WEBVTT

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Well you can open up 
your Bibles to Ecclesiastes.

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I don't intend to stay there

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only make a point from there;

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only draw forth a principle 
from there actually.

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Ecclesiastes chapter 4.

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Father, I pray that You would feed us

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from Your Word,

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totally dependent upon You

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to make it convicting,

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to make it powerful,

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to reach our hearts,

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and reach our consciences.

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Lord, please reach our hearts,

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our souls,

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with this message.

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I pray in Christ's name.

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Amen.

NOTE Paragraph

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I was really thinking about 2018,

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that if that if I could 
preach a message today

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that would somehow 
flavor this year for us.

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that's what went into my thinking.

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Ecclesiastes 4:9

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It's really a proverb.

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Ecclesiastes 4:9

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"Two are better than one."

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That's the preacher Solomon.

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"Two are better than one,"

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and he's going to tell us why.

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"...because they have a good reward

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for their toil."

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And even like the Geneva translation

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actually brings out that the good reward

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is probably that they have a better reward

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than they would have 
if they stayed separate.

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That's kind of the idea there.

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V. 10 "For if they fall,

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one will lift up his fellow."

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Now you can see the reality of that.

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If these two guys are separate,

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and one falls and can't get back up,

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obviously when you're 
together with somebody else

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and they can come help 
you and pick you up,

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what's been accomplished -

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the greater good -

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is far beyond what the two could have

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achieved separate,

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because if they're separate and they fall,

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and they can't get back up,

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they've lost everything.

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They've lost the whole day.

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"If they fall, one will 
lift up his fellow,

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but woe to him who is alone when he falls

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and has not another to lift him up."

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And you know that could be spiritually.

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Undoubtedly, that's why the Lord has

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put us all together in the church

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to lift up one another.

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Again, "if two lie together,

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they keep warm,

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but how can one keep warm alone?

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And though a man might prevail

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against one who is alone..."

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Here you have adversaries.

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One guy against another guy.

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And you might be prevailed 
against by one guy,

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but if there's two of you,

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"two will withstand him."

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And then he throws in 
the proverbial saying,

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"a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

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He actually takes it from one to two,

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and then three.

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A threefold cord.

NOTE Paragraph

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The title of my sermon:

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"A Threefold Cord."

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Solomon's point is clear.

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Two are better than one.

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Not two separate, but when they're

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brought together,

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to get the advantage,

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the two must be working together.

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Their bodies must be close together

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to retain the heat.

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They must withstand a foe together.

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And even more, if you take three strands -

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like if you braided hair

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or you took three threads

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and you wound them all together

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to create one cord,

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the reality is it's even better than two.

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And the thing is it's not quickly broken.

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There's a strength.

NOTE Paragraph

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Now, I totally intend to spiritualize

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this truth today.

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Totally.

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The threefold cord is your life.

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One strand in that cord: secret prayer.

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Craig came very close to that one today.

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It's right there with secret fasting.

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That's one strand.

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Because one of the things 
I want to emphasize today,

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look, this prayer and fasting

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isn't just for a week 
of prayer and fasting.

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This is your life.

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This is our life.

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One strand: secret prayer.

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But wrapped, brought close together,

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the second strand: doing good.

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Third strand wound in there:

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self-denial.

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(incomplete thought)

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Listen, prayer without doing good

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and without self-denial

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has no feet.

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It's no good to pray that God

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make the Gospel advantageous to souls

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in our community if we're not willing

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to take that message to 
those ears of those people.

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But you know what happens

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if you have works without self-denial?

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It's just cheap.

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All it will result in is cheap, little

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demonstrations of religion.

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Brethren, if you try to do 
works without prayer,

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they'll just be powerless.

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It will be a demonstration of the flesh.

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Prayer is our dependence on the Lord.

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You wrap all three of these together.

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You wrap them all together.

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You see, the principle here is

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they need to lie together

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to really produce the warmth.

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They need to be close.

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You know, the thing here is

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if an adversary comes

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or if you're working and one of you falls,

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the other one lifts up the other.

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These lift each other up.

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These bring strength to one another.

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They prevail together.

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That's the issue.

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They fail otherwise.

NOTE Paragraph

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But God helping us,

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what I want us to do is -

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look, I'm going to show you from Scripture

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this threefold cord is absolutely

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something that God wants us

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with the hand of faith

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to reach up and grab hold of.

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Brethren, I just think

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how fruitful we might be;

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what a church we might be

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if you really take this threefold cord

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into the grips of your own faith;

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lay hold on this

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and seek to live this out.

NOTE Paragraph

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The first strand in this threefold cord:

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secret prayer.

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Let's look at it.

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Matthew 6:6

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Let's go to Matthew 6

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a second time this morning -

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now this afternoon.

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Matthew 6:6

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"But when you pray,

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go into your room..."

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King James: "enter into thy closet."

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If you ever wonder where that idea

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of the prayer closet - it's right there.

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"Enter into thy closet."

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You see, again, just like with Craig

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in the first message,

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this is something that Jesus assumes

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is going to be a reality in your life.

NOTE Paragraph

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The closet. The secret place.

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And notice: "shut the door."

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Why do you shut the door?

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Well, not just so that you're

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not the hypocrite;

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so that the people in the 
other room can't see you.

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It's because this is about

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shutting out the disturbances,

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shutting out the distractions,

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and just your soul

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alone with the living God.

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"Go into your room..."

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"Enter into thy closet..."

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"Shut the door and pray."

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Don't get on your phone.

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Don't get on your computer.

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And if you don't have a place

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that you can go to get away from those,

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then you need to have one.

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Many of you know

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that Susannah Wesley -

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her secret place was under her apron.

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She put it over her head

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and the children knew,

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don't go there.

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"Pray to your Father Who is in secret,

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and your Father Who sees in secret

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will reward you..."

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And I'll just add openly.

NOTE Paragraph

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Brethren, we're talking about

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shutting ourselves away to God;

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to where God and your soul

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are alone.

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Where we depart from here;

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we go into the presence where

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our own soul flies away to where He is;

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where there's a connection.

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This is what I was talking about

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when I was talking about fasting.

NOTE Paragraph

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Brethren, I find there are seasons

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when something happens.

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There is a connection with the Lord -

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yes, there are times when it's difficult,

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when I feel cold.

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There are times when connecting with God

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just - it seems like He's far away.

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It seems like my thoughts are wandering.

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I start to pray and then 
I wander off here.

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Or I'm out walking somewhere,

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and I see something,

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and my mind's gone over there.

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Or I start thinking about some situation

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that I need to deal with

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and it's difficult.

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But there are other seasons,

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there is a connection with the Lord.

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That's the issue.

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Your Father - He sees in secret.

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He's there in secret.

NOTE Paragraph

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Brethren, secret prayer is not to be

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some mere duty of the Christian,

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like taking out the garbage

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or getting the oil changed on your car

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where it's this check list.

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You know, all the things 
I've got to do today.

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Well, I need to make sure that I do that.

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So you run over and you pray,

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"Lord, I want this, this, this, this..."

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Well, yeah, I did my prayer thing today.

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Brethren, that isn't it.

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We must consider secret prayer

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to be one of the great works of our life.

NOTE Paragraph

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When you think about your life,

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do you even think that way?

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Does that enter into your mind?

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That when you think about the things

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that you want to do well in life -

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and you know this,

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you know.

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If you're ever going to 
do anything well in life -

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you know, somebody's a chess champion.

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Did that just happen?

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Or they play the violin extremely well.

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Somebody can play a sport.

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Can you cook well?

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Sew well?

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Weld well?

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Can you problem solve

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issues on your computer?

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Well, that's well and great,

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but the question is can you pray?

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Do you even regard this

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as the great work of your life?

NOTE Paragraph

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I mean, listen, when you have

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the great apostle himself

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coming along to those Gentile churches

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and saying 1 Thessalonians,

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"Pray without ceasing."

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Craig's been dealing 
with the Colossian letter.

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To the Colossians, he says,

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"Continue steadfastly in prayer."

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To the Romans, "be constant in prayer."

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Listen to what God is telling you.

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This man is under inspiration.

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God is telling you,

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be constant in this.

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You know the words of Jesus Christ Himself

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there in Luke 18.

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He says (yeah, you can grab that brother);

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What does He say?

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He says that we need to be

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steadfast in prayer.

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"Men ought always to pray and not faint."

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These are the calls of our Savior,

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this apostle.

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(incomplete thought)

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It's like to everyone 
of the Gentile churches,

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he needed to say this to them.

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You need to pray.

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Not just a little.

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You need to pray constantly.
You need to persevere in it.

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You need to be about it.
You need to not faint in it.

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This is something that we need
to give ourselves to.

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How often do you think this way?

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This is the great work 
of the Christian's life

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that we pray, we pray, we pray.

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Secret prayer.

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The desire of secret communion with God.

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Brethren, it's one of the great evidences

00:14:53.514 --> 00:14:56.714
that you've become a Christian.

NOTE Paragraph

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Listen. I prayed some

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when I was a nominal Catholic.

00:15:03.332 --> 00:15:04.918
But when God saved me,

00:15:04.918 --> 00:15:06.762
I wanted to commune with Him.

00:15:06.762 --> 00:15:09.253
I spent hours communing with Him.

00:15:09.253 --> 00:15:10.527
Why? Something happened.

00:15:10.527 --> 00:15:12.263
Something in the desires happened.

