.248
You prove it every day

0:36:29.248,0:36:31.348
by just walking according to

0:36:31.348,0:36:35.049
what you think is right.

0:36:35.049,0:36:36.940
Don't do that!

0:36:36.940,0:36:38.735
Abiding in Christ is asking,

0:36:38.735,0:36:42.196
Lord, I am in a fallen world.

0:36:42.196,0:36:44.143
There is a sense in which even though

0:36:44.143,0:36:45.314
I have been regenerated,

0:36:45.314,0:36:47.691
I still have fallen members of my body -

0:36:47.691,0:36:50.176
even a fallen mind.

0:36:50.176,0:36:51.588
I live in a fallen world.

0:36:51.588,0:36:53.912
I'm behind enemy lines.

0:36:53.912,0:36:55.437
Wisdom was not born with me.

0:36:55.437,0:36:57.289
It will not die with me.

0:36:57.289,0:37:00.333
I must take this book.

0:37:00.333,0:37:03.321
Again, I go back to Pilgrim's Progress.

0:37:03.321,0:37:05.573
It's the book.

0:37:05.573,0:37:08.851
The book that guided him.

0:37:08.851,0:37:12.524
The book.

0:37:12.524,0:37:14.636
Listen to this text.

0:37:14.636,0:37:17.291
He tells Joshua, "Only be [br]strong and very courageous.

0:37:17.291,0:37:20.404
Be careful to do according to all the Law

0:37:20.404,0:37:23.080
which Moses My servant commanded you.

0:37:23.080,0:37:24.370
Do not turn from it

0:37:24.370,0:37:27.042
to the right or to the left."

0:37:27.042,0:37:28.725
Do you know the average evangelical

0:37:28.725,0:37:30.752
doesn't know enough of the Law

0:37:30.752,0:37:35.896
to determine whether he's [br]even turned from it or not.

0:37:35.896,0:37:37.627
Really. We talk about obedience,

0:37:37.627,0:37:39.251
but before obedience can come

0:37:39.251,0:37:40.841
there must be knowledge.

0:37:40.841,0:37:42.620
And there's such a neglect [br]of the Word of God

0:37:42.620,0:37:43.606
that we don't even know

0:37:43.606,0:37:45.566
when we're walking in disobedience.

0:37:45.566,0:37:48.370
That's why we can do horrendous things

0:37:48.370,0:37:52.183
within the context of [br]the so-called local church

0:37:52.183,0:37:54.750
and not even be convicted about it.

0:37:54.750,0:37:58.949
We don't even know [br]what the will of God is.

0:37:58.949,0:38:01.858
"So that you may have [br]success wherever you go.

0:38:01.858,0:38:03.651
This book of the Law..."

0:38:03.651,0:38:07.527
Now, let's just take this [br]literally for a moment.

0:38:07.527,0:38:12.150
Not absurdedly, but literally.

0:38:12.150,0:38:16.147
"This book of the Law shall [br]not depart from your mouth,

0:38:16.147,0:38:22.202
but you shall meditate [br]on it day and night."

0:38:22.202,0:38:24.811
Okay, let me ask you a question.

0:38:24.811,0:38:27.453
Does your ten minute quiet time

0:38:27.453,0:38:31.405
fulfill this command?

0:38:31.405,0:38:33.350
I mean, people boast because

0:38:33.350,0:38:35.534
"I had my quiet time."

0:38:35.534,0:38:37.156
Well, describe it to me.

0:38:37.156,0:38:40.219
"Well, you know, 15 minutes in the Word."

0:38:40.219,0:38:43.096
"15 minutes in prayer."

0:38:43.096,0:38:46.174
I applaud you for whatever [br]attempt you're making,

0:38:46.174,0:38:51.625
but don't pat yourself on the back.

0:38:51.625,0:38:53.838
He's saying this Word,

0:38:53.838,0:38:55.809
"it shall not depart from your mouth,

0:38:55.809,0:38:58.051
but you shall meditate on it day and night

0:38:58.051,0:39:00.958
so that you may be careful to do

0:39:00.958,0:39:03.484
according to all that is written in it.

0:39:03.484,0:39:06.119
For then you will make your way prosperous

0:39:06.119,0:39:07.616
and then you will succeed."

0:39:07.616,0:39:09.248
Now this is not to be interpreted

0:39:09.248,0:39:11.479
in the context of televangelists.

0:39:11.479,0:39:12.827
It's not talking about:

0:39:12.827,0:39:14.502
then you will prosper financially.

0:39:14.502,0:39:16.171
It means then you will prosper

0:39:16.171,0:39:18.095
in the will of your God

0:39:18.095,0:39:21.503
and be a useful servant to Him.

0:39:21.503,0:39:24.635
That's what being fruitful means.

0:39:24.635,0:39:29.197
So abiding in Christ is to take this gift

0:39:29.197,0:39:31.288
of His teaching

0:39:31.288,0:39:34.197
and learning to follow it.

0:39:34.197,0:39:37.248
Now as we see here in verse 12,

0:39:37.248,0:39:38.401
"This is My commandment

0:39:38.401,0:39:39.624
that you love one another

0:39:39.624,0:39:40.903
just as I have loved you."

0:39:40.903,0:39:42.416
Now let me say a few things,

0:39:42.416,0:39:43.977
I want to draw a balance here.

0:39:43.977,0:39:46.661
I don't want to throw the baby [br]out with the bathwater.

0:39:46.661,0:39:49.687
I want to explain this.

0:39:49.687,0:39:51.947
The end of everything that has to do

0:39:51.947,0:39:55.180
with God's commands is this:

0:39:55.180,0:39:56.418
To love the Lord your God

0:39:56.418,0:39:58.591
with all your heart, soul, [br]mind, and strength

0:39:58.591,0:40:00.502
and to love your neighbor as yourself.

0:40:00.502,0:40:02.619
That's the end of it all.

0:40:02.619,0:40:06.062
As I said awhile back,

0:40:06.062,0:40:08.057
Christianity is not primarily

0:40:08.057,0:40:10.028
an ethical or moralistic religion.

0:40:10.028,0:40:12.316
We're not about just keeping rules.

0:40:12.316,0:40:13.546
We're not.

0:40:13.546,0:40:16.568
We're about an intimate [br]relationship with the living God,

0:40:16.568,0:40:18.212
loving Him with all our heart

0:40:18.212,0:40:21.319
and entering into intimate [br]relationships with people

0:40:21.319,0:40:23.136
and loving them with all our heart

0:40:23.136,0:40:27.093
and showing them the [br]mercy that God shows us.

0:40:27.093,0:40:30.247
That's the fulfillment of the Law.

0:40:30.247,0:40:33.262
But then again, we are a people

0:40:33.262,0:40:36.527
in a very distorted culture.

0:40:36.527,0:40:39.860
And wisdom was not born with you

0:40:39.860,0:40:40.750
at your physical birth,

0:40:40.750,0:40:41.985
and I want to tell you,

0:40:41.985,0:40:43.405
wisdom was not born with you

0:40:43.405,0:40:44.963
in your spiritual birth.

0:40:44.963,0:40:46.946
Wisdom is something that is acquired.

0:40:46.946,0:40:48.781
Now that you have become a Christian,

0:40:48.781,0:40:50.028
you have the capabilities

0:40:50.028,0:40:52.372
of acquiring wisdom.

0:40:52.372,0:40:55.515
But wisdom is necessary.

0:40:55.515,0:40:58.836
Now, every time I talk

0:40:58.836,0:41:00.451
in the last few years

0:41:00.451,0:41:02.638
about the Law of God,

0:41:02.638,0:41:04.206
the commands of God,

0:41:04.206,0:41:05.802
everyone screws up their face

0:41:05.802,0:41:07.593
and gets really mad.

0:41:07.593,0:41:09.974
They go, "We're free from the Law."

0:41:09.974,0:41:12.676
"We're free from the Law."

0:41:12.676,0:41:14.720
And I'm thinking, does anybody even know

0:41:14.720,0:41:16.653
what that means anymore?

0:41:16.653,0:41:18.375
Free from the Law.

0:41:18.375,0:41:21.020
"The Law has nothing to do with us.

0:41:21.020,0:41:24.671
Absolutely nothing! We're free!"

0:41:24.671,0:41:25.983
Free to what?

0:41:25.983,0:41:27.460
"Free to do whatever we want.

0:41:27.460,0:41:28.514
We believe in Jesus.

0:41:28.514,0:41:30.539
We're free to do whatever we want."

0:41:30.539,0:41:32.567
Well, hold on.

0:41:32.567,0:41:35.705
First of all, a person [br]who is unconverted -

0:41:35.705,0:41:38.417
which most people who call [br]themselves Christians are -

0:41:38.417,0:41:40.453
and they have that kind of teaching,

0:41:40.453,0:41:42.164
(I'm free to do whatever I want),

0:41:42.164,0:41:43.848
but their heart's not been changed

0:41:43.848,0:41:46.406
so their heart is filled with [br]worldly, carnal desires.

0:41:46.406,0:41:47.685
So they go to church every Sunday

0:41:47.685,0:41:49.611
and worship God in the praise service

0:41:49.611,0:41:51.525
and then they live like an abomination

0:41:51.525,0:41:53.203
throughout the week.

0:41:53.203,0:41:55.523
Let's figure out what we're saying here.

0:41:55.523,0:41:57.056
Now let me ask you a question,

0:41:57.056,0:41:59.871
when it says that we're free from the Law,

0:41:59.871,0:42:02.786
what do you think that means?

0:42:02.786,0:42:05.993
That we no longer have to obey God?

0:42:05.993,0:42:08.841
Or does it mean we're just [br]supposed to love one another?

0:42:08.841,0:42:10.691
But herein lies a big problem.

0:42:10.691,0:42:15.502
People have some really [br]distorted views on love.

0:42:15.502,0:42:17.991
So what are we talking about?

0:42:17.991,0:42:21.507
If we say that we don't even need the Law,

0:42:21.507,0:42:23.224
we don't need to think about it,

0:42:23.224,0:42:24.983
we don't need to read it or anything,

0:42:24.983,0:42:26.688
then you know what we have to do?

0:42:26.688,0:42:29.096
We have to literally cut [br]out the book of Psalms

0:42:29.096,0:42:30.807
and throw it away.

0:42:30.807,0:42:31.766
Do you realize that?

0:42:31.766,0:42:33.792
Because the book of Psalms - look at it.

0:42:33.792,0:42:35.620
"I delight in Your Law."

0:42:35.620,0:42:37.601
"Your precepts are true."

0:42:37.601,0:42:41.358
What are we going to do?

0:42:41.358,0:42:43.436
Or as one person said one time

0:42:43.436,0:42:45.755
in a meeting I was holding.

0:42:45.755,0:42:47.816
It was a meeting in a conference thing

0:42:47.816,0:42:49.415
and I was talking about the Law,

0:42:49.415,0:42:51.398
and this person raised [br]their hand and said,

0:42:51.398,0:42:52.907
"We're free from the Law

0:42:52.907,0:42:54.640
and you're trying to put us under

0:42:54.640,0:42:56.130
the bondage of the Law

0:42:56.130,0:42:58.343
that oppresses us..."

0:42:58.343,0:43:00.208
And I said,

0:43:00.208,0:43:02.687
"Wow."

0:43:02.687,0:43:07.145
I said, "Okay, let me ask you a question.

0:43:07.145,0:43:09.904
You just told me that the Law of God

0:43:09.904,0:43:13.272
is oppressive, it's restricting,

0:43:13.272,0:43:14.819
restrains you

0:43:14.819,0:43:16.429
and puts you in bondage.

0:43:16.429,0:43:18.453
Okay.

0:43:18.453,0:43:21.230
Let's just go over some of the laws

0:43:21.230,0:43:23.708
and you tell me which one of these

0:43:23.708,0:43:25.253
is restraining you from doing

0:43:25.253,0:43:26.662
what you want to do."

0:43:26.662,0:43:30.373
Let's see: You shall have [br]no other gods before Me.

0:43:30.373,0:43:32.238
Are you mad about that?

0:43:32.238,0:43:36.051
Because that's restraining [br]you from having other gods?

0:43:36.051,0:43:37.620
Let's try another one.

0:43:37.620,0:43:41.141
You're not to steal your neighbor's wife.

0:43:41.141,0:43:43.894
Is that oppressive to you?

0:43:43.894,0:43:47.472
You shall not lie.

0:43:47.472,0:43:50.129
And I just went down through [br]all the laws of God

0:43:50.129,0:43:51.239
that I could remember,

0:43:51.239,0:43:53.062
and in the end I'm sitting there

0:43:53.062,0:43:55.380
and the man starts to [br]kind of slump in his chair

0:43:55.380,0:43:57.744
because he knew what was happening.

0:43:57.744,0:44:01.209
I said if these beautiful laws

0:44:01.209,0:44:02.904
are oppressive to you

0:44:02.904,0:44:05.497
and restraining what [br]you really want to do,

0:44:05.497,0:44:11.451
what kind of evil person are you?

0:44:11.451,0:44:13.044
You see?

0:44:13.044,0:44:15.791
Now when He says we're free [br]from the bondage of the Law,

0:44:15.791,0:44:20.040
what it means is all those [br]detailed laws of sacrifice,

0:44:20.040,0:44:22.576
all those things have [br]been fulfilled in Christ.

0:44:22.576,0:44:25.585
That's part of it, but the [br]big part of it is just this:

0:44:25.585,0:44:29.430
The Law says do this and live.

0:44:29.430,0:44:32.269
Now, I want to tell you [br]something. That's not bad.

0:44:32.269,0:44:35.010
That's not sinful - that statement.

0:44:35.010,0:44:36.559
But you see, we're under bondage

0:44:36.559,0:44:38.980
because we can't do those things.

0:44:38.980,0:44:40.878
And therefore we can't live.

0:44:40.878,0:44:42.629
And therefore, we should die.

0:44:42.629,0:44:45.158
Because we have violated all the Law.

0:44:45.158,0:44:48.366
We're free from that curse of the Law.

0:44:48.366,0:44:50.079
That's not because the Law is bad,

0:44:50.079,0:44:51.395
it's because we were bad.