NOTE Paragraph

00:15:12.263 --> 00:15:14.340
If you don't have a desire to be

00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:16.576
communing with the Father in secret,

00:15:16.576 --> 00:15:18.740
you need to go back and start over again,

00:15:18.740 --> 00:15:20.109
because something's wrong

00:15:20.109 --> 00:15:21.914
and something's broken.

00:15:21.914 --> 00:15:23.912
But see, I know with a lot of you,

00:15:23.912 --> 00:15:27.795
there's a desire there.

00:15:27.795 --> 00:15:30.076
But you know what?

00:15:30.076 --> 00:15:33.153
The longer we go on 
in the history of mankind,

00:15:33.153 --> 00:15:35.073
and the more gadgets we develop

00:15:35.073 --> 00:15:37.539
and devise and the way technology is

00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:39.520
and the distractions of this world,

00:15:39.520 --> 00:15:41.508
we are in the communication age,

00:15:41.508 --> 00:15:42.838
and the problem with it is

00:15:42.838 --> 00:15:45.844
all this communication floods us.

00:15:45.844 --> 00:15:48.428
And I know there's a desire 
in some of your hearts,

00:15:48.428 --> 00:15:50.089
but listen, if you're going to be

00:15:50.089 --> 00:15:51.467
men or women of prayer,

00:15:51.467 --> 00:15:53.254
you've got to be disciplined.

00:15:53.254 --> 00:15:55.599
And you've got to learn 
to say no to things.

00:15:55.599 --> 00:15:58.916
You are going to have to make time

00:15:58.916 --> 00:16:00.993
in your day.

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:00.993 --> 00:16:02.447
I'll tell you this,

00:16:02.447 --> 00:16:04.936
when something is important to somebody

00:16:04.936 --> 00:16:06.807
you can typically see

00:16:06.807 --> 00:16:09.197
the level of importance that it holds

00:16:09.197 --> 00:16:11.074
in a person's life by the sacrifices

00:16:11.074 --> 00:16:15.114
that they are willing to 
make for it to happen.

00:16:15.114 --> 00:16:17.608
And if you're not willing 
to make those sacrifices,

00:16:17.608 --> 00:16:20.278
that says an enormous amount

00:16:20.278 --> 00:16:24.518
about how important you think this is.

00:16:24.518 --> 00:16:27.241
Strive, brethren, strive

00:16:27.241 --> 00:16:29.658
to make this one of the great works

00:16:29.658 --> 00:16:31.249
of your life.

00:16:31.249 --> 00:16:33.995
This is your life: Prayer.

00:16:33.995 --> 00:16:36.905
Constant. Always.

00:16:36.905 --> 00:16:39.207
Secret place.

NOTE Paragraph

00:16:39.207 --> 00:16:44.417
Do any of you not even have that place?

00:16:44.417 --> 00:16:51.792
Whether it's under the apron, ladies...

00:16:51.792 --> 00:16:55.417
whether you actually find 
a closet somewhere,

00:16:55.417 --> 00:16:58.494
or whether it's out 
under the stars at night.

00:16:58.494 --> 00:17:01.279
Is there that place in your life

00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:06.880
where you go and shut the door?

00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.532
If that's foreign to you,

00:17:10.532 --> 00:17:14.054
listen, then stop.

00:17:14.054 --> 00:17:17.545
Forsake your way.

00:17:17.545 --> 00:17:19.827
Because if that's foreign to you,

00:17:19.827 --> 00:17:22.442
the way that you are on

00:17:22.442 --> 00:17:24.412
needs to be forsaken

00:17:24.412 --> 00:17:25.598
because it's a bad way.

00:17:25.598 --> 00:17:26.584
It's a wrong way.

00:17:26.584 --> 00:17:27.832
It's a backward way.

00:17:27.832 --> 00:17:29.499
It's a powerless way.

00:17:29.499 --> 00:17:37.118
It may be very likely an un-Christian way.

00:17:37.118 --> 00:17:44.397
The secret place.

NOTE Paragraph

00:17:44.397 --> 00:17:47.791
"Men ought always to pray."

00:17:47.791 --> 00:17:49.704
This needs to be our life's work,

00:17:49.704 --> 00:17:51.833
no matter what else God has called you to.

00:17:51.833 --> 00:17:55.699
You say, God has called me to 
do this and this and the other.

00:17:55.699 --> 00:17:57.623
That's ok.

00:17:57.623 --> 00:17:59.903
But God has called you to this.

00:17:59.903 --> 00:18:02.042
And so matter what else 
He's called you to,

00:18:02.042 --> 00:18:07.253
He has called you to 
make this a life's work.

NOTE Paragraph

00:18:07.253 --> 00:18:10.051
Because, brethren, this is where

00:18:10.051 --> 00:18:18.895
your life derives power.

00:18:18.895 --> 00:18:20.899
When you watch people

00:18:20.899 --> 00:18:23.457
in the Christian life,

00:18:23.457 --> 00:18:25.765
and you marvel,

00:18:25.765 --> 00:18:30.881
wow... what patience!

00:18:30.881 --> 00:18:34.544
What holiness!

00:18:34.544 --> 00:18:37.117
What power they have in their lives!

00:18:37.117 --> 00:18:39.811
What power they have

00:18:39.811 --> 00:18:42.800
demonstrated in some way!

00:18:42.800 --> 00:18:44.728
Brethren, the power of God

00:18:44.728 --> 00:18:47.489
is channeled into the Christian life

00:18:47.489 --> 00:18:48.660
through prayer.

00:18:48.660 --> 00:18:52.322
Prayerlessness does not produce power,

00:18:52.322 --> 00:18:55.705
because prayerlessness is basically

00:18:55.705 --> 00:18:56.840
avoiding God.

00:18:56.840 --> 00:18:58.885
It's not going to God in the secret place.

00:18:58.885 --> 00:19:03.419
And you're not going to 
experience the reward.

00:19:03.419 --> 00:19:06.925
Brethren, you know very well this reality.

00:19:06.925 --> 00:19:13.007
Moses' face shined only when

00:19:13.007 --> 00:19:15.979
he was in the presence of God.

00:19:15.979 --> 00:19:17.373
And I can use that.

NOTE Paragraph

00:19:17.373 --> 00:19:19.476
You say, well, that's an 
Old Testament thing

00:19:19.476 --> 00:19:21.128
and we don't actually 
go into His presence

00:19:21.128 --> 00:19:23.358
in the Shekinah glory like he did.

00:19:23.358 --> 00:19:25.932
Brethren, if that's what you 
think, you think wrong,

00:19:25.932 --> 00:19:28.859
because Paul used that very example

00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:32.296
and brought it out in 
2 Corinthians 3 for us.

00:19:32.296 --> 00:19:33.788
For you and I.

00:19:33.788 --> 00:19:36.340
Because there's a reality in that truth

00:19:36.340 --> 00:19:39.708
that when we behold the glory of the Lord

00:19:39.708 --> 00:19:41.806
and when we're standing in this presence,

00:19:41.806 --> 00:19:44.657
there is where the change takes place.

00:19:44.657 --> 00:19:46.261
People that spend much time

00:19:46.261 --> 00:19:47.569
in the presence of God

00:19:47.569 --> 00:19:51.976
end up unlike people that don't

00:19:51.976 --> 00:19:54.593
spend that time.

00:19:54.593 --> 00:19:57.699
This is where we derive that power.

00:19:57.699 --> 00:20:00.146
Brethren, you know what happens

00:20:00.146 --> 00:20:05.145
when you go into the secret place?

00:20:05.145 --> 00:20:08.215
Look, if you go and your mind,

00:20:08.215 --> 00:20:13.429
your heart, your spirit lifts up to God -

00:20:13.429 --> 00:20:15.513
something happens.

00:20:15.513 --> 00:20:17.288
I'll tell you one thing that happens.

00:20:17.288 --> 00:20:18.572
There's an awareness

00:20:18.572 --> 00:20:19.931
that you're speaking to God.

00:20:19.931 --> 00:20:21.559
And oftentimes what that does is

00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:24.800
it produces an awareness of yourself.

00:20:24.800 --> 00:20:26.784
Because it's a place where you come

00:20:26.784 --> 00:20:28.609
and you put your conscience

00:20:28.609 --> 00:20:32.447
under the very gaze of omniscience -

00:20:32.447 --> 00:20:34.308
One Who knows it all.

00:20:34.308 --> 00:20:35.968
Do you find that happens?

00:20:35.968 --> 00:20:38.088
You go to Him and it's like

00:20:38.088 --> 00:20:44.941
you're trying to talk to 
Him about something,

00:20:44.941 --> 00:20:47.628
but suddenly your conscience is there

00:20:47.628 --> 00:20:49.078
beneath His gaze,

00:20:49.078 --> 00:20:51.280
and it's saying something's not right.

00:20:51.280 --> 00:20:52.832
You see, when we're regular

00:20:52.832 --> 00:20:54.520
in the secret places of prayer,

00:20:54.520 --> 00:20:55.668
you know what it does?

00:20:55.668 --> 00:20:57.433
You know what it does with your life

00:20:57.433 --> 00:20:59.545
as far as purity and holiness?

00:20:59.545 --> 00:21:01.694
(incomplete thought)

00:21:01.694 --> 00:21:03.722
The secret place is the place

00:21:03.722 --> 00:21:06.016
where we come and we confess.