0:44:51.395,0:44:52.967
We're free from it because Christ

0:44:52.967,0:44:54.237
has fulfilled the Law

0:44:54.237,0:44:56.598
and died in our place.

0:44:56.598,0:44:58.901
So we're not justified by the Law.

0:44:58.901,0:45:02.238
And we shouldn't be legalistic people

0:45:02.238,0:45:03.860
or trying to kill other people

0:45:03.860,0:45:05.101
with all our rules.

0:45:05.101,0:45:06.605
But the fact of the matter is

0:45:06.605,0:45:08.295
I delight in the Law of God.

0:45:08.295,0:45:10.106
I love the book of Proverbs.

0:45:10.106,0:45:12.292
I get excited even about the commandment

0:45:12.292,0:45:14.051
in the Old Testament that says

0:45:14.051,0:45:15.541
you ought to build a fence

0:45:15.541,0:45:17.123
around the roof of your house.

0:45:17.123,0:45:18.694
And someone says, well, do you

0:45:18.694,0:45:20.786
have a fence around [br]the roof of your house?

0:45:20.786,0:45:22.854
No.

0:45:22.854,0:45:25.953
Well, are you disobeying that law? No.

0:45:25.953,0:45:28.458
See, you have to [br]understand what it's saying.

0:45:28.458,0:45:30.750
You build a fence around [br]the roof of your house

0:45:30.750,0:45:32.558
because in that time, most people -

0:45:32.558,0:45:33.896
especially in the summer -

0:45:33.896,0:45:36.501
lived on the roof of their house.

0:45:36.501,0:45:39.577
And you build a fence around [br]the roof of your house

0:45:39.577,0:45:41.045
because you love your neighbor

0:45:41.045,0:45:44.110
and you don't want [br]him to fall off your roof.

0:45:44.110,0:45:45.956
And actually, some of our common laws

0:45:45.956,0:45:48.051
in this country

0:45:48.051,0:45:49.986
with regard to property

0:45:49.986,0:45:51.411
and the welfare of others

0:45:51.411,0:45:54.116
are based upon that law.

0:45:54.116,0:45:56.700
I don't find anything in the law

0:45:56.700,0:45:59.541
that's displeasing.

0:45:59.541,0:46:01.430
I can delight in it.

0:46:01.430,0:46:03.673
The wisdom that's found

0:46:03.673,0:46:06.266
in Proverbs and in the Law itself

0:46:06.266,0:46:09.059
protects my marriage,

0:46:09.059,0:46:11.555
shows me how to raise my children.

0:46:11.555,0:46:12.988
So if you're telling me:

0:46:12.988,0:46:14.386
Washer, don't put me under

0:46:14.386,0:46:15.810
the bondage of the Law,

0:46:15.810,0:46:21.169
I'm going, just exactly [br]what do you want to do?

0:46:21.169,0:46:30.021
Do you see?

0:46:30.021,0:46:33.159
So how do we abide in Christ?

0:46:33.159,0:46:37.515
Abiding in Christ is not completed

0:46:37.515,0:46:39.825
by just our obedience

0:46:39.825,0:46:41.458
to the Word of God.

0:46:41.458,0:46:44.469
Because our relationship [br]is much more than that.

0:46:44.469,0:46:46.918
But abiding in Christ cannot be separated

0:46:46.918,0:46:48.746
from His Word, His commands,

0:46:48.746,0:46:51.870
and obedience to Him.

0:46:51.870,0:46:55.515
What is it? Romans 12:2?

0:46:55.515,0:47:00.395
Renewing our mind in the Word of God.

0:47:00.395,0:47:01.633
Isn't it amazing?

0:47:01.633,0:47:03.646
Some of you came here this week

0:47:03.646,0:47:08.853
and you probably have not [br]been in this church before

0:47:08.853,0:47:10.894
and you're going man,

0:47:10.894,0:47:13.789
they read the Bible too much

0:47:13.789,0:47:15.347
in their services.

0:47:15.347,0:47:17.229
It's kind of boring just sitting there

0:47:17.229,0:47:19.518
listening to them read a whole chapter.

0:47:19.518,0:47:22.460
What does that say about you?

0:47:22.460,0:47:26.455
What does it say about [br]contemporary Christianity?

0:47:26.455,0:47:28.289
That the Scriptures aren't even read

0:47:28.289,0:47:31.335
when exactly in 1 Timothy [br]it says they should be.

0:47:31.335,0:47:33.431
Publicly.

0:47:33.431,0:47:36.484
See? The reason why we're so weak

0:47:36.484,0:47:38.233
in Christianity today

0:47:38.233,0:47:40.229
is because we have a neglect of the Word.

0:47:40.229,0:47:43.853
Now listen to this. Psalm 1:2-3.

0:47:43.853,0:47:46.040
"But his delight - (the righteous man) -

0:47:46.040,0:47:48.294
his delight is in the Law of the Lord,

0:47:48.294,0:47:51.458
and in His Law he meditates day and night.

0:47:51.458,0:47:54.363
He will be like a tree firmly planted

0:47:54.363,0:47:55.842
by streams of water

0:47:55.842,0:47:57.652
which yields its fruit in its season,

0:47:57.652,0:47:59.369
and its leaf does not wither,

0:47:59.369,0:48:02.943
and whatever he does, he prospers."

0:48:02.943,0:48:05.384
Fruit-bearing - do you see this?

0:48:05.384,0:48:09.082
When Jesus is teaching, [br]please understand me,

0:48:09.082,0:48:11.556
it's not plagiarism, okay?

0:48:11.556,0:48:13.399
Because He wrote the Old Testament.

0:48:13.399,0:48:15.315
But most of His Gospel teaching

0:48:15.315,0:48:17.080
is drawn right out of what He said

0:48:17.080,0:48:18.793
in the Old Testament.

0:48:18.793,0:48:20.936
Do you understand that?

0:48:20.936,0:48:22.729
He's been talking about fruit-bearing

0:48:22.729,0:48:24.785
for a long time.

0:48:24.785,0:48:26.461
And every time He talks about it,

0:48:26.461,0:48:29.668
it has something to do with His Word,

0:48:29.668,0:48:31.370
with the Word of God.

0:48:31.370,0:48:32.790
Young people, you come to me,

0:48:32.790,0:48:34.391
and you say, you know, Brother Paul,

0:48:34.391,0:48:35.572
I've been listening to your sermons.

0:48:35.572,0:48:37.124
I want to grow. I want to be used of God.

0:48:37.124,0:48:38.184
What should I do?

0:48:38.184,0:48:41.598
I always tell them Robert Murray McCheyne.

0:48:41.598,0:48:44.342
They go, "Robert Murray [br]McCheyne. Who is that?"

0:48:44.342,0:48:46.332
He's a young man who died when he was 28.

0:48:46.332,0:48:48.508
Probably had progressed more in holiness

0:48:48.508,0:48:51.411
than just about anybody at that age.

0:48:51.411,0:48:52.922
And he has a reading list.

0:48:52.922,0:48:54.880
He read through the New [br]Testament twice a year

0:48:54.880,0:48:58.111
and the Old Testament once a year.

0:48:58.111,0:48:59.288
Do that.

0:48:59.288,0:49:00.609
Get his reading list. Do that.

0:49:00.609,0:49:01.873
Read through the Scriptures

0:49:01.873,0:49:03.148
over and over and over.

0:49:03.148,0:49:05.018
And if you are a brand new believer,

0:49:05.018,0:49:06.773
you know, I'm not going to tell you

0:49:06.773,0:49:08.053
you should read a little.

0:49:08.053,0:49:09.572
Man, if you're a new believer,

0:49:09.572,0:49:11.413
you're probably on fire.

0:49:11.413,0:49:14.035
Read the Bible hours a day.

0:49:14.035,0:49:17.357
Consume it.

0:49:17.357,0:49:19.158
You want to be used of God?

0:49:19.158,0:49:21.111
Prove it.

0:49:21.111,0:49:22.720
You want to be fruitful?

0:49:22.720,0:49:25.314
Prove it.

0:49:25.314,0:49:26.958
Oh, my dear friend, my only regret

0:49:26.958,0:49:28.208
in the last thirty years

0:49:28.208,0:49:30.078
is not that I studied the Bible too much,

0:49:30.078,0:49:31.750
as that I allowed myself to be

0:49:31.750,0:49:37.088
distracted from it so much.

0:49:37.088,0:49:40.187
So abiding in Christ is [br]abiding in His Word.

0:49:40.187,0:49:42.293
Saturating our lives in His Word

0:49:42.293,0:49:43.631
and seeking to obey Him.

0:49:43.631,0:49:46.201
Now, we come to a second thing.

0:49:46.201,0:49:49.745
Abiding in Christ is through continuous -

0:49:49.745,0:49:51.223
now get ready -

0:49:51.223,0:49:55.831
continuous dependence on prayer,

0:49:55.831,0:49:58.895
constant reliance upon prayer,

0:49:58.895,0:50:02.736
persistent spiritual imbibing

0:50:02.736,0:50:06.591
of the life and power of Jesus Christ

0:50:06.591,0:50:08.505
through prayer.

0:50:08.505,0:50:11.296
Now let me quote D.A. Carson.

0:50:11.296,0:50:15.146
"The text suggests (this is unbelievable -

0:50:15.146,0:50:16.841
this is powerful)

0:50:16.841,0:50:18.986
The text suggests

0:50:18.986,0:50:22.093
that the fruit in the vine imagery

0:50:22.093,0:50:25.733
represents everything that is the product

0:50:25.733,0:50:31.582
of effective prayer in Jesus' name."

0:50:31.582,0:50:36.237
Now, I want us to look at verse 7.

0:50:36.237,0:50:37.769
It's very interesting. He says,

0:50:37.769,0:50:39.395
"If you abide in Me,

0:50:39.395,0:50:41.523
and My words abide in you,

0:50:41.523,0:50:44.939
ask whatever you wish

0:50:44.939,0:50:48.563
and it will be done for you."

0:50:48.563,0:50:49.880
Look in verse 16.

0:50:49.880,0:50:51.873
"You did not choose Me, but I chose you

0:50:51.873,0:50:54.314
and appointed you that you [br]would go and bear fruit

0:50:54.314,0:50:56.440
and that your fruit would remain,

0:50:56.440,0:51:01.576
so that whatever you ask [br]of the Father in My name,

0:51:01.576,0:51:07.011
He may give to you."

0:51:07.011,0:51:08.537
Now, let's look at this.

0:51:08.537,0:51:11.027
This is extremely important.

0:51:11.027,0:51:12.971
There's a lot of mystery here

0:51:12.971,0:51:14.425
that I cannot explain to you.

0:51:14.425,0:51:15.313
No one can.

0:51:15.313,0:51:17.647
As a matter of fact, if you [br]meet someone who can,

0:51:17.647,0:51:19.420
run from them. They're a heretic.

0:51:19.420,0:51:23.879
There's some mystery in this passage.

0:51:23.879,0:51:25.817
This is one of those texts

0:51:25.817,0:51:28.551
where you're just going to [br]have to take God at His Word.

0:51:28.551,0:51:30.652
Because if you try to make this fit

0:51:30.652,0:51:33.536
into some system of thought,

0:51:33.536,0:51:35.825
you're going to explain the passage away.

0:51:35.825,0:51:37.678
And you don't want to do that.

0:51:37.678,0:51:43.725
Now, isn't it amazing [br]that in both passages

0:51:43.725,0:51:45.379
He's talking about prayer

0:51:45.379,0:51:48.275
and it's in the context of bearing fruit.

0:51:48.275,0:51:51.678
That to be a fruitful Christian,

0:51:51.678,0:51:55.417
prayer is absolutely essential -

0:51:55.417,0:51:57.702
prayer in the name of Jesus;

0:51:57.702,0:52:01.214
prayer believing that God

0:52:01.214,0:52:03.426
(unintelligible).

0:52:03.426,0:52:06.715
But I also want you to notice something.

0:52:06.715,0:52:09.242
In verse 7, He says, "Abide in Me

0:52:09.242,0:52:12.850
and My words abide in you."

0:52:12.850,0:52:15.458
So what are we seeing here?

0:52:15.458,0:52:18.129
(incomplete thought)

0:52:18.129,0:52:19.650
We're not seeing this -

0:52:19.650,0:52:20.887
we're not seeing a person

0:52:20.887,0:52:23.445
who neglects the Word of God,

0:52:23.445,0:52:26.354
whose mind is not renewed at all.

0:52:26.354,0:52:28.837
We're not talking about a person

0:52:28.837,0:52:33.428
who doesn't have the mind of Christ.

0:52:33.428,0:52:35.308
Okay? We're not talking about a person

0:52:35.308,0:52:37.273
who neglects the Word of God

0:52:37.273,0:52:40.032
and then just asks a whole bunch of stuff.

0:52:40.032,0:52:43.441
Because usually the stuff they ask for

0:52:43.441,0:52:47.862
are carnal and outside of God's will.

0:52:47.862,0:52:49.988
But what we're talking about

0:52:49.988,0:52:53.078
is a person who is abiding in Christ

0:52:53.078,0:52:55.324
and he is abiding in the Word of Christ,

0:52:55.324,0:52:57.446
and the Word of Christ is abiding in him.

0:52:57.446,0:53:00.110
What is it? We're talking about a person

0:53:00.110,0:53:02.727
who through their constant imbibing

0:53:02.727,0:53:03.995
upon the Word of God,

0:53:03.995,0:53:06.270
their constant feeding [br]upon the Word of God,

0:53:06.270,0:53:08.958
the Word of God constantly [br]renewing their mind,

0:53:08.958,0:53:12.379
they are beginning to develop what?

0:53:12.379,0:53:18.046
The mind of Christ.

0:53:18.046,0:53:20.088
They are beginning to know,

0:53:20.088,0:53:22.018
as Romans 12:1-2 says,

0:53:22.018,0:53:23.517
they are beginning to know

0:53:23.517,0:53:26.325
what the will of God is.

0:53:26.325,0:53:27.291
Isn't that amazing?