00:21:06.016 --> 00:21:07.439
It's the place where we come

00:21:07.439 --> 00:21:09.263
and we lay down our pride,

00:21:09.263 --> 00:21:10.866
our lack of gentleness,

00:21:10.866 --> 00:21:13.028
our lack of faith,

00:21:13.028 --> 00:21:14.183
our irritability,

00:21:14.183 --> 00:21:16.948
our lack of patience.

00:21:16.948 --> 00:21:19.252
It's that place where 
you cry out for help.

00:21:19.252 --> 00:21:21.547
"Lord, take that away."

NOTE Paragraph

00:21:21.547 --> 00:21:22.966
Have you ever been there?

00:21:22.966 --> 00:21:24.226
Where it's like, "Lord,

00:21:24.226 --> 00:21:25.823
You have promised in Your Word

00:21:25.823 --> 00:21:28.452
to conform us to the image of Christ.

00:21:28.452 --> 00:21:30.350
Lord, that's Your promise!

00:21:30.350 --> 00:21:31.189
It's right there.

00:21:31.189 --> 00:21:32.927
I read it in the pages of Romans 8.

00:21:32.927 --> 00:21:36.200
You have promised that I'm predestinated

00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:37.791
to be conformed to the image

00:21:37.791 --> 00:21:41.416
of this firstborn Son.

00:21:41.416 --> 00:21:44.620
You have promised in Your Word

00:21:44.620 --> 00:21:45.830
to make us blameless

00:21:45.830 --> 00:21:47.108
and make us holy.

00:21:47.108 --> 00:21:49.114
You have promised that by degrees

00:21:49.114 --> 00:21:50.802
that we are going to be conformed

00:21:50.802 --> 00:21:53.273
to the image of this Lord

00:21:53.273 --> 00:21:55.063
Whose glory that we see.

00:21:55.063 --> 00:21:56.265
You've promised that."

00:21:56.265 --> 00:21:57.870
It's the place where you go there

00:21:57.870 --> 00:21:59.509
and you ask for power.

00:21:59.509 --> 00:22:00.962
It's the place there, brethren,

00:22:00.962 --> 00:22:03.498
where your heart is lifted up

00:22:03.498 --> 00:22:05.921
and you adore Him for not dealing with you

00:22:05.921 --> 00:22:07.072
according to your sins.

00:22:07.072 --> 00:22:08.217
Do you ever go there

00:22:08.217 --> 00:22:10.803
and you're just struck 
by all the blessings

00:22:10.803 --> 00:22:11.617
that you have?

00:22:11.617 --> 00:22:13.105
And by the fact that He has not

00:22:13.105 --> 00:22:14.928
dealt with you according to the things

00:22:14.928 --> 00:22:16.395
that you've done in your life?

00:22:16.395 --> 00:22:19.923
And you're lifted up to the cross?

00:22:19.923 --> 00:22:23.852
And Lord, thank You! Thank You!

00:22:23.852 --> 00:22:26.290
It's that place of adoration.

00:22:26.290 --> 00:22:29.034
Listen, brethren, it's 
a place of weeping -

00:22:29.034 --> 00:22:30.531
weeping over your failures,

00:22:30.531 --> 00:22:34.186
but weeping over just gratitude.

00:22:34.186 --> 00:22:36.131
It's a place where you connect

00:22:36.131 --> 00:22:38.766
with the living God.

NOTE Paragraph

00:22:38.766 --> 00:22:40.306
Brethren, secret prayer

00:22:40.306 --> 00:22:43.211
is where we meet God.

00:22:43.211 --> 00:22:46.805
Don't let the busyness of this world

00:22:46.805 --> 00:22:49.290
rob you of your God.

00:22:49.290 --> 00:22:50.702
Brethren, don't you recognize

00:22:50.702 --> 00:22:52.966
that the greatest thing 
we have in salvation

00:22:52.966 --> 00:22:54.653
is our God?

00:22:54.653 --> 00:22:56.413
It's like what are you going to do?

00:22:56.413 --> 00:22:57.832
Live on the broken cisterns

00:22:57.832 --> 00:23:01.952
when you have this fullness that is there?

NOTE Paragraph

00:23:01.952 --> 00:23:04.332
Brethren, the rewards that come

00:23:04.332 --> 00:23:06.663
when God says:

00:23:06.663 --> 00:23:08.519
You go into that secret place.

00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:11.188
I'm going to reward you.

00:23:11.188 --> 00:23:12.638
Oh, you better believe it.

00:23:12.638 --> 00:23:13.804
He created us.

00:23:13.804 --> 00:23:16.241
He knows what the greatest rewards are.

00:23:16.241 --> 00:23:18.116
He knows what most satisfies.

00:23:18.116 --> 00:23:20.152
He knows what most brings joy.

00:23:20.152 --> 00:23:22.962
He knows what's for our greatest good.

00:23:22.962 --> 00:23:26.294
Rewards - the reward of the Father.

00:23:26.294 --> 00:23:30.331
Don't let the cares of 
this world encroach.

NOTE Paragraph

00:23:30.331 --> 00:23:31.875
Because I'll tell you this,

00:23:31.875 --> 00:23:33.014
you know what happens -

00:23:33.014 --> 00:23:34.574
have you ever read in Scripture

00:23:34.574 --> 00:23:37.672
about those who get encroached upon

00:23:37.672 --> 00:23:42.775
by the cares of the world?

00:23:42.775 --> 00:23:45.099
Both places I read about it in Scripture,

00:23:45.099 --> 00:23:47.858
it's not a good thing.

00:23:47.858 --> 00:23:49.789
One is the cares of this world,

00:23:49.789 --> 00:23:54.041
they encroach and there's no fruitfulness.

00:23:54.041 --> 00:23:55.412
The other one is a steward

00:23:55.412 --> 00:23:57.085
who goes about getting drunk

00:23:57.085 --> 00:23:59.974
and beating his fellow servants,

00:23:59.974 --> 00:24:02.135
and the cares of this world come upon him

00:24:02.135 --> 00:24:04.989
and then the Lord Jesus returns,

00:24:04.989 --> 00:24:07.012
and he's not ready.

00:24:07.012 --> 00:24:10.142
You know what the cares of the world do?

00:24:10.142 --> 00:24:12.849
They make you fruitless.

00:24:12.849 --> 00:24:14.862
What do you think Jesus is saying?

00:24:14.862 --> 00:24:17.139
You think that guy was 
ready to meet his Lord?

00:24:17.139 --> 00:24:19.315
You think it's like he's just going to

00:24:19.315 --> 00:24:20.418
get a pat on the back?

00:24:20.418 --> 00:24:22.370
Well done, good and faithful servant?

00:24:22.370 --> 00:24:24.431
Although, there were these minor things

00:24:24.431 --> 00:24:27.289
like you were getting drunk all the time.

00:24:27.289 --> 00:24:30.784
And the thing that all of this

00:24:30.784 --> 00:24:36.444
is couched in the midst of 
is the cares of the world.

00:24:36.444 --> 00:24:39.152
We may think, oh, the cares of this world,

00:24:39.152 --> 00:24:41.204
to be distracted sometimes away from

00:24:41.204 --> 00:24:45.380
secret prayer a minor thing.

00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:47.994
Uh uh.

00:24:47.994 --> 00:24:52.601
You're not ready to meet the Lord.

00:24:52.601 --> 00:24:54.635
You're not ready.

00:24:54.635 --> 00:24:55.956
Don't let the cares of the world

00:24:55.956 --> 00:25:01.793
rob you of God or of His reward.

NOTE Paragraph

00:25:01.793 --> 00:25:05.206
Listen to this. Just listen.

00:25:05.206 --> 00:25:08.186
You know these words, but listen.

00:25:08.186 --> 00:25:17.314
"Every one who asks receives.

00:25:17.314 --> 00:25:19.378
The one who seeks finds.

00:25:19.378 --> 00:25:25.274
The one who knocks, it will be opened."

00:25:25.274 --> 00:25:27.424
Do you know what the reality is?

00:25:27.424 --> 00:25:32.785
Those who pray most, receive most.

00:25:32.785 --> 00:25:34.749
You know, if you look at your life

00:25:34.749 --> 00:25:39.003
and you wonder, why don't 
I have what they have?

00:25:39.003 --> 00:25:43.370
Ok, I'm not saying this 
works all the time.

00:25:43.370 --> 00:25:45.097
There are times we ask for things

00:25:45.097 --> 00:25:47.796
and the Lord doesn't give them to us.

00:25:47.796 --> 00:25:49.045
But I can tell you this,

00:25:49.045 --> 00:25:50.733
when you have promises like this,

00:25:50.733 --> 00:25:52.474
that if you ask, you will receive -

00:25:52.474 --> 00:25:55.917
everyone who asks receives -

00:25:55.917 --> 00:25:59.514
if you notice that in 
the spiritual kingdom,

00:25:59.514 --> 00:26:03.630
there are some people 
that have a lot more,

00:26:03.630 --> 00:26:11.176
there is a good likelihood 
that they pray more.

00:26:11.176 --> 00:26:13.596
You take Brainerd -

00:26:13.596 --> 00:26:18.566
he was a missionary to 
the American Indians.

00:26:18.566 --> 00:26:19.774
You look at his life.

00:26:19.774 --> 00:26:21.854
You say, wow...

00:26:21.854 --> 00:26:26.202
he reached heights.

00:26:26.202 --> 00:26:29.011
But look how he prayed; 
look how he fasted.