0:53:27.291,0:53:28.799
He says you may renew your mind

0:53:28.799,0:53:33.082
that you may know what the will of God is.

0:53:33.082,0:53:34.379
Okay?

0:53:34.379,0:53:41.762
Now...

0:53:41.762,0:53:43.434
What is prayer?

0:53:43.434,0:53:45.108
John Piper refers to it

0:53:45.108,0:53:47.853
as a warfare walkie-talkie.

0:53:47.853,0:53:49.933
And I agree with him.

0:53:49.933,0:53:51.016
As a matter of fact,

0:53:51.016,0:53:54.837
it's very difficult for me [br]to see prayer at all

0:53:54.837,0:53:59.735
apart from our place in [br]the Kingdom of Heaven.

0:53:59.735,0:54:01.427
Most people see prayer

0:54:01.427,0:54:05.031
in a completely wrong way.

0:54:05.031,0:54:07.051
You see prayer as:

0:54:07.051,0:54:11.832
I think I have a need and [br]I ask God to meet it.

0:54:11.832,0:54:15.303
That's not the context of prayer.

0:54:15.303,0:54:19.741
The context of prayer is [br]set forth for us where?

0:54:19.741,0:54:22.048
In Matthew 6.

0:54:22.048,0:54:24.011
Jesus says: pray this way.

0:54:24.011,0:54:25.669
Now listen very carefully.

0:54:25.669,0:54:27.155
Don't turn it into cliche.

0:54:27.155,0:54:30.402
Our Father, Who art in Heaven...

0:54:30.402,0:54:32.702
Now, let's just take a look at that.

0:54:32.702,0:54:36.506
You talk about the perfect [br]psychology of prayer?

0:54:36.506,0:54:38.397
Look at the way He's addressing God.

0:54:38.397,0:54:40.016
Our Father.

0:54:40.016,0:54:42.858
Wow!

0:54:42.858,0:54:45.929
It demonstrates the intimacy, doesn't it.

0:54:45.929,0:54:48.873
But then He goes: Who art in Heaven.

0:54:48.873,0:54:51.843
Your Father happens to be [br]the God of the universe

0:54:51.843,0:54:54.703
and you ought to treat Him as such.

0:54:54.703,0:54:56.544
Many of you young people were raised

0:54:56.544,0:54:59.341
with no respect whatsoever for age,

0:54:59.341,0:55:01.814
authority, or anything.

0:55:01.814,0:55:06.176
I was out at a school of a [br]very, very famous preacher.

0:55:06.176,0:55:07.381
(Incomplete thought)

0:55:07.381,0:55:08.823
I'm going to mention his name.

0:55:08.823,0:55:10.320
John MacArthur.

0:55:10.320,0:55:12.264
And I was out there and I was teaching

0:55:12.264,0:55:15.237
at Master's College for two days.

0:55:15.237,0:55:18.526
And I was walking around going:

0:55:18.526,0:55:21.819
Wow! John MacArthur's here.

0:55:21.819,0:55:23.575
I wonder if I'll get to see him.

0:55:23.575,0:55:25.590
I'm fifty years old!

0:55:25.590,0:55:28.095
And I'm going I hope I get to see him.

0:55:28.095,0:55:30.462
What a privilege!

0:55:30.462,0:55:32.451
And little 17 year old students

0:55:32.451,0:55:33.730
that walk up to me and go:

0:55:33.730,0:55:37.533
"Hey! Brother Paul! Have you met John?"

0:55:37.533,0:55:40.264
And I'd go, "What?"

0:55:40.264,0:55:41.775
"John!"

0:55:41.775,0:55:43.585
"John who?"

0:55:43.585,0:55:46.244
"Well, John! John MacArthur."

0:55:46.244,0:55:49.097
And I'd look at them and I'd go,

0:55:49.097,0:55:51.737
"I am fifty years old.

0:55:51.737,0:55:57.721
I have walked through hell with Christ.

0:55:57.721,0:56:01.917
I have suffered for the cause of Christ.

0:56:01.917,0:56:05.497
I bear so many wounds from battles,

0:56:05.497,0:56:10.149
and I would never call [br]him by his first name."

0:56:10.149,0:56:18.335
We have no sense of honor anymore.

0:56:18.335,0:56:20.769
And when we go to God, this whole idea

0:56:20.769,0:56:23.047
of Abba, Father meaning "Daddy,"

0:56:23.047,0:56:24.160
be very careful.

0:56:24.160,0:56:26.923
That interpretation's not really correct.

0:56:26.923,0:56:29.195
It does demonstrate intimacy,

0:56:29.195,0:56:31.552
but it doesn't demonstrate "daddy."

0:56:31.552,0:56:32.714
It doesn't. I'm sorry.

0:56:32.714,0:56:34.356
In the language, it doesn't work.

0:56:34.356,0:56:37.087
It may be really good for a [br]contemporary Christian song,

0:56:37.087,0:56:38.564
but it doesn't work.

0:56:38.564,0:56:40.008
It's not biblical

0:56:40.008,0:56:41.411
because it does not denote

0:56:41.411,0:56:43.203
the other aspects of that intimacy

0:56:43.203,0:56:46.047
which is reverence.

0:56:46.047,0:56:49.217
Now, He says, "Our Father, [br]Who art in Heaven..."

0:56:49.217,0:56:51.926
So this perfect balance [br]of intimacy and fear.

0:56:51.926,0:56:53.888
And then He says -

0:56:53.888,0:56:56.301
and this is the context of all praying -

0:56:56.301,0:56:58.747
"hallowed be Thy name."

0:56:58.747,0:57:00.114
What He's saying there is:

0:57:00.114,0:57:01.596
special be Your name.

0:57:01.596,0:57:03.389
Unique be Your name.

0:57:03.389,0:57:05.523
It's basically Malachi.

0:57:05.523,0:57:07.658
That His name be great among the nations

0:57:07.658,0:57:09.320
from the rising to the setting of the sun.

0:57:09.320,0:57:10.585
There you go again - Jesus drawing

0:57:10.585,0:57:11.913
from the Old Testament,

0:57:11.913,0:57:14.455
but it's okay, He wrote it.

0:57:14.455,0:57:16.008
And the whole idea is:

0:57:16.008,0:57:17.479
my whole prayer,

0:57:17.479,0:57:18.705
my whole prayer life,

0:57:18.705,0:57:20.384
everything I'm ever going to ask You

0:57:20.384,0:57:22.149
is going to be in the context

0:57:22.149,0:57:23.677
that my greatest desire

0:57:23.677,0:57:25.705
is that Your name be set apart

0:57:25.705,0:57:27.887
as supreme above all things;

0:57:27.887,0:57:30.535
that Your Kingdom come

0:57:30.535,0:57:31.991
and that Your will be done.

0:57:31.991,0:57:33.667
That's the context of all praying.

0:57:33.667,0:57:35.205
And if you don't have that context,

0:57:35.205,0:57:36.962
you're not praying.

0:57:36.962,0:57:40.997
So, when we talk about [br]asking the Father for things -

0:57:40.997,0:57:42.817
for many, many years, as some of you know,

0:57:42.817,0:57:43.946
I've had my hips replaced,

0:57:43.946,0:57:45.310
my wrist is made of metal,

0:57:45.310,0:57:47.470
I've lived in great deals of pain

0:57:47.470,0:57:48.495
and everything else

0:57:48.495,0:57:49.701
and I want to be honest with you.

0:57:49.701,0:57:51.202
I have prayed for God to heal me.

0:57:51.202,0:57:52.642
And to some degree, He has.

0:57:52.642,0:57:55.781
He has really helped me in this last year.

0:57:55.781,0:57:57.145
But here's what I want you to see.

0:57:57.145,0:57:59.794
The context of that praying: God heal me.

0:57:59.794,0:58:01.363
I hurt so bad.

0:58:01.363,0:58:04.122
Was this:

0:58:04.122,0:58:07.820
If through my healing

0:58:07.820,0:58:10.744
Your name will be held supreme

0:58:10.744,0:58:13.164
and Your kingdom will come

0:58:13.164,0:58:14.597
to a greater degree,

0:58:14.597,0:58:16.917
and the will of God will be advanced

0:58:16.917,0:58:18.165
and submitted to,

0:58:18.165,0:58:20.207
then heal my body.

0:58:20.207,0:58:23.960
But if not, then let me die in this pain

0:58:23.960,0:58:27.415
so long as Your kingdom come.

0:58:27.415,0:58:30.163
So all our asking from God

0:58:30.163,0:58:33.120
is in the context of our greatest desire

0:58:33.120,0:58:34.986
which is His glory

0:58:34.986,0:58:38.275
and the advancement of His kingdom.

0:58:38.275,0:58:42.245
Now you're praying.

0:58:42.245,0:58:44.339
It's not just: I have a want.

0:58:44.339,0:58:45.337
I have a need.

0:58:45.337,0:58:47.169
I have a desire.

0:58:47.169,0:58:53.065
But it's: whatever will bring You glory.

0:58:53.065,0:58:55.219
And it's in that context

0:58:55.219,0:58:57.414
with that mind of Christ

0:58:57.414,0:59:01.787
that we begin to pray.

0:59:01.787,0:59:04.606
And notice, this praying: [br]"Ask in My name."

0:59:04.606,0:59:05.875
What are you asking for?

0:59:05.875,0:59:07.574
You're asking to bear fruit.

0:59:07.574,0:59:09.242
You're asking for things

0:59:09.242,0:59:11.455
that are genuine fruit.

0:59:11.455,0:59:13.106
And what begins to happen

0:59:13.106,0:59:14.791
is you sort of start disappearing

0:59:14.791,0:59:17.330
in the whole equation.

0:59:17.330,0:59:19.119
Lord, I'm an instrument.

0:59:19.119,0:59:20.658
This is not about me.

0:59:20.658,0:59:23.136
This is about You.

0:59:23.136,0:59:26.282
Lord, if through this trial

0:59:26.282,0:59:27.690
Your kingdom will advance,

0:59:27.690,0:59:29.685
allow me to continue in it.

0:59:29.685,0:59:32.190
Take it away only until the work is done.

0:59:32.190,0:59:35.512
Lord, everything in my [br]life is about one thing:

0:59:35.512,0:59:38.937
the advancement of Your kingdom.

0:59:38.937,0:59:42.938
And so in that context, we pray.

0:59:42.938,0:59:46.484
You know, I've gone to [br]prayer meetings in churches,

0:59:46.484,0:59:49.683
and I'll be honest with you,

0:59:49.683,0:59:52.876
it's enough to break your heart.

0:59:52.876,0:59:56.472
It's enough to break your heart.

0:59:56.472,1:00:00.434
It sounds literally like [br]a medical convention.

1:00:00.434,1:00:02.206
It literally does.

1:00:02.206,1:00:04.600
Now, I know that we [br]need to pray for the sick.

1:00:04.600,1:00:06.681
I know that, but I have [br]sat in prayer meetings

1:00:06.681,1:00:08.068
in the United States of America

1:00:08.068,1:00:10.653
and watched while 45 minutes, [br]they didn't even pray.

1:00:10.653,1:00:13.784
Just people stood up and shared

1:00:13.784,1:00:15.860
about people who were sick.

1:00:15.860,1:00:17.716
And a big part of it was just gossip.

1:00:17.716,1:00:20.795
People wanted to talk about stuff.

1:00:20.795,1:00:24.031
And then I think, four billion people

1:00:24.031,1:00:26.816
have not heard a clear Gospel.

1:00:26.816,1:00:30.155
We have believers who are [br]being massacred in Iran.

1:00:30.155,1:00:33.686
We have all these things [br]going on in the kingdom.

1:00:33.686,1:00:37.878
And the only thing that we can [br]pray about are gallbladders.

1:00:37.878,1:00:41.824
I mean, there's something terribly wrong.

1:00:41.824,1:00:44.850
And we wonder why doesn't God [br]visit us in our prayer meetings?

1:00:44.850,1:00:48.204
You're not kingdom-praying.

1:00:48.204,1:00:49.873
If you'll seek first the kingdom,

1:00:49.873,1:00:52.324
He'll take care of all [br]these other little things

1:00:52.324,1:00:56.430
you're so preoccupied about.

1:00:56.430,1:00:58.694
And so if you're going to be fruitful,

1:00:58.694,1:01:00.703
you must pray.

1:01:00.703,1:01:02.498
You must read the Word and pray,

1:01:02.498,1:01:04.807
God, make me fruitful, make me fruitful.

1:01:04.807,1:01:06.756
And as you begin to understand

1:01:06.756,1:01:08.396
the will of God -

1:01:08.396,1:01:11.125
for example, it is God's will

1:01:11.125,1:01:14.032
that every creature under heaven

1:01:14.032,1:01:16.474
hear the Word of God,

1:01:16.474,1:01:18.131
hear the Gospel.

1:01:18.131,1:01:20.654
So you pray and you fast,

1:01:20.654,1:01:22.387
and one day you get a phone call

1:01:22.387,1:01:24.214
and you find that an entire country

1:01:24.214,1:01:27.924
has just opened unto you to [br]support their missionaries.

1:01:27.924,1:01:31.862
That's praying.

1:01:31.862,1:01:34.888
You pray for your family who's [br]hardened to the Gospel.

1:01:34.888,1:01:37.295
You pray and you fast and then one day

1:01:37.295,1:01:39.717
according to Colossians 4:1-4,

1:01:39.717,1:01:44.571
a magnificent door's been opened unto you.

1:01:44.571,1:01:47.197
The church has a need. It can't go.

1:01:47.197,1:01:48.526
It's got a problem.

1:01:48.526,1:01:50.267
Something has some kind of need.

1:01:50.267,1:01:52.579
You hit your face on the floor.

1:01:52.579,1:01:54.071
You cry out to God

1:01:54.071,1:01:56.821
and you look for a [br]magnificent deliverance.

1:01:56.821,1:01:58.281
You've got a sin in your life

1:01:58.281,1:01:59.847
that is a besetting sin

1:01:59.847,1:02:01.534
and you can't be set free from it.

1:02:01.534,1:02:04.398
You attack it head on with prayer,

1:02:04.398,1:02:06.571
with fasting, with reading the Word,

1:02:06.571,1:02:09.901
and you see victory come.

1:02:09.901,1:02:13.534
This is the kind of praying [br]that we're talking about.

1:02:13.534,1:02:16.837
Never diminishing needs,

1:02:16.837,1:02:19.668
but when you go in to [br]hear people pray today

1:02:19.668,1:02:21.910
it's all about them.

1:02:21.910,1:02:23.751
It's all about their needs.

1:02:23.751,1:02:28.979
It's like one old saint, [br]Ravenhill, used to say,

1:02:28.979,1:02:32.540
we spend more time [br]praying saints out of heaven

1:02:32.540,1:02:37.343
than praying sinners into heaven.

1:02:37.343,1:02:41.042
Now, I said that God answers our prayers

1:02:41.042,1:02:43.533
when we're praying in the [br]context of the kingdom

1:02:43.533,1:02:46.648
and when our mind is being renewed

1:02:46.648,1:02:48.571
so that we know what the will of God is,

1:02:48.571,1:02:51.775
but I want to be very cautious here

1:02:51.775,1:02:55.839
because you could misunderstand me.

1:02:55.839,1:02:57.345
There's a basic idea out there

1:02:57.345,1:03:00.551
especially among [br]reformed guys that's this:

1:03:00.551,1:03:06.050
God answers every prayer [br]according to His will,

1:03:06.050,1:03:08.364
but it's not the will of [br]God to do anything.

1:03:08.364,1:03:09.708
Now they wouldn't say that,

1:03:09.708,1:03:11.911
but that's basically what's practiced.

1:03:11.911,1:03:14.253
Everything is written off [br]to the providence of God.

1:03:14.253,1:03:16.268
It's the providence of God, [br]providence of God.

1:03:16.268,1:03:18.128
Oh, that nation is [br]entirely without Christ?

1:03:18.128,1:03:20.098
Providence of God, because if God [br]wanted something to happen,

1:03:20.098,1:03:21.391
He'd have done something.

1:03:21.391,1:03:23.923
That's not the language [br]of the New Testament.

1:03:23.923,1:03:27.401
Now that might be language [br]of a very precise camp

1:03:27.401,1:03:28.778
and system of theology,

1:03:28.778,1:03:31.324
but it is not the language [br]of the New Testament

1:03:31.324,1:03:34.949
nor is it the language of our forefathers

1:03:34.949,1:03:37.592
that we claim to be a part of.

1:03:37.592,1:03:39.034
That's not the language of Edwards.

1:03:39.034,1:03:40.344
That's not the language of Whitefield.

1:03:40.344,1:03:41.392
That's not the language of Spurgeon.

1:03:41.392,1:03:42.753
That's not the language of William Carey.

1:03:42.753,1:03:45.573
That's not the language of the Puritans.

1:03:45.573,1:03:46.973
I want to tell you something,

1:03:46.973,1:03:50.425
there is a mystery in prayer

1:03:50.425,1:03:52.221
and I don't care if by saying this

1:03:52.221,1:03:54.303
this becomes the last reformed meeting

1:03:54.303,1:03:56.444
I ever have in my life,

1:03:56.444,1:03:58.282
because if you reject this,

1:03:58.282,1:04:02.141
you're not reformed - you're deformed.

1:04:02.141,1:04:04.236
And it's this:

1:04:04.236,1:04:06.044
God has decreed everything

1:04:06.044,1:04:08.400
before the foundation of the world.

1:04:08.400,1:04:10.279
He knows the end of all things

1:04:10.279,1:04:12.043
and not because He looked

1:04:12.043,1:04:13.723
through the corridors of time

1:04:13.723,1:04:15.556
and saw how it was going to turn out.

1:04:15.556,1:04:16.834
I don't know who invented that -

1:04:16.834,1:04:18.562
I would like to see his corridors of time

1:04:18.562,1:04:21.246
because it's not in the Bible.

1:04:21.246,1:04:23.891
God knows the end of all things

1:04:23.891,1:04:26.337
exactly how everything [br]is going to come out

1:04:26.337,1:04:28.039
and it's not because He looked through

1:04:28.039,1:04:29.193
the corridors of time.

1:04:29.193,1:04:31.611
It's because He's the Author

1:04:31.611,1:04:33.237
of history.

1:04:33.237,1:04:35.481
It's going to come out [br]just like He decreed it.

1:04:35.481,1:04:38.165
Okay?

1:04:38.165,1:04:40.394
You say, wow, that's a [br]pretty strong statement.

1:04:40.394,1:04:44.602
Yes, it is, and I believe it's biblical.

1:04:44.602,1:04:47.446
But I also believe that [br]what James says is true.

1:04:47.446,1:04:51.941
"You have not because you ask not."

1:04:51.941,1:04:53.728
That king was given a set of arrows

1:04:53.728,1:04:55.924
to smash against the floor.

1:04:55.924,1:04:58.194
And if he had smashed [br]them against that floor

1:04:58.194,1:05:01.014
and shown some zeal for Yahweh,

1:05:01.014,1:05:04.159
something better would have [br]happened than what happened.

1:05:04.159,1:05:06.198
And I can't put those two things together

1:05:06.198,1:05:08.408
and guess what, it's not my job.

1:05:08.408,1:05:09.818
Nor is it yours.

1:05:09.818,1:05:11.625
I am called upon to live

1:05:11.625,1:05:13.514
whatever truth is given to me

1:05:13.514,1:05:16.551
realizing that if there is a God out there

1:05:16.551,1:05:17.977
and there is

1:05:17.977,1:05:21.124
and He is infinitely above [br]me in His way of thinking,

1:05:21.124,1:05:22.196
and He is,

1:05:22.196,1:05:24.342
then why should I think I should be able

1:05:24.342,1:05:27.300
to figure out everything He's told me?

1:05:27.300,1:05:29.147
I know this,

1:05:29.147,1:05:31.519
He is sovereign over all things.

1:05:31.519,1:05:33.049
And I know this,

1:05:33.049,1:05:36.408
we have not because we ask not.

1:05:36.408,1:05:38.885
And I can honestly tell you this

1:05:38.885,1:05:40.683
in good conscience,

1:05:40.683,1:05:42.484
there are many times when I'm dealing

1:05:42.484,1:05:44.531
with a country or a people group

1:05:44.531,1:05:46.172
that has no Gospel,

1:05:46.172,1:05:48.193
and I'm crying out to God:

1:05:48.193,1:05:50.872
God, what do You want to do?

1:05:50.872,1:05:52.011
What do You want to do?

1:05:52.011,1:05:54.530
What do You want me to do?

1:05:54.530,1:05:59.634
I'll do anything, just tell me [br]what You want me to do.

1:05:59.634,1:06:01.969
The thing that's most [br]impressed upon my heart

1:06:01.969,1:06:04.004
and more so as I grow older -

1:06:04.004,1:06:06.557
so I'm not talking about youthful zeal -

1:06:06.557,1:06:09.591
when I go: Lord, what do [br]You want me to do?

1:06:09.591,1:06:12.010
It seems like the answer is this:

1:06:12.010,1:06:14.373
Well, what can you believe Me for?

1:06:14.373,1:06:16.504
What do you want to do?

1:06:16.504,1:06:21.549
How far do you want to take this thing?

1:06:21.549,1:06:23.571
I told you, I'm a wild man.

1:06:23.571,1:06:24.905
It's almost like God says:

1:06:24.905,1:06:26.110
You want to get nuts?

1:06:26.110,1:06:28.916
You want to take this as far as it can go?

1:06:28.916,1:06:31.153
I'm with you. Let's go.

1:06:31.153,1:06:33.881
I think that a lot of reformed [br]people are thinking

1:06:33.881,1:06:35.430
God doesn't want to do anything

1:06:35.430,1:06:36.937
and if we get Him to do anything,

1:06:36.937,1:06:38.361
we've got to pull Him into it.

1:06:38.361,1:06:39.929
I'm going to tell you [br]something, my friend,

1:06:39.929,1:06:43.300
God is running so much [br]faster than the church.

1:06:43.300,1:06:45.634
It's not trying to get [br]Him to catch up to you,

1:06:45.634,1:06:48.654
it's trying to get you to catch up to Him.

1:06:48.654,1:06:52.435
But see, there's a sense of faith.

1:06:52.435,1:06:55.655
There's a sense of faith that comes

1:06:55.655,1:06:57.297
with reading the Scriptures.

1:06:57.297,1:06:58.490
There's a sense of faith

1:06:58.490,1:07:00.900
that comes with studying the old men

1:07:00.900,1:07:02.128
and their ways.

1:07:02.128,1:07:03.847
I remember one time I [br]was a young missionary.

1:07:03.847,1:07:05.518
I came back off the field. [br]I was very tired.

1:07:05.518,1:07:07.667
I was invited to a church. [br]They wanted me to speak.

1:07:07.667,1:07:08.913
They did a question and answer.

1:07:08.913,1:07:11.133
They had a microphone in the [br]different aisles of the church.

1:07:11.133,1:07:12.886
And I was answering questions.

1:07:12.886,1:07:15.603
A young red-headed boy - [br]I'll never forget this -

1:07:15.603,1:07:18.901
he couldn't have been [br]more than 10, 12, whatever.

1:07:18.901,1:07:20.581
He comes up to the microphone.

1:07:20.581,1:07:22.530
He'd been standing in line all night

1:07:22.530,1:07:24.183
and this is the question he asked.

1:07:24.183,1:07:25.414
He said, "Mr. Washer?"

1:07:25.414,1:07:27.314
I said, "Yes?"

1:07:27.314,1:07:30.879
He said, "After you win [br]everybody in Peru to Jesus,

1:07:30.879,1:07:33.812
then what are you going to do?"

1:07:33.812,1:07:37.222
And everybody laughed except me and him.

1:07:37.222,1:07:38.822
And I said, "Well, son, I suppose

1:07:38.822,1:07:40.810
when I win everybody to Christ in Peru

1:07:40.810,1:07:45.225
I'll just have to go find [br]me another country, won't I?"

1:07:45.225,1:07:46.891
I don't see anywhere in the Bible

1:07:46.891,1:07:48.826
where there can't be a worldwide revival.

1:07:48.826,1:07:50.222
Sorry, I don't.

1:07:50.222,1:07:51.706
I don't see anywhere in the Bible

1:07:51.706,1:07:53.443
where an entire people group

1:07:53.443,1:07:55.884
can't come to Jesus.

1:07:55.884,1:07:58.255
I don't see anywhere in the Bible

1:07:58.255,1:08:01.981
where I have to die [br]without seeing everybody

1:08:01.981,1:08:06.811
at least hear the Gospel one time.

1:08:06.811,1:08:10.385
Everything I have contrived -

1:08:10.385,1:08:12.639
and I know that behind that contriving

1:08:12.639,1:08:14.862
was the sovereignty of God;

1:08:14.862,1:08:19.231
I know the 1689 and the Westminster -

1:08:19.231,1:08:22.757
there is nothing I have ever contrived

1:08:22.757,1:08:24.430
and prayed for

1:08:24.430,1:08:26.046
that was turned down by God

1:08:26.046,1:08:32.156
because it was too big.

1:08:32.156,1:08:35.197
You can believe Him for anything

1:08:35.197,1:08:37.546
when in the context you're looking

1:08:37.546,1:08:39.493
at the advancement of the kingdom

1:08:39.493,1:08:40.967
and you're renewing your mind,

1:08:40.967,1:08:44.623
you can believe Him for anything.

1:08:44.623,1:08:46.492
Let me give you an example: HeartCry.

1:08:46.492,1:08:49.010
People ask me to give [br]presentations on HeartCry.

1:08:49.010,1:08:50.256
I want to make this real,

1:08:50.256,1:08:51.960
that this isn't some antiquated guy

1:08:51.960,1:08:53.923
who used to do these things in the past.

1:08:53.923,1:08:57.285
I can't tell you how many [br]times He's delivered us.

1:08:57.285,1:08:59.344
At HeartCry, our financial principles

1:08:59.344,1:09:01.600
are based upon George Mueller's princples

1:09:01.600,1:09:02.917
of his orphanage.

1:09:02.917,1:09:05.094
We do not raise funds.

1:09:05.094,1:09:06.651
We do not ask for money.

1:09:06.651,1:09:08.153
We do not make our needs known.

1:09:08.153,1:09:10.042
If a church asks us to come explain

1:09:10.042,1:09:11.341
what we do in the mission,

1:09:11.341,1:09:14.466
we will come and explain [br]what we are currently doing,

1:09:14.466,1:09:19.703
not what we would do if we had more money.

1:09:19.703,1:09:22.621
Not this Christmas, but last Christmas,

1:09:22.621,1:09:25.194
nobody knew it except me,

1:09:25.194,1:09:27.227
the financial guy,

1:09:27.227,1:09:30.101
and one board member.

1:09:30.101,1:09:32.676
It was December 31st.

1:09:32.676,1:09:35.299
We had a $150,000 deficit.

1:09:35.299,1:09:36.917
Now that doesn't mean

1:09:36.917,1:09:40.701
that we owed somebody $150,000.

1:09:40.701,1:09:43.491
It just meant we had spent

1:09:43.491,1:09:44.955
that much beyond our budget

1:09:44.955,1:09:48.583
and basically almost had nothing.

1:09:48.583,1:09:52.726
Okay? Nobody knew. Nobody knew.

1:09:52.726,1:09:54.091
But God had told us

1:09:54.091,1:09:56.040
just a few days before we felt

1:09:56.040,1:09:57.847
that we were supposed to do something

1:09:57.847,1:10:00.442
really wild in Asia, and we did it.

1:10:00.442,1:10:01.863
We took on something like,

1:10:01.863,1:10:03.181
I don't know what it was,

1:10:03.181,1:10:05.473
45 more missionaries

1:10:05.473,1:10:09.233
knowing this was the case.

1:10:09.233,1:10:12.365
But we knew, God wants to reach Asia.

1:10:12.365,1:10:15.133
God desires that everybody [br]in Asia hears the Gospel.