00:26:29.011 --> 00:26:31.074
And Edwards could say,

00:26:31.074 --> 00:26:32.202
maybe not a single time

00:26:32.202 --> 00:26:33.959
that he wasn't rewarded -

00:26:33.959 --> 00:26:35.722
even sometimes the same day.

NOTE Paragraph

00:26:35.722 --> 00:26:37.600
Brethren, you know what's happening

00:26:37.600 --> 00:26:39.342
if you're not in that secret place

00:26:39.342 --> 00:26:40.897
praying every single day?

00:26:40.897 --> 00:26:44.036
You're robbing yourself.

00:26:44.036 --> 00:26:45.974
You're robbing yourself

00:26:45.974 --> 00:26:49.192
of how those times with the Lord

00:26:49.192 --> 00:26:51.230
would transform you

00:26:51.230 --> 00:26:53.209
into a greater likeness of Christ.

00:26:53.209 --> 00:26:55.684
You're robbing yourself of beholding

00:26:55.684 --> 00:26:57.379
more of the glory of God.

00:26:57.379 --> 00:27:01.338
You're robbing yourself of the rewards.

00:27:01.338 --> 00:27:05.732
You're robbing yourself 
of answered prayer.

00:27:05.732 --> 00:27:07.741
Those who pray the most,

00:27:07.741 --> 00:27:12.173
stand in the presence of God the most.

00:27:12.173 --> 00:27:16.083
And just like it was with Moses,

00:27:16.083 --> 00:27:17.521
they're going to have the most

00:27:17.521 --> 00:27:19.599
glory of God shining from their faces.

00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:21.470
Those who pray most walk where

00:27:21.470 --> 00:27:24.521
other men don't walk.

00:27:24.521 --> 00:27:26.454
They experience what other men

00:27:26.454 --> 00:27:28.662
don't experience.

00:27:28.662 --> 00:27:34.775
Listen, Jesus says if you love Me,

00:27:34.775 --> 00:27:36.322
He says My Father will love you

00:27:36.322 --> 00:27:37.485
and I will love you,

00:27:37.485 --> 00:27:43.085
and He says I will manifest Myself to you.

00:27:43.085 --> 00:27:46.208
But you're not showing much love for Him

00:27:46.208 --> 00:27:50.024
if you don't care to spend time with Him.

00:27:50.024 --> 00:27:51.688
But He says if you love Me,

00:27:51.688 --> 00:27:53.384
it's going to be rewarded

00:27:53.384 --> 00:27:57.728
with manifestations of Christ.

00:27:57.728 --> 00:27:59.569
That's valuable.

00:27:59.569 --> 00:28:03.886
Brethren, the great commandment

00:28:03.886 --> 00:28:07.958
that Jesus gives to us:

00:28:07.958 --> 00:28:09.878
Follow Me.

00:28:09.878 --> 00:28:12.623
You say, oh, I thought it was love...

00:28:12.623 --> 00:28:15.271
Yeah, it's hard to separate those two.

00:28:15.271 --> 00:28:18.532
Follow Me. Follow Me.

00:28:18.532 --> 00:28:22.582
He said if you would be My disciple,

00:28:22.582 --> 00:28:25.627
you must follow Me.

00:28:25.627 --> 00:28:27.814
You notice when He came 
around to everybody,

00:28:27.814 --> 00:28:30.134
James and John: Follow Me.

00:28:30.134 --> 00:28:32.645
Peter and Andrew: Follow Me.

00:28:32.645 --> 00:28:35.371
Matthew: Follow Me.

00:28:35.371 --> 00:28:37.963
Rich, young ruler: Follow Me.

00:28:37.963 --> 00:28:39.078
That was always it.

00:28:39.078 --> 00:28:40.790
Follow Me.

00:28:40.790 --> 00:28:42.595
Do you see Him out there?

00:28:42.595 --> 00:28:44.640
Those of you that have read your Gospels?

00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:47.645
That's why it's so important to 
be in the Gospel all the time.

00:28:47.645 --> 00:28:48.929
Because you see Christ -

00:28:48.929 --> 00:28:51.188
the One we're supposed to follow.

00:28:51.188 --> 00:28:53.481
Let's follow Him.

00:28:53.481 --> 00:28:56.055
Do you see Him?

00:28:56.055 --> 00:28:58.391
Follow Him.

NOTE Paragraph

00:28:58.391 --> 00:29:00.398
"He went up on the mountains...

00:29:00.398 --> 00:29:01.902
Matthew 14:23

00:29:01.902 --> 00:29:03.749
"...by Himself to pray.

00:29:03.749 --> 00:29:07.627
When evening came, He was there alone."

00:29:07.627 --> 00:29:09.524
Now think with me.

00:29:09.524 --> 00:29:12.805
"He was there alone."

00:29:12.805 --> 00:29:15.042
Where? On the mountain.

00:29:15.042 --> 00:29:17.585
That was His closet.

00:29:17.585 --> 00:29:18.571
Alone.

00:29:18.571 --> 00:29:23.475
That's what shutting the door is: alone.

NOTE Paragraph

00:29:23.475 --> 00:29:28.568
You're not alone today,

00:29:28.568 --> 00:29:30.542
even if you shut the door

00:29:30.542 --> 00:29:41.974
and you've got this 
buzzing in your pocket.

00:29:41.974 --> 00:29:43.681
You know how the King James says

00:29:43.681 --> 00:29:46.488
"quit yourself like men?"

00:29:46.488 --> 00:29:51.299
Be a man!

00:29:51.299 --> 00:29:56.306
Don't be some little 
slave of a cell phone.

00:29:56.306 --> 00:30:00.855
Be a man.

00:30:00.855 --> 00:30:02.419
You're going to have to be one

00:30:02.419 --> 00:30:04.482
if you're going to be familiar

00:30:04.482 --> 00:30:08.254
and make it the great object of your life

00:30:08.254 --> 00:30:13.557
to pray like some of the 
men and women of old,

00:30:13.557 --> 00:30:17.919
whose lives we cherish.

00:30:17.919 --> 00:30:21.211
We're moved on when we read them.

00:30:21.211 --> 00:30:25.117
But how do you think 
they lived lives like that?

00:30:25.117 --> 00:30:27.019
Oh, if you looked at their prayer lives,

00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:31.439
you'd have some idea.

00:30:31.439 --> 00:30:35.391
Mark 1:35 "Rising very early

00:30:35.391 --> 00:30:37.793
in the morning while it was still dark,

00:30:37.793 --> 00:30:39.615
Jesus departed and went out

00:30:39.615 --> 00:30:44.881
to a desolate place and there He prayed."

00:30:44.881 --> 00:30:46.441
Hear Him.

00:30:46.441 --> 00:30:50.021
A mountain by Himself.

00:30:50.021 --> 00:30:54.204
A desolate place all alone.

00:30:54.204 --> 00:30:55.710
Hear His words.

00:30:55.710 --> 00:30:57.603
Do you see Him out there?

00:30:57.603 --> 00:30:59.324
You know what He's saying to you?

00:30:59.324 --> 00:31:05.497
Follow Me. Follow Me.

00:31:05.497 --> 00:31:07.159
Luke 5:16 "He would withdraw

00:31:07.159 --> 00:31:11.422
to desolate places and pray."

00:31:11.422 --> 00:31:13.775
Luke 6:12 "In these days,

00:31:13.775 --> 00:31:17.678
He went out to the mountain to pray

00:31:17.678 --> 00:31:21.942
and all night He continued 
in prayer to God."

00:31:21.942 --> 00:31:24.704
You find Him in these places

00:31:24.704 --> 00:31:27.476
before the sun rises in the morning.

00:31:27.476 --> 00:31:29.358
You find Him there in the afternoon

00:31:29.358 --> 00:31:31.897
all the way till night.

00:31:31.897 --> 00:31:34.790
You find Him there all through the night.

00:31:34.790 --> 00:31:39.027
Desolate places.

NOTE Paragraph

00:31:39.027 --> 00:31:43.843
Listen, if you want to excel at this,

00:31:43.843 --> 00:31:48.390
you need to arrange your life around this.

00:31:48.390 --> 00:31:50.608
It's not going to happen by magic.

00:31:50.608 --> 00:31:51.988
Be resolute about this.

00:31:51.988 --> 00:31:54.901
Make the sacrifices that are necessary

00:31:54.901 --> 00:31:58.426
to maintain one or two or three times

00:31:58.426 --> 00:32:00.366
of secret prayer every single day.

00:32:00.366 --> 00:32:02.717
You say, two or three times?

00:32:02.717 --> 00:32:05.304
I don't even do it once a day!

00:32:05.304 --> 00:32:07.753
Then repent!

00:32:07.753 --> 00:32:10.161
That's not praying constantly.

00:32:10.161 --> 00:32:12.566
That's not showing up in the secret place.

00:32:12.566 --> 00:32:16.315
That's not imitating Christ.

00:32:16.315 --> 00:32:20.564
Follow Me. Follow Me.

00:32:20.564 --> 00:32:25.142
Follow Me.

NOTE Paragraph

00:32:25.142 --> 00:32:28.602
Brethren, I thought about this.

00:32:28.602 --> 00:32:30.680
If I could take every moment

00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:34.630
that I've ever wasted in my life,

00:32:34.630 --> 00:32:38.171
and could have given it to secret prayer,

00:32:38.171 --> 00:32:44.555
how different my life would be.