1:10:15.133,1:10:16.886
This has opened up. It's biblical.

1:10:16.886,1:10:17.968
These men are sound.

1:10:17.968,1:10:19.884
We're going to do it.

1:10:19.884,1:10:22.174
Nobody knew.

1:10:22.174,1:10:25.120
I'm in my study.

1:10:25.120,1:10:26.842
It's December 31st.

1:10:26.842,1:10:28.716
That's the last day of the year.

1:10:28.716,1:10:30.120
It's 10:00 in the morning.

1:10:30.120,1:10:31.557
I'm studying the Word of God

1:10:31.557,1:10:36.479
and lifting up my worries in prayer.

1:10:36.479,1:10:38.206
Kevin comes in (our financial guy).

1:10:38.206,1:10:39.999
He's kind of teary-eyed.

1:10:39.999,1:10:42.296
I said, "Kevin, what's wrong?"

1:10:42.296,1:10:46.128
He said, "Um, somebody just sent -

1:10:46.128,1:10:53.195
I don't know who this is - $60,000."

1:10:53.195,1:10:55.201
I said, "Really?" He said, "Yes."

1:10:55.201,1:10:58.235
He said, "One check. It's $60,000."

1:10:58.235,1:10:59.705
So we got down on our knees.

1:10:59.705,1:11:00.831
We thanked God.

1:11:00.831,1:11:02.303
I went back to my Bible study.

1:11:02.303,1:11:04.653
He went back to his computer.

1:11:04.653,1:11:07.895
Twelve o'clock he comes in.

1:11:07.895,1:11:09.755
I don't have the figures exactly right,

1:11:09.755,1:11:12.648
but (unintelligible) it's been awhile.

1:11:12.648,1:11:14.562
He comes in.

1:11:14.562,1:11:16.605
He's teary-eyed.

1:11:16.605,1:11:21.126
I said, "Kevin, what's wrong?"

1:11:21.126,1:11:26.005
Someone just sent $100,000.

1:11:26.005,1:11:27.536
I said, "You're kidding."

1:11:27.536,1:11:29.268
He said, "No, someone just sent..."

1:11:29.268,1:11:30.833
I said, "You mean, 60 and 40."

1:11:30.833,1:11:33.250
He goes, "No. 60 and 100 thousand.

1:11:33.250,1:11:34.934
Somebody just sent $100,000."

1:11:34.934,1:11:37.293
I said, "Who?" He goes, "I don't know."

1:11:37.293,1:11:38.404
Alright.

1:11:38.404,1:11:41.776
We go back. Two o'clock he comes in.

1:11:41.776,1:11:43.535
He's really looking pale.

1:11:43.535,1:11:45.499
I said, "Kevin, what's going on?"

1:11:45.499,1:11:48.759
He said, "Well, we [br]got a check for $60,000."

1:11:48.759,1:11:51.832
"I know." "No, we got [br]another check for $60,000."

1:11:51.832,1:11:53.448
I said, "You're kidding." "No."

1:11:53.448,1:11:55.195
At the end of the day,

1:11:55.195,1:11:57.568
$326,000 came in.

1:11:57.568,1:12:01.368
Nobody knew at all what was going on.

1:12:01.368,1:12:02.657
Now, I can tell you that

1:12:02.657,1:12:05.867
over and over and over.

1:12:05.867,1:12:07.816
This last year, a similar thing happened.

1:12:07.816,1:12:09.293
It didn't happen in one day,

1:12:09.293,1:12:11.306
but it happened in one month.

1:12:11.306,1:12:13.270
Now I want you to think about something.

1:12:13.270,1:12:19.598
God chose the last day of the year.

1:12:19.598,1:12:21.636
Why? Because He wanted to show everybody

1:12:21.636,1:12:23.662
He doesn't need 365 days.

1:12:23.662,1:12:26.629
He doesn't even need 24 hours.

1:12:26.629,1:12:28.571
What I'm saying is the more you

1:12:28.571,1:12:31.303
cut yourself off from [br]the arm of the flesh,

1:12:31.303,1:12:34.001
the more you desire the [br]advancement of His kingdom,

1:12:34.001,1:12:37.142
and the more you live [br]dependent on Him in prayer,

1:12:37.142,1:12:38.594
you will see more miracles

1:12:38.594,1:12:43.469
than you could ever imagine!

1:12:43.469,1:12:48.792
This is Caleb. There's just all [br]kinds of mountains to conquer.

1:12:48.792,1:12:52.006
Pick one out!

1:12:52.006,1:12:53.747
And go for it!

1:12:53.747,1:12:55.376
Knock down some walls.[br]

1:12:55.376,1:12:56.610
Climb a mountain,

1:12:56.610,1:12:59.412
but don't do it in the arm of the flesh.

1:12:59.412,1:13:01.152
The more you cut yourself off

1:13:01.152,1:13:02.925
from the help of men,

1:13:02.925,1:13:05.794
the more you will have the help of God.

1:13:05.794,1:13:08.292
The more you make [br]pronouncements to men

1:13:08.292,1:13:10.915
so that you may gather [br]their strength for you,

1:13:10.915,1:13:15.575
the less you will seek God.

1:13:15.575,1:13:18.772
Oh my dear friend, there's no end

1:13:18.772,1:13:22.963
to what God will do.

1:13:22.963,1:13:24.919
As a dear man says,

1:13:24.919,1:13:26.702
God delights in vindicating

1:13:26.702,1:13:29.796
the confidence of His children.

1:13:29.796,1:13:32.948
(incomplete thought) Prayer.

1:13:32.948,1:13:33.881
Prayer.

1:13:33.881,1:13:35.468
But not just prayer for ministry,

1:13:35.468,1:13:36.694
prayer for your own life.

1:13:36.694,1:13:38.489
You've got besetting sin.

1:13:38.489,1:13:39.376
You wallow in it.

1:13:39.376,1:13:41.047
You go get all kinds of counsel.

1:13:41.047,1:13:42.612
You can never get any release.

1:13:42.612,1:13:44.315
But do you go to Him?

1:13:44.315,1:13:46.166
Have you spent all night tarrying

1:13:46.166,1:13:47.268
before Him in prayer?

1:13:47.268,1:13:49.452
Have you cried out to Him? [br]Have you fasted?

1:13:49.452,1:13:50.406
Have you sought Him?

1:13:50.406,1:13:55.456
Have you grabbed a hold [br]of the horns of the altar

1:13:55.456,1:13:57.581
saying I will not let You go

1:13:57.581,1:13:59.065
until you bless me?

1:13:59.065,1:14:02.331
How many of you have wrestled

1:14:02.331,1:14:07.893
with the Nazarene all night?

1:14:07.893,1:14:10.840
Saying I will not let You go

1:14:10.840,1:14:14.673
unless You bless me.

1:14:14.673,1:14:17.023
I always tell people,

1:14:17.023,1:14:19.441
Jacob was a better fighter than me.

1:14:19.441,1:14:20.394
They say why?

1:14:20.394,1:14:21.931
He only got touched in one hip.

1:14:21.931,1:14:32.316
I got both of mine replaced.

1:14:32.316,1:14:34.972
I'm no scholar.

1:14:34.972,1:14:36.844
I'm not up here telling you things

1:14:36.844,1:14:40.435
I read in a book.

1:14:40.435,1:14:42.705
But to kneel before your God, like I said,

1:14:42.705,1:14:47.624
kneeling before an F5 [br]tornado three feet away.

1:14:47.624,1:14:52.584
That's what will leave [br]an imprint on a man.

1:14:52.584,1:14:57.025
To wrestle with the Nazarene -

1:14:57.025,1:14:59.309
just find out how strong [br]that Carpenter's arm

1:14:59.309,1:15:04.220
happens to be.

1:15:04.220,1:15:05.727
When He grabs you with it

1:15:05.727,1:15:07.125
and throws you to the ground,

1:15:07.125,1:15:09.119
you'll know His strength.

1:15:09.119,1:15:11.303
But in His blessing, [br]He turns that arm around

1:15:11.303,1:15:13.546
and fights for you.

1:15:13.546,1:15:17.054
You'll know His strength [br]to a greater degree.

1:15:17.054,1:15:19.228
I'm talking about experience,

1:15:19.228,1:15:22.594
not just reading the Puritans -

1:15:22.594,1:15:28.933
following them in their life.

1:15:28.933,1:15:31.695
So we must pray. We must pray.

1:15:31.695,1:15:34.662
We must pray.

1:15:34.662,1:15:36.034
What does it look like?

1:15:36.034,1:15:38.685
1 Thessalonians: Pray without ceasing.

1:15:38.685,1:15:40.007
Ephesians 6:18,

1:15:40.007,1:15:41.623
"With all prayers and petitions,

1:15:41.623,1:15:43.586
pray at all times in the Spirit,"

1:15:43.586,1:15:44.966
in the power of the Spirit.

1:15:44.966,1:15:46.656
That's not referring to tongues.

1:15:46.656,1:15:49.385
It's referring to being empowered

1:15:49.385,1:15:51.803
by the Spirit of God to pray.

1:15:51.803,1:15:53.872
"With this in view, be on the alert

1:15:53.872,1:15:56.940
with all perseverance and [br]petition for the saints."

1:15:56.940,1:15:58.311
Psalm 105:4,

1:15:58.311,1:16:00.037
"Seek the Lord in His strength;

1:16:00.037,1:16:03.404
seek His face continually."

1:16:03.404,1:16:05.531
I hear people today and I say do you pray?

1:16:05.531,1:16:07.372
They go, well, I kind of pray as I go.

1:16:07.372,1:16:09.713
I say, no, you don't.

1:16:09.713,1:16:11.844
No, you don't.

1:16:11.844,1:16:13.571
There's a lot of wisdom handed down

1:16:13.571,1:16:15.404
from the Tozers and the Ravenhills,

1:16:15.404,1:16:17.983
and here's what one of them is:

1:16:17.983,1:16:19.819
You learn to pray continuously

1:16:19.819,1:16:24.957
only by praying with Him alone.

1:16:24.957,1:16:26.858
The practicing of the presence of God

1:16:26.858,1:16:28.644
does not come by just walking around

1:16:28.644,1:16:29.926
thinking you're doing it.

1:16:29.926,1:16:31.840
I have found out that the men and women

1:16:31.840,1:16:33.346
who can most dwell with God

1:16:33.346,1:16:34.545
throughout their day

1:16:34.545,1:16:36.216
no matter how mundane it is

1:16:36.216,1:16:38.503
are people who spend [br]copious amount of time

1:16:38.503,1:16:42.646
alone with God in their prayer closet.

1:16:42.646,1:16:44.877
And from that, you begin to develop

1:16:44.877,1:16:47.041
a sense of the presence of God

1:16:47.041,1:16:48.798
and praying.

1:16:48.798,1:16:50.204
So that as you're walking

1:16:50.204,1:16:51.947
through the church after you preach

1:16:51.947,1:16:53.940
and you see a face that turns toward you

1:16:53.940,1:16:56.362
and you know that person [br]is seeking your counsel,

1:16:56.362,1:16:58.403
immediately you head towards them

1:16:58.403,1:16:59.970
lifting up prayers to God:

1:16:59.970,1:17:02.284
Give me wisdom to discern this need

1:17:02.284,1:17:05.361
and give an answer from Your Scriptures.

1:17:05.361,1:17:06.764
You wake up in the morning

1:17:06.764,1:17:09.600
and you know that your [br]wife is a bit distraught:

1:17:09.600,1:17:11.194
Lord, how to deal with this?

1:17:11.194,1:17:13.558
Or a wife to a husband.

1:17:13.558,1:17:17.263
Constantly crying out to Him, [br]this communion.

1:17:17.263,1:17:23.471
Frank Laubach. Frank Laubach.

1:17:23.471,1:17:25.764
Do you know who I'm talking about?

1:17:25.764,1:17:27.435
Have you ever heard the statement:

1:17:27.435,1:17:30.845
He's so heavenly minded, [br]he's no earthy good?

1:17:30.845,1:17:32.926
Well, most people are so earthly-minded,

1:17:32.926,1:17:34.821
they're no heavenly good.

1:17:34.821,1:17:39.316
Frank Laubach is a very unique individual.

1:17:39.316,1:17:41.336
You know what his goal was in his journal?

1:17:41.336,1:17:42.651
It comes out very clear.

1:17:42.651,1:17:44.474
His one goal in life was to spend

1:17:44.474,1:17:46.540
one entire day

1:17:46.540,1:17:49.432
with uninterrupted thoughts of Christ.

1:17:49.432,1:17:52.003
That was the great goal of his life.

1:17:52.003,1:17:54.712
You say, yeah, one of [br]those spiritual kooks

1:17:54.712,1:17:55.971
that's so heavenly-minded

1:17:55.971,1:17:57.236
that he's no earthly good.

1:17:57.236,1:18:02.495
Frank Laubach taught the [br]entire Philippines to read

1:18:02.495,1:18:04.260
so that they could read the Bible.

1:18:04.260,1:18:06.160
You can go to the Philippines right now

1:18:06.160,1:18:08.002
and talk to people about Frank Laubach.

1:18:08.002,1:18:09.946
They'll say, "Frank Laubach, [br]yeah, I know about him.

1:18:09.946,1:18:11.426
I studied about him in history."

1:18:11.426,1:18:13.143
He's a Christian man

1:18:13.143,1:18:15.647
who taught all the islands [br]of the Philippines to read

1:18:15.647,1:18:17.865
so that they could read the Bible.

1:18:17.865,1:18:19.918
So I guess being heavenly minded

1:18:19.918,1:18:22.162
is pretty earthly good, isn't it?

1:18:22.162,1:18:23.898
Just think of it, this man taught

1:18:23.898,1:18:26.544
all these islands to read,

1:18:26.544,1:18:27.758
and yet his greatest goal

1:18:27.758,1:18:30.671
was to have uninterrupted [br]thoughts of Christ

1:18:30.671,1:18:35.459
and communion with Christ.

1:18:35.459,1:18:38.002
You see, we're not a meditative people.

1:18:38.002,1:18:40.106
We're not a contemplative people.