00:32:44.555 --> 00:32:47.033
I mean just think of the 
greater sanctification

00:32:47.033 --> 00:32:53.085
that you and I might have in our lives

00:32:53.085 --> 00:32:56.656
if we took some of the needless,

00:32:56.656 --> 00:33:01.359
unnecessary wastes of time out of our life

00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:05.573
and replaced it with secret 
communion with God,

00:33:05.573 --> 00:33:07.405
just how our lives would be different.

00:33:07.405 --> 00:33:12.264
More answers to prayer.

00:33:12.264 --> 00:33:14.664
Don't let your friends;

00:33:14.664 --> 00:33:16.219
don't let your family;

00:33:16.219 --> 00:33:17.866
don't let the cares of this world;

00:33:17.866 --> 00:33:19.350
don't let your business;

00:33:19.350 --> 00:33:23.554
don't let your pleasure rob you of God.

00:33:23.554 --> 00:33:28.271
This is the greatest gift of all.

NOTE Paragraph

00:33:28.271 --> 00:33:30.485
I'll tell you this,

00:33:30.485 --> 00:33:35.118
those who have experienced God come close,

00:33:35.118 --> 00:33:36.543
they know it.

00:33:36.543 --> 00:33:37.924
They know it.

00:33:37.924 --> 00:33:40.614
There's nothing in this 
world that compares.

00:33:40.614 --> 00:33:42.994
There's nothing better.

00:33:42.994 --> 00:33:46.158
If you say, I don't know that,

00:33:46.158 --> 00:33:50.512
listen, if you love Him

00:33:50.512 --> 00:33:54.015
and you give yourself to seeking Him,

00:33:54.015 --> 00:33:58.654
He says He'll manifest Himself.

00:33:58.654 --> 00:34:02.964
And if you're not knowing 
these manifestations,

00:34:02.964 --> 00:34:08.669
it's not because He hasn't 
promised to give them.

00:34:08.669 --> 00:34:13.944
Look, spend the time to find God.

00:34:13.944 --> 00:34:17.033
Spend time - the time necessary -

00:34:17.033 --> 00:34:21.694
to find God in ways that thrill your soul;

00:34:21.694 --> 00:34:24.531
that cause you to drop on your face

00:34:24.531 --> 00:34:25.953
because He's come

00:34:25.953 --> 00:34:27.823
and the sense of His holiness

00:34:27.823 --> 00:34:32.518
is enough to put you on the floor.

00:34:32.518 --> 00:34:34.163
Because brethren, I'll tell you,

00:34:34.163 --> 00:34:41.951
you have experiences like Isaiah had.

00:34:41.951 --> 00:34:43.794
Yeah, I know he went to the temple;

00:34:43.794 --> 00:34:45.837
he saw the Lord; he actually had a vision.

00:34:45.837 --> 00:34:47.567
But when you have experiences

00:34:47.567 --> 00:34:49.236
where God comes close,

00:34:49.236 --> 00:34:51.820
it's life changing.

NOTE Paragraph

00:34:51.820 --> 00:34:53.838
You ask how to pray?

00:34:53.838 --> 00:34:57.308
Listen, I'll tell you from 
my own experience,

00:34:57.308 --> 00:35:00.342
have the Word of God involved with it.

00:35:00.342 --> 00:35:02.304
Oftentimes, going out -

00:35:02.304 --> 00:35:04.092
I like to pray outside -

00:35:04.092 --> 00:35:08.210
walking and begin to recite Scripture

00:35:08.210 --> 00:35:09.730
that I'm memorizing.

00:35:09.730 --> 00:35:14.203
Oh, that so primes the pump for prayer.

NOTE Paragraph

00:35:14.203 --> 00:35:17.473
Mack Tomlinson - and I'm 
starting to do this now -

00:35:17.473 --> 00:35:22.721
he has told me about 
praying through the Psalms.

00:35:22.721 --> 00:35:24.037
I'm beginning to do that.

00:35:24.037 --> 00:35:26.313
Tremendous help.

NOTE Paragraph

00:35:26.313 --> 00:35:29.670
Think about the promises of God

00:35:29.670 --> 00:35:31.356
when you pray.

00:35:31.356 --> 00:35:33.641
Think about reasons as to why

00:35:33.641 --> 00:35:36.951
God should give you 
what you're asking for.

00:35:36.951 --> 00:35:45.258
Brethren, instead of 
starting your secret prayer

00:35:45.258 --> 00:35:48.659
just running headlong into God's presence

00:35:48.659 --> 00:35:53.136
with all the things that you want.

00:35:53.136 --> 00:35:55.939
You say, I don't know what to pray for.

00:35:55.939 --> 00:35:57.960
Just go and get in the presence of God

00:35:57.960 --> 00:36:02.766
and begin to admit your faults.

00:36:02.766 --> 00:36:06.093
Confess your sins.

00:36:06.093 --> 00:36:08.778
Have a fresh look at the cross.

00:36:08.778 --> 00:36:09.884
Because I'll tell you,

00:36:09.884 --> 00:36:11.145
when you begin to go out

00:36:11.145 --> 00:36:13.346
and you begin to confess,

00:36:13.346 --> 00:36:20.878
and you're being transparent 
before the Lord,

00:36:20.878 --> 00:36:24.777
you start to look to the cross afresh -

00:36:24.777 --> 00:36:29.115
Christ's sufferings and His death for me -

00:36:29.115 --> 00:36:37.293
you're right where the 
Spirit will help you pray.

00:36:37.293 --> 00:36:39.826
So, that's one strand.

00:36:39.826 --> 00:36:42.684
But hear me, don't get impatient here.

NOTE Paragraph

00:36:42.684 --> 00:36:50.441
Second strand: doing good.

00:36:50.441 --> 00:36:55.537
Brethren, Galatians 6:9.

00:36:55.537 --> 00:36:57.049
Don't turn to these texts,

00:36:57.049 --> 00:36:58.228
but just listen,

00:36:58.228 --> 00:36:59.797
because I'm going to move through

00:36:59.797 --> 00:37:02.168
some of these quickly.

00:37:02.168 --> 00:37:05.618
But Scripture says, the apostle says,

00:37:05.618 --> 00:37:10.176
"Let us not grow weary of doing good."

00:37:10.176 --> 00:37:11.371
Or, "well doing."

00:37:11.371 --> 00:37:14.505
We are to be well-doers.

00:37:14.505 --> 00:37:17.007
"For in due season, we will reap

00:37:17.007 --> 00:37:19.230
if we do not give up."

00:37:19.230 --> 00:37:21.806
Do you remember what 
was said about our Lord?

00:37:21.806 --> 00:37:28.437
"He went about doing good."

00:37:28.437 --> 00:37:32.450
Again, He says, follow Me.

00:37:32.450 --> 00:37:33.838
See, if we watch Him,

00:37:33.838 --> 00:37:35.376
we find Him up on the mountain.

00:37:35.376 --> 00:37:37.737
We find Him out in desolate places.

00:37:37.737 --> 00:37:39.203
But keep watching Him.

00:37:39.203 --> 00:37:40.691
Oh, that's good in itself.

00:37:40.691 --> 00:37:44.010
That's doing good, but 
watch Him in between.

00:37:44.010 --> 00:37:45.928
Watch what He's up there

00:37:45.928 --> 00:37:48.479
getting fresh grace to do;

00:37:48.479 --> 00:37:50.828
communing with His Father.

00:37:50.828 --> 00:37:52.912
because then He comes down

00:37:52.912 --> 00:37:55.106
from the mountain.

00:37:55.106 --> 00:37:57.712
He comes away from the desolate place.

00:37:57.712 --> 00:37:59.375
And what does He do?

00:37:59.375 --> 00:38:04.016
A life just full of good.

00:38:04.016 --> 00:38:05.221
That's it.

00:38:05.221 --> 00:38:07.007
That's what it is to be His disciple.

00:38:07.007 --> 00:38:08.296
Are you His follower?

00:38:08.296 --> 00:38:09.739
That's what a Christian is:

00:38:09.739 --> 00:38:11.189
a follower of Christ.

00:38:11.189 --> 00:38:12.262
Do we follow Him?

00:38:12.262 --> 00:38:14.058
Do we follow Him to the secret place

00:38:14.058 --> 00:38:18.456
and then follow Him among the people?

00:38:18.456 --> 00:38:22.050
To do good. Doing good.

NOTE Paragraph

00:38:22.050 --> 00:38:23.776
Do you know what sort of Jesus

00:38:23.776 --> 00:38:31.007
you do not find in your Bibles?

00:38:31.007 --> 00:38:34.101
We do not find the sort of Jesus

00:38:34.101 --> 00:38:36.360
Who didn't smoke, didn't drink,

00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:38.210
didn't watch R-rated movies,

00:38:38.210 --> 00:38:40.234
didn't send His children to public school,

00:38:40.234 --> 00:38:42.000
didn't come late to church.

00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:44.659
We don't find that Christ.

00:38:44.659 --> 00:38:46.956
You say what?

00:38:46.956 --> 00:38:50.216
Listen, my emphasis is this:

00:38:50.216 --> 00:38:56.308
you don't find this Christ

00:38:56.308 --> 00:38:58.810
of negative emphasis

00:38:58.810 --> 00:39:02.865
in the pages of your Bible.

00:39:02.865 --> 00:39:05.977
Acts 10:38 doesn't say that Jesus

00:39:05.977 --> 00:39:12.294
went about not doing evil.

00:39:12.294 --> 00:39:14.907
That's not the Jesus of the Bible.

00:39:14.907 --> 00:39:17.286
You say, what? You're saying He did evil?