1:18:40.106,1:18:42.495
We're not a people who sit quietly.

1:18:42.495,1:18:44.032
We are a people of noise.

1:18:44.032,1:18:46.170
We are a people that every 20 minutes

1:18:46.170,1:18:47.673
we have to have a commercial

1:18:47.673,1:18:52.444
or we can't even watch a TV program.

1:18:52.444,1:18:56.127
But in Christ, we can [br]regain what's been lost.

1:18:56.127,1:18:58.516
I had a professor, and I [br]know it sounds really funny,

1:18:58.516,1:18:59.754
but he told me one time, he said,

1:18:59.754,1:19:01.883
"Washer, I want to bring you to a point

1:19:01.883,1:19:04.974
where you can sit in the [br]middle of a hundred acre field

1:19:04.974,1:19:06.558
and be so quiet before God,

1:19:06.558,1:19:09.724
you can hear a caterpillar [br]crawling across a leaf.

1:19:09.724,1:19:12.508
Now, I know that sounds [br]a little mystic to you.

1:19:12.508,1:19:14.943
The fact of the matter is how many times

1:19:14.943,1:19:20.193
do you sit before the Lord in silence?

1:19:20.193,1:19:22.930
Just quiet.

1:19:22.930,1:19:24.803
People say, "I never hear from God."

1:19:24.803,1:19:26.164
Do you listen?

1:19:26.164,1:19:29.214
You know, you wouldn't walk in [br]front of the president talking.

1:19:29.214,1:19:31.795
You would keep your mouth [br]shut until he addressed you.

1:19:31.795,1:19:33.810
But you go before God, before [br]you even hit your knees,

1:19:33.810,1:19:35.588
you're already telling Him stuff.

1:19:35.588,1:19:38.894
Do you ever think about listening?

1:19:38.894,1:19:40.601
Meditating on the Word of God?

1:19:40.601,1:19:45.286
Listening?

1:19:45.286,1:19:49.043
An illustration I heard a long time ago:

1:19:49.043,1:19:51.249
A man worked in this big, noisy factory -

1:19:51.249,1:19:53.432
just wheels grinding and everything else -

1:19:53.432,1:19:55.198
and he lost his watch.

1:19:55.198,1:19:56.699
It was a very important watch

1:19:56.699,1:19:57.953
that his father gave him.

1:19:57.953,1:19:59.634
He lost it while he was working there

1:19:59.634,1:20:01.422
in the factory during the day.

1:20:01.422,1:20:03.398
I mean, how are you [br]going to find this thing?

1:20:03.398,1:20:04.566
The factory's full of men,

1:20:04.566,1:20:05.677
wheels are grinding,

1:20:05.677,1:20:08.287
everything's going on, [br]noise, smoke, steam -

1:20:08.287,1:20:10.964
there's no way to recover that watch.

1:20:10.964,1:20:13.316
The next day though he showed the workman

1:20:13.316,1:20:15.710
his watch - he had found it.

1:20:15.710,1:20:19.220
And they said how did you find the watch?

1:20:19.220,1:20:24.484
He said I waited till the [br]factory was shut down

1:20:24.484,1:20:27.095
and all the wheels stopped

1:20:27.095,1:20:29.853
and all the men were gone,

1:20:29.853,1:20:32.962
and I laid quietly on the floor

1:20:32.962,1:20:36.537
and I listened...

1:20:36.537,1:20:39.900
tick... tick... tick... tick...

1:20:39.900,1:20:43.955
and I found my watch.

1:20:43.955,1:20:46.099
Think about it. We're [br]not a people like that.

1:20:46.099,1:20:48.347
If you walked into a church

1:20:48.347,1:20:50.654
in which for 5 minutes, [br]everyone was silent,

1:20:50.654,1:20:53.674
you'd probably call it a cult.

1:20:53.674,1:20:55.091
You walk in a church

1:20:55.091,1:20:57.513
there's media blaring at you.

1:20:57.513,1:20:59.393
There's pictures on screens.

1:20:59.393,1:21:01.618
People talking, everything going on.

1:21:01.618,1:21:04.228
Think about it.

1:21:04.228,1:21:10.329
All the noise?

1:21:10.329,1:21:13.019
I don't know if I correctly [br]remember the poem.

1:21:13.019,1:21:14.980
What was it?

1:21:14.980,1:21:16.408
Weak from the journey,

1:21:16.408,1:21:17.818
the long passing days,

1:21:17.818,1:21:21.135
hungry to worship, to join in the praise.

1:21:21.135,1:21:22.989
Christ coming in from the wilderness

1:21:22.989,1:21:26.130
and He goes into the temple.

1:21:26.130,1:21:31.414
And instead of finding [br]silence in the temple,

1:21:31.414,1:21:33.347
it says, shock met with anger

1:21:33.347,1:21:34.794
that burned on His face

1:21:34.794,1:21:36.454
as He entered the wasteland

1:21:36.454,1:21:38.027
of that barren place.

1:21:38.027,1:21:39.380
That the temple had become

1:21:39.380,1:21:40.653
more like a wilderness

1:21:40.653,1:21:43.069
than the wilderness itself.

1:21:43.069,1:21:45.638
Then it talks about how He makes a cord,

1:21:45.638,1:21:48.412
a whip.

1:21:48.412,1:21:50.421
It says they'll flee from the harm

1:21:50.421,1:21:53.370
of the Carpenter's strong arm.

1:21:53.370,1:21:54.706
And then the poem says,

1:21:54.706,1:21:57.257
at last the noise and confusion

1:21:57.257,1:21:59.416
gave way to His Word,

1:21:59.416,1:22:02.418
at last sacred silence

1:22:02.418,1:22:05.710
so God could be heard.

1:22:05.710,1:22:10.180
Do you know anything of a night watch?

1:22:10.180,1:22:12.840
Do you know about a night watch?

1:22:12.840,1:22:15.221
Do you ever wake in the night

1:22:15.221,1:22:18.262
just to watch and pray?

1:22:18.262,1:22:22.491
Just to sit alone with God in the night?

1:22:22.491,1:22:29.072
In the dark?

1:22:29.072,1:22:33.939
We are not a very [br]spiritual people, are we.

1:22:33.939,1:22:35.073
We need to pray.

1:22:35.073,1:22:38.197
Now, the last thing that I want to say

1:22:38.197,1:22:40.797
and we'll quit here.

1:22:40.797,1:22:42.266
We must abide in His Word.

1:22:42.266,1:22:44.056
We must abide in prayer.

1:22:44.056,1:22:49.060
And this is one that is [br]most beautiful to me.

1:22:49.060,1:22:51.388
Abiding in Christ is synonymous

1:22:51.388,1:22:55.069
with abiding in Christ's love.

1:22:55.069,1:22:56.387
D.A. Carson writes,

1:22:56.387,1:22:58.485
"The imagery is now changed

1:22:58.485,1:23:00.732
because the agricultural metaphor

1:23:00.732,1:23:02.707
has its limitations.

1:23:02.707,1:23:05.307
It does not depict the unfathomable love

1:23:05.307,1:23:06.911
that sets the disciples

1:23:06.911,1:23:11.190
in this new intimacy."

1:23:11.190,1:23:14.935
You must abide in the love of Christ.

1:23:14.935,1:23:17.275
Now, I want us to look [br]at this in two ways:

1:23:17.275,1:23:20.498
positionally and actively.

1:23:20.498,1:23:22.474
The language here's really important.

1:23:22.474,1:23:24.467
It really is. I want you to listen.

1:23:24.467,1:23:27.603
He says, "Just as the [br]Father has loved Me,"

1:23:27.603,1:23:28.891
in verses 9 and 10,

1:23:28.891,1:23:30.829
"I have also loved you."

1:23:30.829,1:23:32.341
Now, Greek scholars tell us

1:23:32.341,1:23:33.894
that the aorist tense here

1:23:33.894,1:23:35.981
probably suggests completeness

1:23:35.981,1:23:38.476
or perfection.

1:23:38.476,1:23:39.591
So what He's saying is

1:23:39.591,1:23:41.796
as the Father has completely

1:23:41.796,1:23:44.130
and perfectly loved Me,

1:23:44.130,1:23:50.009
so I perfectly and completely love you.

1:23:50.009,1:23:51.305
Now, I've written here,

1:23:51.305,1:23:53.047
this is the first side of the coin

1:23:53.047,1:23:54.725
or the foundation of the building.

1:23:54.725,1:23:57.633
To be fruitful, we must [br]be utterly convinced

1:23:57.633,1:24:00.161
or persuaded of Christ's love for us.

1:24:00.161,1:24:03.303
Then we must live in continuous dependence

1:24:03.303,1:24:05.223
upon Christ's love,

1:24:05.223,1:24:07.838
constant reliance upon Christ's love,

1:24:07.838,1:24:10.879
constant, persistent imbibing

1:24:10.879,1:24:13.810
of Christ's love.

1:24:13.810,1:24:21.267
Now, what do I mean by all that?

1:24:21.267,1:24:23.004
Jude says this:

1:24:23.004,1:24:26.865
"Keep yourself in the love of God."

1:24:26.865,1:24:29.721
Now, Paul says this:

1:24:29.721,1:24:32.202
That he is constrained

1:24:32.202,1:24:34.669
by the love of Christ.

1:24:34.669,1:24:36.269
Keep yourself in the love of God.

1:24:36.269,1:24:38.306
Paul is constrained by the love of Christ.

1:24:38.306,1:24:41.256
Now many people think [br]wrongly about this.

1:24:41.256,1:24:44.157
When Paul says that he is [br]constrained by the love of Christ,

1:24:44.157,1:24:45.869
many think that Paul is saying

1:24:45.869,1:24:47.849
I'm constrained by the great love

1:24:47.849,1:24:51.085
that I have for Christ.

1:24:51.085,1:24:53.031
Let me share with you something.

1:24:53.031,1:24:55.122
You know the song - just any song

1:24:55.122,1:24:59.877
that says, "Oh, how I love Jesus..."

1:24:59.877,1:25:01.318
When everyone's singing that -

1:25:01.318,1:25:03.913
and it's true to sing that; [br]that's a good song -

1:25:03.913,1:25:06.014
but I kind of change the words

1:25:06.014,1:25:08.205
because I'm a terrible singer anyway.

1:25:08.205,1:25:10.549
I go: Oh, how Jesus loves me.

1:25:10.549,1:25:13.006
The reason why is I look [br]at my love for Christ

1:25:13.006,1:25:16.106
and I really don't see anything [br]worth singing about.

1:25:16.106,1:25:18.903
But I look at the love of Christ for me,

1:25:18.903,1:25:21.967
I see a whole lot worth singing about.

1:25:21.967,1:25:23.885
Now don't say it's unbiblical to sing

1:25:23.885,1:25:25.221
"Oh, How I Love Jesus."

1:25:25.221,1:25:27.923
The psalmist says that [br]he loves the Lord, okay?

1:25:27.923,1:25:29.308
We should love the Lord.

1:25:29.308,1:25:30.906
The point I'm trying to make is

1:25:30.906,1:25:35.309
the strength of Paul Washer's life

1:25:35.309,1:25:41.196
is not how much he loves Jesus;

1:25:41.196,1:25:44.305
it's how much Jesus loves him.

1:25:44.305,1:25:49.831
That little change there [br]will change everything.

1:25:49.831,1:25:51.632
Let me share with you [br]something that happened.

1:25:51.632,1:25:53.371
As I said in my testimony this morning,

1:25:53.371,1:25:56.034
I had a father that was very demanding.

1:25:56.034,1:25:58.062
If you scored a 98, [br]why didn't you score 100?

1:25:58.062,1:26:00.340
If you scored 20 points [br]in the basketball game,

1:26:00.340,1:26:01.600
you could have scored 30.

1:26:01.600,1:26:03.132
On and on...

1:26:03.132,1:26:06.161
I was kind of never in the [br]inner circle of anything.

1:26:06.161,1:26:08.287
You know, I wasn't one of the [br]cool guys when I was young.

1:26:08.287,1:26:10.051
I wasn't this. I wasn't that.

1:26:10.051,1:26:11.212
Here's what happened.

1:26:11.212,1:26:12.751
When I got saved, I thought

1:26:12.751,1:26:15.696
this is going to be my one chance.

1:26:15.696,1:26:18.750
I want to be in God's inner circle.

1:26:18.750,1:26:20.511
I want God to love me

1:26:20.511,1:26:22.770
like He loves His favorites.

1:26:22.770,1:26:25.016
I know that's wrong, [br]but that was my mentality.

1:26:25.016,1:26:27.071
And I know it was [br]fleshly and full of pride,

1:26:27.071,1:26:30.197
but I'm just telling you the facts.

1:26:30.197,1:26:32.344
And I decided this is the one place

1:26:32.344,1:26:34.342
where you can really go all out

1:26:34.342,1:26:35.902
even if you're not the smartest

1:26:35.902,1:26:37.683
and even if you're not the prettiest

1:26:37.683,1:26:40.342
and even if you don't [br]have the most muscles.

1:26:40.342,1:26:41.957
I mean, there's nothing to hinder you

1:26:41.957,1:26:44.281
in this endeavor except your own passion.

1:26:44.281,1:26:47.072
If you want to be one [br]of the top guys in this

1:26:47.072,1:26:49.519
and really be loved by [br]God and appreciated,

1:26:49.519,1:26:50.644
this is it.

1:26:50.644,1:26:52.493
All you have to do is have passion.

1:26:52.493,1:26:55.356
And buddy, I had it. I went to Peru.

1:26:55.356,1:26:57.816
Worked 18 hours a day.

1:26:57.816,1:26:59.011
Lived on nothing.

1:26:59.011,1:27:03.588
Just wild.

1:27:03.588,1:27:07.199
And every day became more of a grind.

1:27:07.199,1:27:09.291
Every day I would see more failure,

1:27:09.291,1:27:11.471
more failure, year after year,

1:27:11.471,1:27:13.940
until finally one day as a young man -

1:27:13.940,1:27:15.055
I'll never forget it -

1:27:15.055,1:27:16.630
it was in the town of Mia Flores

1:27:16.630,1:27:18.559
up on the third floor of this old building

1:27:18.559,1:27:20.135
that we were renting during the war

1:27:20.135,1:27:21.418
because we were using it for a church

1:27:21.418,1:27:22.773
and to help street kids.