00:39:17.286 --> 00:39:23.084
No, I'm just saying that's not the issue.

00:39:23.084 --> 00:39:27.296
So often you find religious people -

00:39:27.296 --> 00:39:29.692
professing Christians -

00:39:29.692 --> 00:39:31.723
"well, what's wrong with that?"

00:39:31.723 --> 00:39:34.482
"Well, I don't do that."

00:39:34.482 --> 00:39:37.092
You know, the typical 
fundamentalist attitude:

00:39:37.092 --> 00:39:38.550
"I don't drink. I don't smoke.

00:39:38.550 --> 00:39:41.881
I don't dance."

00:39:41.881 --> 00:39:45.145
So?

00:39:45.145 --> 00:39:50.349
You say, what, the 
pastor's saying you can?

00:39:50.349 --> 00:39:52.562
I'm saying this:

00:39:52.562 --> 00:39:56.773
we're called to be followers of Christ.

00:39:56.773 --> 00:39:59.388
When you do spiritual inventory,

00:39:59.388 --> 00:40:00.902
sure, it's good if you haven't

00:40:00.902 --> 00:40:03.213
viewed pornography this week.

00:40:03.213 --> 00:40:07.407
It's great if you haven't 
beaten your wife this week.

00:40:07.407 --> 00:40:12.016
But brethren, those things are a given.

00:40:12.016 --> 00:40:13.533
If that's the level at which

00:40:13.533 --> 00:40:15.569
you're trying to live your Christian life,

00:40:15.569 --> 00:40:19.742
my friend, you are missing the whole point

00:40:19.742 --> 00:40:23.880
of why Jesus Christ saved a people.

00:40:23.880 --> 00:40:25.465
Have you ever read?

00:40:25.465 --> 00:40:29.045
He saved a people

00:40:29.045 --> 00:40:32.122
for His own possession.

00:40:32.122 --> 00:40:35.113
And what would chiefly characterize them?

00:40:35.113 --> 00:40:37.871
The fact that they don't do bad?

00:40:37.871 --> 00:40:41.583
Brethren, that they be 
zealous of good works.

00:40:41.583 --> 00:40:44.169
That's it.

00:40:44.169 --> 00:40:46.466
Get away from this negative-oriented

00:40:46.466 --> 00:40:51.889
kind of Christianity.

00:40:51.889 --> 00:40:53.966
You know you ask some people

00:40:53.966 --> 00:40:55.677
about their Christianity,

00:40:55.677 --> 00:41:00.617
and it's like it's all the negative.

00:41:00.617 --> 00:41:02.989
It's all about what they don't do.

00:41:02.989 --> 00:41:04.737
Listen, Jesus didn't save us

00:41:04.737 --> 00:41:06.931
just to stop doing the bad things.

00:41:06.931 --> 00:41:08.403
Of course He did that.

00:41:08.403 --> 00:41:10.389
Of course, by the Spirit to put to death

00:41:10.389 --> 00:41:11.762
the deeds of the body.

00:41:11.762 --> 00:41:15.146
Of course that.

00:41:15.146 --> 00:41:17.140
But doing good,

00:41:17.140 --> 00:41:20.051
doing good -

00:41:20.051 --> 00:41:21.620
this is the will of God,

00:41:21.620 --> 00:41:24.095
that by doing good, you should

00:41:24.095 --> 00:41:26.802
put to silence the 
ignorance of foolish people.

00:41:26.802 --> 00:41:28.956
In the same way, doesn't Scripture say,

00:41:28.956 --> 00:41:31.737
"Let your light so shine before men

00:41:31.737 --> 00:41:33.463
that they may see your good works

00:41:33.463 --> 00:41:35.860
and give glory to your 
Father Who is in Heaven?"

00:41:35.860 --> 00:41:37.192
Right there in Ephesians,

00:41:37.192 --> 00:41:38.325
we came across it:

00:41:38.325 --> 00:41:39.967
"We are His workmanship,

00:41:39.967 --> 00:41:42.621
created in Christ Jesus for good works."

00:41:42.621 --> 00:41:44.657
Brethren, this is the heart and soul.

00:41:44.657 --> 00:41:46.561
Again, when we talk about making it

00:41:46.561 --> 00:41:49.322
a primary endeavor of your life to pray -

00:41:49.322 --> 00:41:51.632
one of the primary endeavors of our lives

00:41:51.632 --> 00:41:53.937
is doing good.

00:41:53.937 --> 00:41:55.514
with so many people it's:

00:41:55.514 --> 00:41:57.969
Well, I didn't miss church on Sunday.

00:41:57.969 --> 00:42:00.637
Listen, church going - well, that's good.

00:42:00.637 --> 00:42:03.784
Not forsaking the assembling 
together of yourselves is good.

00:42:03.784 --> 00:42:06.059
But why do we come together?

00:42:06.059 --> 00:42:10.010
To stir up one another 
to love and good works.

00:42:10.010 --> 00:42:11.746
You see, that's the issue.

00:42:11.746 --> 00:42:14.664
You being here - that's only to equip you

00:42:14.664 --> 00:42:16.607
for the real work.

00:42:16.607 --> 00:42:20.221
To go out these doors

00:42:20.221 --> 00:42:22.143
and among one another

00:42:22.143 --> 00:42:23.811
and among the world

00:42:23.811 --> 00:42:25.721
out here in the midst of all this.

00:42:25.721 --> 00:42:28.560
Brothers, sisters,

00:42:28.560 --> 00:42:30.609
do good.

00:42:30.609 --> 00:42:33.781
Let that be the banner 
that flies over your life.

00:42:33.781 --> 00:42:35.176
Do good.

00:42:35.176 --> 00:42:38.471
Don't just live your life 
not getting drunk,

00:42:38.471 --> 00:42:39.913
then selfishly seeking

00:42:39.913 --> 00:42:42.188
to live for your own profit

00:42:42.188 --> 00:42:43.933
and your own good.

00:42:43.933 --> 00:42:45.926
Look for every occasion to do good.

00:42:45.926 --> 00:42:47.304
Look for opportunities.

00:42:47.304 --> 00:42:48.800
In your secret prayer,

00:42:48.800 --> 00:42:51.404
ask God, please, open doors.

00:42:51.404 --> 00:42:52.802
It's amazing how many times

00:42:52.802 --> 00:42:54.077
my wife has said

00:42:54.077 --> 00:42:55.814
I asked the Lord for an opportunity

00:42:55.814 --> 00:42:57.758
to evangelize and He brought it -

00:42:57.758 --> 00:42:59.251
almost instantaneously,

00:42:59.251 --> 00:43:00.837
like that day.

00:43:00.837 --> 00:43:02.074
Right away.

00:43:02.074 --> 00:43:03.485
I find that to be true too.

00:43:03.485 --> 00:43:06.051
You ask the Lord for 
opportunities to do good,

00:43:06.051 --> 00:43:08.534
the door will swing open.

00:43:08.534 --> 00:43:10.231
Just ask Him.

00:43:10.231 --> 00:43:12.876
Ask Him.

00:43:12.876 --> 00:43:16.671
Brethren, we are one 
of the richest countries

00:43:16.671 --> 00:43:17.824
that has ever lived.

00:43:17.824 --> 00:43:19.710
Well, you say, there are oil countries

00:43:19.710 --> 00:43:20.866
over in the Middle East.

00:43:20.866 --> 00:43:21.883
That doesn't matter.

00:43:21.883 --> 00:43:25.905
In light of all of human history,

00:43:25.905 --> 00:43:28.525
we are one of the richest countries

00:43:28.525 --> 00:43:33.210
that has ever existed.

00:43:33.210 --> 00:43:35.792
The average person in this country

00:43:35.792 --> 00:43:38.274
is so incredibly wealthy

00:43:38.274 --> 00:43:40.355
compared to the poverty you find

00:43:40.355 --> 00:43:42.589
in other places.

00:43:42.589 --> 00:43:45.302
You know why you've 
been given those riches?

00:43:45.302 --> 00:43:47.092
To do good with it.

00:43:47.092 --> 00:43:51.443
The rich are told to do good.

00:43:51.443 --> 00:43:53.535
Look for every opportunity.

NOTE Paragraph

00:43:53.535 --> 00:43:55.291
Brethen, look around you.

00:43:55.291 --> 00:43:57.007
There are needs everywhere.

00:43:57.007 --> 00:43:58.691
You know the Gospel.

00:43:58.691 --> 00:44:00.613
What a mess of good you might do

00:44:00.613 --> 00:44:03.014
knowing the Gospel!

00:44:03.014 --> 00:44:04.338
Look, we have that message

00:44:04.338 --> 00:44:05.486
that men need to hear.

00:44:05.486 --> 00:44:06.878
How are they going to believe

00:44:06.878 --> 00:44:08.838
in a Christ that they've never heard of.

00:44:08.838 --> 00:44:10.945
This is the message that empowered by God

00:44:10.945 --> 00:44:12.591
is salvation unto men.

00:44:12.591 --> 00:44:15.226
Jesus Christ - think 
about the good He did.

00:44:15.226 --> 00:44:16.448
He went to the cross.

00:44:16.448 --> 00:44:17.614
He laid down His life.

00:44:17.614 --> 00:44:18.818
And He's actually made it

00:44:18.818 --> 00:44:21.098
that with all that good that was done,

00:44:21.098 --> 00:44:23.046
yet people will not believe

00:44:23.046 --> 00:44:25.102
unless we do the good of taking

00:44:25.102 --> 00:44:27.665
the message of that cross to their ears.