1:27:22.773,1:27:24.175
I was on the third floor.

1:27:24.175,1:27:26.301
There was a few steps from the third floor

1:27:26.301,1:27:30.223
to the half other part of the [br]third floor where I slept.

1:27:30.223,1:27:32.867
And right there, I crashed.

1:27:32.867,1:27:36.304
Totally exhausted every possible way

1:27:36.304,1:27:39.847
after years of just full bore,

1:27:39.847,1:27:42.618
out of my mind serving Christ.

1:27:42.618,1:27:43.963
And I crashed.

1:27:43.963,1:27:45.710
And I crashed in all my failure

1:27:45.710,1:27:46.676
right on those steps

1:27:46.676,1:27:47.685
and I laid down there

1:27:47.685,1:27:51.310
and I cried and I cried and I cried.

1:27:51.310,1:27:55.802
I said I don't want to go to hell

1:27:55.802,1:27:59.000
because I know something of what is there.

1:27:59.000,1:28:00.419
I don't want to go to hell,

1:28:00.419,1:28:04.404
but I don't want to go to heaven.

1:28:04.404,1:28:08.689
I am so ashamed of my performance.

1:28:08.689,1:28:12.258
I've not been able to [br]do any of this right.

1:28:12.258,1:28:14.020
I know You have servants.

1:28:14.020,1:28:15.669
I know You have your Spurgeons.

1:28:15.669,1:28:17.769
I know You have all these kind of people

1:28:17.769,1:28:19.321
and they pleased You,

1:28:19.321,1:28:21.303
and I know when You look at my life,

1:28:21.303,1:28:22.970
it just must be a joke.

1:28:22.970,1:28:25.759
I just want to go somewhere when I die

1:28:25.759,1:28:27.312
where I don't have to suffer,

1:28:27.312,1:28:29.210
but I don't have to look at You

1:28:29.210,1:28:31.102
and be so disappointed

1:28:31.102,1:28:34.342
and see the disappointment in Your face.

1:28:34.342,1:28:35.814
I know that's insane.

1:28:35.814,1:28:37.565
I know theologically it's incorrect.

1:28:37.565,1:28:40.044
But it's where I was.

1:28:40.044,1:28:43.051
And it was there

1:28:43.051,1:28:45.405
that in one moment

1:28:45.405,1:28:48.050
the sin and vileness of [br]everything I was saying

1:28:48.050,1:28:49.442
was made known to me.

1:28:49.442,1:28:51.548
And you would think [br]that that would grind me

1:28:51.548,1:28:53.215
even more to powder. No.

1:28:53.215,1:28:54.913
God should have struck me down

1:28:54.913,1:28:57.704
for those kinds of attitudes.

1:28:57.704,1:29:00.050
But it was there, empty,

1:29:00.050,1:29:05.626
empty of any hope of ever pleasing God -

1:29:05.626,1:29:07.124
because not only had I failed

1:29:07.124,1:29:08.671
in what I intended to do,

1:29:08.671,1:29:15.061
what I intended to do was actually evil.

1:29:15.061,1:29:18.770
That in one moment, I began to understand

1:29:18.770,1:29:22.940
I am loved.

1:29:22.940,1:29:25.433
I do not have to move a [br]quarter of an inch this way,

1:29:25.433,1:29:26.995
a quarter of an inch that way.

1:29:26.995,1:29:28.473
I do not have to perform.

1:29:28.473,1:29:32.056
I do not have to do it. [br]I am loved in Christ.

1:29:32.056,1:29:34.548
The very moment when God [br]should have most judged me,

1:29:34.548,1:29:36.532
He most showed me His love.

1:29:36.532,1:29:39.830
What a God!

1:29:39.830,1:29:42.947
Brothers, you are so wrong

1:29:42.947,1:29:45.576
in what you think about men of God.

1:29:45.576,1:29:47.113
Now, hopefully, they are sincere

1:29:47.113,1:29:48.169
in that we do pray

1:29:48.169,1:29:50.563
and we do want to be following

1:29:50.563,1:29:51.920
hard after Christ,

1:29:51.920,1:29:54.114
but men of God in their best moment

1:29:54.114,1:29:58.833
are only worthy of hell.

1:29:58.833,1:30:00.366
And what you need to see

1:30:00.366,1:30:03.482
is the thing that can [br]really make you strong

1:30:03.482,1:30:05.939
is not that you look at your life

1:30:05.939,1:30:07.216
and you're able to see

1:30:07.216,1:30:09.411
all the things you're doing right.

1:30:09.411,1:30:12.022
No, you give up looking at your life

1:30:12.022,1:30:14.154
to find something that you're doing right

1:30:14.154,1:30:16.194
and worthy of being loved for,

1:30:16.194,1:30:19.564
and you look at the [br]finished work of Christ.

1:30:19.564,1:30:21.152
And you look at Christ.

1:30:21.152,1:30:24.222
Just Christ and all that He's done.

1:30:24.222,1:30:26.483
And you understand He loves you.

1:30:26.483,1:30:27.989
And you don't have to perform.

1:30:27.989,1:30:30.833
And no, you were not saved to serve.

1:30:30.833,1:30:32.545
You weren't even saved to love God.

1:30:32.545,1:30:35.721
You were saved so God could love you.

1:30:35.721,1:30:37.934
And then out of that great love for you

1:30:37.934,1:30:39.605
and His empowering Spirit,

1:30:39.605,1:30:43.604
you would be able to [br]give some return on that.

1:30:43.604,1:30:45.753
But that you are loved!

1:30:45.753,1:30:47.182
It's a magnificent thing!

1:30:47.182,1:30:50.332
Do you realize all that you can attempt

1:30:50.332,1:30:53.980
when you no longer fear failure?

1:30:53.980,1:30:57.230
When you no longer fear disappointment?

1:30:57.230,1:30:59.490
So many believers, after talking to them,

1:30:59.490,1:31:02.326
this is what I'll tell them:

1:31:02.326,1:31:04.066
So many believers - I'll go,

1:31:04.066,1:31:06.309
I have discerned your problem.

1:31:06.309,1:31:08.323
You honestly think that the first time

1:31:08.323,1:31:09.914
you look into the face of Christ,

1:31:09.914,1:31:13.221
you're going to see a scowl.

1:31:13.221,1:31:14.683
Think about it.

1:31:14.683,1:31:17.175
Yes, I know there's a judgment [br]throne for believers.

1:31:17.175,1:31:18.611
I know all these doctrines.

1:31:18.611,1:31:20.318
Don't think I don't. I do.

1:31:20.318,1:31:22.181
But I want to tell you, believer,

1:31:22.181,1:31:25.257
He didn't shed His own blood on that tree

1:31:25.257,1:31:27.314
so that the first time He sees you

1:31:27.314,1:31:36.006
He would be able to show [br]you His disappointment.

1:31:36.006,1:31:38.807
You see that?

1:31:38.807,1:31:42.247
I mean, it's the love of God.

1:31:42.247,1:31:46.420
It's what God did for us in Christ

1:31:46.420,1:31:50.457
that sets us free and empowers us

1:31:50.457,1:31:52.116
to know that you're loved,

1:31:52.116,1:31:56.859
to know that you're loved.

1:31:56.859,1:31:59.045
I remember when my son Ian,

1:31:59.045,1:32:00.474
he was just a little boy

1:32:00.474,1:32:03.238
and he's always been very confident.

1:32:03.238,1:32:04.562
He's always been like:

1:32:04.562,1:32:06.807
Okay, I'm here. The party can begin.

1:32:06.807,1:32:09.087
You know, he's just always [br]been very confident.

1:32:09.087,1:32:11.363
And I remember when he was a little boy

1:32:11.363,1:32:13.720
that he was laying on my bed asleep

1:32:13.720,1:32:15.199
and I walked in,

1:32:15.199,1:32:17.558
and he woke up when I walked in.

1:32:17.558,1:32:19.053
And this is what he did:

1:32:19.053,1:32:20.686
He woke up -

1:32:20.686,1:32:23.555
and I was always afraid of my father.

1:32:23.555,1:32:26.003
He woke up. He turned around

1:32:26.003,1:32:28.429
and he went:

1:32:28.429,1:32:30.472
There wasn't a doubt in his mind

1:32:30.472,1:32:32.782
what should happen here.

1:32:32.782,1:32:35.497
He is loved

1:32:35.497,1:32:37.396
and his dad's going to run over there

1:32:37.396,1:32:41.705
and give him the biggest hug in the world.

1:32:41.705,1:32:45.333
What a joy!

1:32:45.333,1:32:46.923
To know that you are loved.

1:32:46.923,1:32:48.197
You say, oh, but I failed.

1:32:48.197,1:32:51.806
Why do you think He died?

1:32:51.806,1:32:53.837
What is this death all about?

1:32:53.837,1:32:56.487
Just so He can say that He forgave you

1:32:56.487,1:32:58.086
and then show you constantly

1:32:58.086,1:33:02.058
all the reasons why He shouldn't?

1:33:02.058,1:33:04.559
He saved you to put that all away

1:33:04.559,1:33:06.083
so that He could have brothers

1:33:06.083,1:33:07.523
that He would not be ashamed

1:33:07.523,1:33:09.490
to announce them to the congregation;

1:33:09.490,1:33:11.189
to say that they are His brothers.

1:33:11.189,1:33:14.875
He has set you free to be loved.

1:33:14.875,1:33:17.428
It doesn't matter how big [br]your ministry is or isn't.

1:33:17.428,1:33:19.355
It doesn't matter what you do or don't.

1:33:19.355,1:33:21.867
You are loved if you are in Christ.

1:33:21.867,1:33:24.329
Now the unconverted [br]church person hears that

1:33:24.329,1:33:26.965
and goes, well, great, [br]I'll just keep sinning.

1:33:26.965,1:33:29.416
It doesn't matter what I do.[br]I'll just keep sinning.

1:33:29.416,1:33:31.705
But the person who's [br]been truly regenerated

1:33:31.705,1:33:33.058
by the Spirit of God,

1:33:33.058,1:33:34.144
what does he do?

1:33:34.144,1:33:35.821
If God loves me this way,

1:33:35.821,1:33:41.373
I so desire much more to be holy.

1:33:41.373,1:33:42.854
One of the most pathetic things

1:33:42.854,1:33:44.063
that a preacher has to do

1:33:44.063,1:33:47.754
is tell believers that [br]they're loved of God

1:33:47.754,1:33:49.946
because there's no way for us to describe

1:33:49.946,1:33:53.152
the greatness of that love for His people.

1:33:53.152,1:33:58.429
Sometimes when I'm preaching pastorally,

1:33:58.429,1:34:00.686
when I was a pastor

1:34:00.686,1:34:03.018
or when a few times [br]I've taken over a church

1:34:03.018,1:34:06.267
for a few months in order to help it

1:34:06.267,1:34:09.009
because it was struggling,

1:34:09.009,1:34:13.404
everybody hears me [br]preaching on YouTube.

1:34:13.404,1:34:16.519
The meanest man in the world.

1:34:16.519,1:34:18.400
And I've had those same people show up

1:34:18.400,1:34:20.007
because I've come into their area

1:34:20.007,1:34:21.090
to help a church.

1:34:21.090,1:34:22.565
And I've had young men show up

1:34:22.565,1:34:24.529
and listen to me preach to that church

1:34:24.529,1:34:26.146
and it be a very backward church -

1:34:26.146,1:34:27.693
a church with a lot of problems,

1:34:27.693,1:34:29.104
a lot of sin.

1:34:29.104,1:34:31.294
And some young men [br]kept showing up and coming,

1:34:31.294,1:34:34.407
and finally they went to one of my friends

1:34:34.407,1:34:36.726
after hearing me preach for several weeks,

1:34:36.726,1:34:38.195
they came to one of my friends

1:34:38.195,1:34:39.526
and they said this:

1:34:39.526,1:34:41.408
"We've got a question."

1:34:41.408,1:34:42.878
He said, "Yeah?"

1:34:42.878,1:34:45.618
They said, "We respect Brother Paul a lot,

1:34:45.618,1:34:49.360
but has he compromised?"

1:34:49.360,1:34:51.315
The guy says, "Well, what do you mean?"

1:34:51.315,1:34:52.791
He goes, "Well, everybody knows

1:34:52.791,1:34:55.778
this church has a lot of problems

1:34:55.778,1:34:58.035
and all he's done for weeks is taught

1:34:58.035,1:35:01.893
on the love of God.

1:35:01.893,1:35:04.565
We expected to get some [br]YouTube stuff, you know?

1:35:04.565,1:35:05.895
Sermon jam?

1:35:05.895,1:35:08.143
Having smoke coming out of his ears

1:35:08.143,1:35:10.618
preaching really hard?

1:35:10.618,1:35:16.362
You see, here's what [br]you need to understand.

1:35:16.362,1:35:19.088
If someone has been truly converted -

1:35:19.088,1:35:21.231
truly converted -

1:35:21.231,1:35:24.721
you do not have to [br]manipulate them with fear.

1:35:24.721,1:35:28.442
You do not have to coerce them.

1:35:28.442,1:35:30.489
If they've truly been regenerated

1:35:30.489,1:35:32.019
by the Holy Spirit.

1:35:32.019,1:35:34.062
the more they come to understand

1:35:34.062,1:35:36.469
the glories of God in the face of Christ,

1:35:36.469,1:35:38.001
the more they come to understand

1:35:38.001,1:35:39.670
the love of God on their behalf,

1:35:39.670,1:35:41.868
the more they'll be driven to holiness.

1:35:41.868,1:35:44.625
And if they're not, it's [br]because they're not sheep.

1:35:44.625,1:35:46.005
They're goats.