00:44:27.665 --> 00:44:30.051
Otherwise, they die in their sin

00:44:30.051 --> 00:44:31.268
and they perish.

00:44:31.268 --> 00:44:33.480
Think about all the good we can do.

00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:35.372
You have the Gospel.

00:44:35.372 --> 00:44:37.599
You walk through this world

00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:39.393
and you come back here,

00:44:39.393 --> 00:44:41.620
one week, come back,
one week, come back...

00:44:41.620 --> 00:44:44.142
And if you're not taking

00:44:44.142 --> 00:44:46.354
that fragrance of the Gospel out there,

00:44:46.354 --> 00:44:48.378
look at all the missed opportunities

00:44:48.378 --> 00:44:50.685
of enlightening the world.

00:44:50.685 --> 00:44:53.036
Brethren, do good to men's souls.

00:44:53.036 --> 00:44:54.914
(incomplete thought)

NOTE Paragraph

00:44:54.914 --> 00:44:56.498
I know James was saying

00:44:56.498 --> 00:44:59.087
we need to order some more business cards,

00:44:59.087 --> 00:45:00.383
but we've got tracts.

00:45:00.383 --> 00:45:01.841
Let's use them up.

00:45:01.841 --> 00:45:03.991
No matter what the financial situation is,

00:45:03.991 --> 00:45:06.460
use up tracts and we'll buy more.

00:45:06.460 --> 00:45:09.501
Keep those things flowing.

00:45:09.501 --> 00:45:10.911
Do good, brethren.

00:45:10.911 --> 00:45:13.653
Do good at work, at play, 
at home, at school.

00:45:13.653 --> 00:45:16.271
Relieve people's poverty.

00:45:16.271 --> 00:45:18.392
Brethren, if you see suffering,

00:45:18.392 --> 00:45:19.869
try to meet it.

00:45:19.869 --> 00:45:22.321
Use the spiritual gifts that 
God has given to you

00:45:22.321 --> 00:45:23.994
to help one another,

00:45:23.994 --> 00:45:25.792
to serve one another.

00:45:25.792 --> 00:45:27.883
Take what God has given to you.

00:45:27.883 --> 00:45:29.423
Look for opportunities.

00:45:29.423 --> 00:45:31.750
Look for the widow.
Look for the orphan.

00:45:31.750 --> 00:45:33.088
Look for missions.

00:45:33.088 --> 00:45:34.657
Look, brethren, look.

00:45:34.657 --> 00:45:36.286
Get your eyes opened.

00:45:36.286 --> 00:45:38.435
We need to open up our eyes.

00:45:38.435 --> 00:45:40.961
Look, this is not about 
you being comfortable.

00:45:40.961 --> 00:45:43.347
God did not give you the 
riches that He gave you

00:45:43.347 --> 00:45:45.056
in this world so that you can just

00:45:45.056 --> 00:45:47.038
keep increasing your standard of living

00:45:47.038 --> 00:45:48.951
and standard of living, and it goes up,

00:45:48.951 --> 00:45:50.422
and you can wear nicer clothes

00:45:50.422 --> 00:45:52.666
and live in nicer houses,
and drive nicer cars.

00:45:52.666 --> 00:45:53.967
It's not about that.

00:45:53.967 --> 00:45:56.831
The rich need to be liberal.

00:45:56.831 --> 00:45:58.651
Give and give more.

00:45:58.651 --> 00:45:59.534
Go to the jails,

00:45:59.534 --> 00:46:00.875
go to the college campuses,

00:46:00.875 --> 00:46:02.040
go to the nursing homes,

00:46:02.040 --> 00:46:04.309
get involved with this crisis pregnancy.

00:46:04.309 --> 00:46:07.108
Brethren, pray for the 
women's Grace House.

00:46:07.108 --> 00:46:09.957
Be involved in that as you're able to.

00:46:09.957 --> 00:46:11.828
But have compassion on people.

00:46:11.828 --> 00:46:15.412
Try to disseminate some sort of love

00:46:15.412 --> 00:46:16.651
to everyone you meet.

NOTE Paragraph

00:46:16.651 --> 00:46:17.965
If you're just thinking

00:46:17.965 --> 00:46:19.786
how can I just show kindness?

00:46:19.786 --> 00:46:24.176
Brethren, sometimes it may just be

00:46:24.176 --> 00:46:27.906
greeting somebody.

00:46:27.906 --> 00:46:29.910
I mean, I'm not saying you have to

00:46:29.910 --> 00:46:33.337
do a full three point sermon

00:46:33.337 --> 00:46:38.223
to the guy that you meet at HEB,

00:46:38.223 --> 00:46:42.507
but it might just be greeting him

00:46:42.507 --> 00:46:44.646
and being nice to people.

00:46:44.646 --> 00:46:52.031
It's good if Christians are just nice.

NOTE Paragraph

00:46:52.031 --> 00:46:53.940
But see what happens is

00:46:53.940 --> 00:46:55.577
when you begin to intertwine

00:46:55.577 --> 00:46:57.944
those secret prayers with the doing good,

00:46:57.944 --> 00:46:59.860
what happens is,

00:46:59.860 --> 00:47:03.983
God brings power to that doing good.

00:47:03.983 --> 00:47:05.456
I mean, He begins to bless it.

00:47:05.456 --> 00:47:10.532
There begins to become a reward in it.

00:47:10.532 --> 00:47:12.597
You know, brethren, there are some things

00:47:12.597 --> 00:47:15.678
we do that don't touch men's hearts.

00:47:15.678 --> 00:47:18.099
And there are some things that do.

00:47:18.099 --> 00:47:19.817
And the difference is God.

00:47:19.817 --> 00:47:20.897
The difference is Him.

00:47:20.897 --> 00:47:22.653
And it may have to 
do with the difference

00:47:22.653 --> 00:47:25.279
being in us, but He's able 
to make that difference.

00:47:25.279 --> 00:47:26.744
It comes back to Him.

00:47:26.744 --> 00:47:29.047
Brethren, you only get one life here.

00:47:29.047 --> 00:47:30.010
And the reality is,

00:47:30.010 --> 00:47:31.457
look, if we had two or three

00:47:31.457 --> 00:47:32.547
or five or ten lives,

00:47:32.547 --> 00:47:34.231
we might waste one of two of them,

00:47:34.231 --> 00:47:36.479
but you don't have that.

00:47:36.479 --> 00:47:37.877
And we're to be zealous.

00:47:37.877 --> 00:47:39.954
And you remember how it is on the end.

00:47:39.954 --> 00:47:42.099
Brethren, what was Jesus looking at?

00:47:42.099 --> 00:47:44.383
He was looking at the 
good that people did.

00:47:44.383 --> 00:47:46.120
I was hungry and you fed Me.

00:47:46.120 --> 00:47:49.027
Brethren, go do that.

00:47:49.027 --> 00:47:52.246
I was in jail; you came.

00:47:52.246 --> 00:47:54.343
Brethren, go do that.

00:47:54.343 --> 00:47:56.408
Go do that.

00:47:56.408 --> 00:47:58.504
That's what He's going to be looking for.

00:47:58.504 --> 00:47:59.652
Because you know what?

00:47:59.652 --> 00:48:01.928
That's just like the things He did.

00:48:01.928 --> 00:48:03.423
He did good.

00:48:03.423 --> 00:48:04.876
And He tells us: follow Me.

00:48:04.876 --> 00:48:06.250
He was zealous of good works

00:48:06.250 --> 00:48:07.346
and He wants you to be.

00:48:07.346 --> 00:48:08.586
Not mediocre, brethren.

00:48:08.586 --> 00:48:10.309
Not mediocre in good works.

00:48:10.309 --> 00:48:14.804
He really wants you to 
pour yourself out that way.

00:48:14.804 --> 00:48:16.617
Don't live your life so cheaply

00:48:16.617 --> 00:48:18.140
where you're just going around

00:48:18.140 --> 00:48:19.115
asking all the time:

00:48:19.115 --> 00:48:21.526
what's wrong with this?
what's wrong with that?

00:48:21.526 --> 00:48:26.708
It's just so cheap.

NOTE Paragraph

00:48:26.708 --> 00:48:29.235
Brethren, you know what the reality is?

00:48:29.235 --> 00:48:31.124
When you go into that secret place,

00:48:31.124 --> 00:48:32.688
you can pray,

00:48:32.688 --> 00:48:36.886
"Lord, I know it.

00:48:36.886 --> 00:48:38.288
I know I can be insensitive.

00:48:38.288 --> 00:48:40.478
Take away this hard, selfish,

00:48:40.478 --> 00:48:44.891
insensitive heart.

00:48:44.891 --> 00:48:51.155
Make my heart full of love for people."

NOTE Paragraph

00:48:51.155 --> 00:48:53.342
Now, the last one.

00:48:53.342 --> 00:48:54.960
The last thread.

00:48:54.960 --> 00:48:55.905
Bear with me.

00:48:55.905 --> 00:48:57.149
Don't get impatient here,

00:48:57.149 --> 00:48:59.073
because this is critical.

00:48:59.073 --> 00:49:01.892
Threefold cord - it's when 
they're all wrapped around.

00:49:01.892 --> 00:49:05.875
Listen, if there's not self-denial,

00:49:05.875 --> 00:49:08.355
you will not make the disciplined

00:49:08.355 --> 00:49:12.950
decisions necessary to get 
into that prayer closet.