1:35:46.005,1:35:47.950
When I come to Christians -

1:35:47.950,1:35:49.468
and yes, sometimes Christians

1:35:49.468,1:35:50.922
need to be rebuked and warned

1:35:50.922,1:35:52.086
and all kinds of things,

1:35:52.086,1:35:54.679
but basically, when I'm [br]dealing with the Christian,

1:35:54.679,1:35:57.191
my greatest desire is to explain to them

1:35:57.191,1:36:00.795
how much they are loved by God in Christ.

1:36:00.795,1:36:02.341
And I find that when people

1:36:02.341,1:36:04.618
come to understand - [br]truly regenerate people -

1:36:04.618,1:36:08.405
how much they are loved,

1:36:08.405,1:36:10.052
they seem to blossom.

1:36:10.052,1:36:12.856
Keep yourselves, Jude said, [br]in the love of God.

1:36:12.856,1:36:13.953
That doesn't mean:

1:36:13.953,1:36:16.580
live in such a way so [br]that God will love you.

1:36:16.580,1:36:18.156
It means this:

1:36:18.156,1:36:20.947
Keep yourself basking in His love.

1:36:20.947,1:36:22.532
If you tell me to come to your house

1:36:22.532,1:36:25.084
because you've got a [br]plant that isn't growing,

1:36:25.084,1:36:26.762
and it's wilting and dying,

1:36:26.762,1:36:28.164
you say, Brother Paul,

1:36:28.164,1:36:29.689
what do you think the problem is?

1:36:29.689,1:36:30.848
I say, well, show me the plant.

1:36:30.848,1:36:32.382
You take me into a closet

1:36:32.382,1:36:35.074
where you've kept the [br]plant for six months.

1:36:35.074,1:36:36.216
Again, I'm going to go,

1:36:36.216,1:36:38.147
well, I'm not really an expert

1:36:38.147,1:36:39.912
at growing plants,

1:36:39.912,1:36:41.671
but I think if you put this thing

1:36:41.671,1:36:44.198
out in the sun,

1:36:44.198,1:36:46.889
it might do better.

1:36:46.889,1:36:48.643
The devil is constantly trying

1:36:48.643,1:36:50.356
to convince the believer

1:36:50.356,1:36:55.227
that God's love isn't as the Bible says.

1:36:55.227,1:36:57.019
And when we begin to believe that

1:36:57.019,1:36:59.682
we wilt, we die.

1:36:59.682,1:37:03.143
Keep yourself believing the truth

1:37:03.143,1:37:05.199
about the love of God

1:37:05.199,1:37:08.985
and it will cause you to prosper.

1:37:08.985,1:37:11.214
It will cause you to grow.

1:37:11.214,1:37:14.216
It will cause you to bear fruit.

1:37:14.216,1:37:21.501
The sunshine of God's love upon you.

1:37:21.501,1:37:24.486
Last night, a young man came to me

1:37:24.486,1:37:26.535
and was talking about [br]I feel bad sometimes.

1:37:26.535,1:37:29.515
You are so passionate

1:37:29.515,1:37:32.066
talking about Christ the way that you did

1:37:32.066,1:37:34.949
and sometimes my heart is dead.

1:37:34.949,1:37:36.369
And I said, "Young man,

1:37:36.369,1:37:40.952
sometimes my heart is dead."

1:37:40.952,1:37:43.212
Sometimes my zeal wanes.

1:37:43.212,1:37:45.397
Even last night, the tears I shed

1:37:45.397,1:37:48.247
were not: Oh, this man [br]loves Jesus so much.

1:37:48.247,1:37:51.805
The tears were: God, how [br]can You love me so much

1:37:51.805,1:37:54.993
and yet my heart be so cold?

1:37:54.993,1:37:57.954
You see, it's not our love for God

1:37:57.954,1:38:01.612
that keeps us on an even keel.

1:38:01.612,1:38:05.615
It is God's constant love for us.

1:38:05.615,1:38:07.397
I had a young man come to me one time

1:38:07.397,1:38:09.671
and he was a very godly man - young man -

1:38:09.671,1:38:11.703
pursuing Christ.

1:38:11.703,1:38:14.189
And he actually wrote me an email

1:38:14.189,1:38:15.901
and he said this.

1:38:15.901,1:38:17.157
He said, "Brother Paul,

1:38:17.157,1:38:19.176
I am so unrighteous

1:38:19.176,1:38:21.242
and so ungodly

1:38:21.242,1:38:23.451
and so ignorant of God."

1:38:23.451,1:38:24.906
So I wrote him back, I said,

1:38:24.906,1:38:27.250
"Dear brother, you are much more ungodly

1:38:27.250,1:38:28.934
and much more unrighteous

1:38:28.934,1:38:31.042
than you now know. Signed, Paul."

1:38:31.042,1:38:33.012
I have the gift of encouragement.

1:38:33.012,1:38:36.416
And he called me back up and he was like,

1:38:36.416,1:38:38.437
"Thank you?"

1:38:38.437,1:38:41.507
"Why did you write that?"

1:38:41.507,1:38:44.405
I said, "Because I want to [br]prove to you something, son."

1:38:44.405,1:38:46.010
I've watched your life.

1:38:46.010,1:38:48.578
You're following hard after Christ.

1:38:48.578,1:38:50.148
In many ways, when I look at you,

1:38:50.148,1:38:51.605
I seem to think of myself

1:38:51.605,1:38:54.004
that I lost my first love.

1:38:54.004,1:38:56.135
I said you're following [br]harder after Christ

1:38:56.135,1:38:57.540
than I appear to be,

1:38:57.540,1:39:00.098
but I'm much happier than you.

1:39:00.098,1:39:01.670
And he said how can that be?

1:39:01.670,1:39:04.505
I said, son, I've given up

1:39:04.505,1:39:06.992
on trying to earn my own keep

1:39:06.992,1:39:09.103
in the kingdom of heaven.

1:39:09.103,1:39:12.648
I said, son, when you [br]get up in the morning

1:39:12.648,1:39:16.330
and you have a five hour time of prayer

1:39:16.330,1:39:19.097
and you read the Word for 25 hours

1:39:19.097,1:39:21.110
just in that morning,

1:39:21.110,1:39:23.380
and you go out, you witness to everybody,

1:39:23.380,1:39:25.104
you're even nice to cats.

1:39:25.104,1:39:26.614
You're a testimony to Christ.

1:39:26.614,1:39:28.744
You're just walking in the Spirit.

1:39:28.744,1:39:30.430
I said, and you come home at night,

1:39:30.430,1:39:31.543
how do you feel?

1:39:31.543,1:39:34.131
He says I feel good.

1:39:34.131,1:39:35.986
I said what about the next morning

1:39:35.986,1:39:37.288
when you get up,

1:39:37.288,1:39:38.454
you slept in too late,

1:39:38.454,1:39:41.372
you missed your time with the Lord,

1:39:41.372,1:39:43.006
you kicked the cat,

1:39:43.006,1:39:44.786
you had an opportunity to witness,

1:39:44.786,1:39:47.052
you didn't do that, [br]and so on and so forth,

1:39:47.052,1:39:48.278
how do you feel?

1:39:48.278,1:39:52.663
He said horrible.

1:39:52.663,1:39:53.906
Now there's a sense,

1:39:53.906,1:39:55.409
and I want to be very careful

1:39:55.409,1:39:58.069
so someone doesn't pick me [br]apart on this sermon -

1:39:58.069,1:40:00.232
there's a sense in which [br]yes, there was sin,

1:40:00.232,1:40:01.951
(unintelligible).

1:40:01.951,1:40:04.937
But I rebuked him of idolatry.

1:40:04.937,1:40:07.599
And he said why idolatry?

1:40:07.599,1:40:09.684
I said your performance

1:40:09.684,1:40:12.261
is the source of your joy.

1:40:12.261,1:40:14.149
I said son, even when you got up

1:40:14.149,1:40:16.247
and had the 25 hour quiet time

1:40:16.247,1:40:18.096
and you did all the stuff you did,

1:40:18.096,1:40:20.467
you still only earned enough

1:40:20.467,1:40:24.095
to find maybe a cooler spot in hell.

1:40:24.095,1:40:26.807
I said a man at his best

1:40:26.807,1:40:29.974
does not deserve the love of God.

1:40:29.974,1:40:33.053
I said I've come to realize [br]that over the years.

1:40:33.053,1:40:37.144
I said your joy is based [br]on your performance.

1:40:37.144,1:40:39.503
I said son, my joy is based on

1:40:39.503,1:40:41.289
the finished work of Jesus Christ

1:40:41.289,1:40:44.198
and that's the difference [br]between me and you.

1:40:44.198,1:40:47.283
Do you see that?

1:40:47.283,1:40:48.963
What is the Christian life like?

1:40:48.963,1:40:51.103
It is like this:

1:40:51.103,1:40:53.297
It has to do with revelation,

1:40:53.297,1:40:55.337
brokenness, and joy.

1:40:55.337,1:40:57.337
You say, well, what do you mean?

1:40:57.337,1:40:59.334
A man is walking - he doesn't know Christ,

1:40:59.334,1:41:00.311
he's unconverted.

1:41:00.311,1:41:02.016
He hears a Gospel preacher one day

1:41:02.016,1:41:03.904
and the Spirit of God renews his heart.

1:41:03.904,1:41:05.458
For the first time in his life,

1:41:05.458,1:41:10.324
he sees a glimpse of how God truly is.

1:41:10.324,1:41:12.472
And in seeing that,

1:41:12.472,1:41:14.869
he sees a glimpse of how he truly is,

1:41:14.869,1:41:17.017
something of his sin.

1:41:17.017,1:41:21.914
And it breaks him and he repents,

1:41:21.914,1:41:24.673
but he's not left to despair. Why?[br]

1:41:24.673,1:41:27.210
Because he also sees in that revelation

1:41:27.210,1:41:29.339
the grace of God in the face of Christ

1:41:29.339,1:41:32.274
and he's filled with joy as he believes.

1:41:32.274,1:41:33.890
You see that?

1:41:33.890,1:41:35.669
Then he gets up the next day,

1:41:35.669,1:41:36.944
and what happens?

1:41:36.944,1:41:38.811
As he's walking through his Christian life

1:41:38.811,1:41:41.917
he sees a greater [br]revelation of who God is,

1:41:41.917,1:41:43.889
a greater revelation of God's holiness.

1:41:43.889,1:41:44.874
And what does it do?

1:41:44.874,1:41:47.741
It breaks him deeper than the day before.

1:41:47.741,1:41:49.724
It causes his repentance to be deeper

1:41:49.724,1:41:51.042
because he sees himself

1:41:51.042,1:41:52.927
even in a greater light now,

1:41:52.927,1:41:55.270
and sees the need for [br]brokenness and repentance.

1:41:55.270,1:41:57.173
But he's not left to despair.

1:41:57.173,1:42:00.124
But he looks at the grace of [br]God in the face of Christ

1:42:00.124,1:42:02.973
and his joy is greater than [br]the joy he had the day before.

1:42:02.973,1:42:06.065
And you walk through your [br]entire Christian life that way

1:42:06.065,1:42:08.237
until you're 90 years old

1:42:08.237,1:42:09.596
and at 90 years old

1:42:09.596,1:42:11.559
you see more of the holiness of God

1:42:11.559,1:42:13.251
than you ever could have imagined.

1:42:13.251,1:42:15.970
You see more of the [br]darkness of your own soul

1:42:15.970,1:42:17.597
than you ever could have imagined.

1:42:17.597,1:42:18.955
You're more broken

1:42:18.955,1:42:20.634
than you could have ever imagined,

1:42:20.634,1:42:22.679
and yet your joy is greater

1:42:22.679,1:42:24.384
than you could have ever imagined.

1:42:24.384,1:42:25.766
But what happens is

1:42:25.766,1:42:28.287
there's been a holy transaction.

1:42:28.287,1:42:30.438
When you started, your joy was coming

1:42:30.438,1:42:32.650
from who you were and what you could do.

1:42:32.650,1:42:34.908
Now at 90, you're empty of that,

1:42:34.908,1:42:37.681
and your joy only comes from Christ.

1:42:37.681,1:42:39.872
And that's the way it's supposed to be.

1:42:39.872,1:42:41.920
All our joy, all our hope -

1:42:41.920,1:42:45.886
everything in Christ.

1:42:45.886,1:42:48.827
Well, now that I've summed [br]up the entire Christian life,

1:42:48.827,1:42:54.471
I guess we can close the conference.

1:42:54.471,1:42:58.050
Be blessed in what God has [br]done for you in Christ.

1:42:58.050,1:42:59.882
Be blessed.

1:42:59.882,1:43:02.256
Rejoice! Look unto Him!

1:43:02.256,1:43:05.489
Look unto Him.

1:43:05.489,1:43:07.356
Inward looks are necessary,

1:43:07.356,1:43:09.735
but to hold your gaze inwardly

1:43:09.735,1:43:11.760
only leads to death.

1:43:11.760,1:43:14.471
Look to Christ.

1:43:14.471,1:43:16.637
Because He is greater

1:43:16.637,1:43:19.620
than every one of your failures

1:43:19.620,1:43:23.324
and your weaknesses and your sins.

1:43:23.324,1:43:26.751
I sing because I'm happy.

1:43:26.751,1:43:32.181
I sing because I'm free.

1:43:32.181,1:43:34.644
It was all finished at Calvary.

1:43:34.644,1:43:36.846
It was all finished at Calvary.

1:43:36.846,1:43:39.772
Let's pray.

1:43:39.772,1:43:42.882
Father, thank You for Your Word.

1:43:42.882,1:43:45.628
I pray, Lord, that out of this,

1:43:45.628,1:43:50.304
that Your people will be helped,

1:43:50.304,1:43:54.211
in Jesus' name, Amen.

1:43:59.641,1:44:01.352
Please visit our website at

1:44:01.352,1:44:04.176
heartcrymissionnary.com.

1:44:04.176,1:44:05.682
There you will find information

1:44:05.682,1:44:07.520
about the ministry - our purpose,

1:44:07.520,1:44:09.234
beliefs, and methodologies,

1:44:09.234,1:44:11.007
and extensive information

1:44:11.007,1:44:14.892
about the missionaries we [br]are privileged to serve.