00:49:12.950 --> 00:49:15.096
If there's not self-denial,

00:49:15.096 --> 00:49:16.849
like I said before,

00:49:16.849 --> 00:49:19.649
any good works you do will be cheap

00:49:19.649 --> 00:49:20.860
(incomplete thought).

00:49:20.860 --> 00:49:22.891
You know the greatest good that Jesus did

00:49:22.891 --> 00:49:25.954
was laying down His life at that cross.

00:49:25.954 --> 00:49:28.125
The greatest good are the things

00:49:28.125 --> 00:49:30.963
that cost us the most,

00:49:30.963 --> 00:49:33.668
usually.

NOTE Paragraph

00:49:33.668 --> 00:49:34.711
Self-denial.

00:49:34.711 --> 00:49:39.111
Craig brought up: it's dangerous.

00:49:39.111 --> 00:49:42.246
It is dangerous.

00:49:42.246 --> 00:49:45.219
And he hit it right on the head: motive.

00:49:45.219 --> 00:49:48.025
Self-denial is dangerous

00:49:48.025 --> 00:49:53.165
because on the one hand,

00:49:53.165 --> 00:49:55.864
the Apostle Paul actually said

00:49:55.864 --> 00:50:02.499
people who are seduced by demonic spirits

00:50:02.499 --> 00:50:08.051
are going to preach abstinence -

00:50:08.051 --> 00:50:10.731
whether that be marriage or food.

00:50:10.731 --> 00:50:12.950
Now, you know what 
the interesting thing is,

00:50:12.950 --> 00:50:15.830
abstinence from food

00:50:15.830 --> 00:50:18.910
is like lent,

00:50:18.910 --> 00:50:22.301
or Catholics who can't 
eat meat on Friday's.

00:50:22.301 --> 00:50:23.959
We look at that and we say,

00:50:23.959 --> 00:50:25.712
well, that's demonic.

00:50:25.712 --> 00:50:27.516
Then here's Jesus over here saying,

00:50:27.516 --> 00:50:30.652
"when you fast..."

00:50:30.652 --> 00:50:35.077
I think you know that's not demonic.

00:50:35.077 --> 00:50:39.313
But isn't it close?

00:50:39.313 --> 00:50:42.333
Abstain from food is what people teach

00:50:42.333 --> 00:50:43.793
who have been influenced

00:50:43.793 --> 00:50:47.678
by these seducing spirits.

00:50:47.678 --> 00:50:54.420
Abstaining from food is 
also taught by Jesus.

00:50:54.420 --> 00:50:59.783
How do we bridge that gap?

00:50:59.783 --> 00:51:01.784
Because there's self-denial involved.

NOTE Paragraph

00:51:01.784 --> 00:51:04.904
Listen, Craig alluded to the passage

00:51:04.904 --> 00:51:06.304
in Colossians 2.

00:51:06.304 --> 00:51:08.903
You know what Paul warns about?

00:51:08.903 --> 00:51:10.992
He warns about man-made religion.

00:51:10.992 --> 00:51:14.903
Don't taste. Don't touch.

00:51:14.903 --> 00:51:16.436
Have you ever read that?

00:51:16.436 --> 00:51:18.756
He warns against asceticism.

00:51:18.756 --> 00:51:22.214
Who knows what asceticism is?

00:51:22.214 --> 00:51:24.428
It's self-denial. It's self-mortification

00:51:24.428 --> 00:51:26.652
of the body.

00:51:26.652 --> 00:51:29.371
And he's actually warning against it.

00:51:29.371 --> 00:51:31.805
And yet the same apostle comes along

00:51:31.805 --> 00:51:34.300
to the Corinthians and says

00:51:34.300 --> 00:51:37.544
right at the end of 1 Corinthians 9,

00:51:37.544 --> 00:51:47.361
I beat my body and I keep it under.

00:51:47.361 --> 00:51:50.141
But you see brethren, the thing is here,

00:51:50.141 --> 00:51:54.117
it's all got to do with motive.

NOTE Paragraph

00:51:54.117 --> 00:51:56.349
Self-denial.

00:51:56.349 --> 00:51:59.205
That's the last strand 
that I want to bring out.

00:51:59.205 --> 00:52:01.049
This needs to be interwoven

00:52:01.049 --> 00:52:04.081
with secret prayer, with doing good.

00:52:04.081 --> 00:52:06.137
Yes, it's fraught with dangers,

00:52:06.137 --> 00:52:10.340
but the reality is, brethren,

00:52:10.340 --> 00:52:13.726
Jesus Christ said this to us -

00:52:13.726 --> 00:52:16.008
in fact, I want to read you Paul's words

00:52:16.008 --> 00:52:18.077
before I tell you what Jesus said.

00:52:18.077 --> 00:52:20.173
He said, "I do not run aimlessly.

00:52:20.173 --> 00:52:22.620
I do not box as one beating the air,

00:52:22.620 --> 00:52:24.583
but I discipline my body

00:52:24.583 --> 00:52:26.325
and keep it under control,

00:52:26.325 --> 00:52:28.010
lest after preaching to others,

00:52:28.010 --> 00:52:30.462
I myself should be disqualified."

00:52:30.462 --> 00:52:32.343
King James says "cast away."

00:52:32.343 --> 00:52:38.155
The reality of that is 
not standing the test.

00:52:38.155 --> 00:52:40.416
And you know what he's saying?

00:52:40.416 --> 00:52:42.623
He's saying that I beat my body

00:52:42.623 --> 00:52:44.021
and I bring it under control

00:52:44.021 --> 00:52:45.350
and I say no to it

00:52:45.350 --> 00:52:49.235
and I don't let it master me,

00:52:49.235 --> 00:52:51.739
because in the end, I 
don't want to be cast away.

00:52:51.739 --> 00:52:54.276
In the end, I don't want to perish.

00:52:54.276 --> 00:52:57.202
Brethren, you know what I love about Paul?

00:52:57.202 --> 00:52:59.747
He's never the hyper-Calvinist.

00:52:59.747 --> 00:53:03.491
"Oh, well, I'm saved, so 
it doesn't really matter."

00:53:03.491 --> 00:53:06.598
"Well, if I'm one of the elect, 
I'm in, no matter what I do."

00:53:06.598 --> 00:53:09.107
You know, he didn't think that way.

00:53:09.107 --> 00:53:11.489
He recognized this,

00:53:11.489 --> 00:53:14.644
you need to recognize what he's saying.

00:53:14.644 --> 00:53:18.542
He's saying I recognize that my body

00:53:18.542 --> 00:53:22.114
has such appetites that if I give myself

00:53:22.114 --> 00:53:26.895
into those I may perish at last.

00:53:26.895 --> 00:53:31.030
Listen, Jesus said this:

00:53:31.030 --> 00:53:33.434
"If anyone would come after Me,

00:53:33.434 --> 00:53:39.546
let him deny himself,

00:53:39.546 --> 00:53:42.985
take up his cross daily..."

00:53:42.985 --> 00:53:44.813
That means die.

00:53:44.813 --> 00:53:47.094
Cross - death instrument.

00:53:47.094 --> 00:53:49.876
Die daily.

00:53:49.876 --> 00:53:52.447
"...and follow Me."

00:53:52.447 --> 00:53:55.305
See, we keep coming back to that.

00:53:55.305 --> 00:53:58.939
Follow Me.

00:53:58.939 --> 00:54:00.784
Follow Him to the secret place.

00:54:00.784 --> 00:54:03.293
Follow Him in being zealous of good works.

00:54:03.293 --> 00:54:10.625
Follow Him in - you 
talk about self-denial -

00:54:10.625 --> 00:54:13.908
He wasn't born into a wealthy family.

00:54:13.908 --> 00:54:17.767
He could have been.

00:54:17.767 --> 00:54:25.928
He was born into some degree of poverty.

00:54:25.928 --> 00:54:30.226
He went to the cross.

00:54:30.226 --> 00:54:32.653
His own ease?

00:54:32.653 --> 00:54:35.179
He said, I did not come to be served.

00:54:35.179 --> 00:54:36.368
I came to serve.

00:54:36.368 --> 00:54:39.982
I came to pour Myself out for others.

00:54:39.982 --> 00:54:41.958
That's the example that we have.

00:54:41.958 --> 00:54:43.848
John said, "Truly, truly, I say to you,

00:54:43.848 --> 00:54:46.459
unless a grain of wheat falls 
into the earth and dies,

00:54:46.459 --> 00:54:47.507
it remains alone."

00:54:47.507 --> 00:54:50.428
You want to be fruitful? There's dying.

00:54:50.428 --> 00:54:52.875
Death brings fruitfulness.

00:54:52.875 --> 00:54:54.147
Dying to self.

00:54:54.147 --> 00:54:55.410
Deny self.

00:54:55.410 --> 00:54:57.425
Carry the cross daily.

NOTE Paragraph

00:54:57.425 --> 00:54:59.735
Brethren, let's face it.

00:54:59.735 --> 00:55:03.823
By nature - I'm talking 
about our lost states -

00:55:03.823 --> 00:55:06.630
we're soft. We love pleasure.

00:55:06.630 --> 00:55:07.562
You know what?

00:55:07.562 --> 00:55:10.091
You could say, what about

00:55:10.091 --> 00:55:11.825
the guy that goes into the military

00:55:11.825 --> 00:55:13.272
and he becomes a seal.

00:55:13.272 --> 00:55:15.586
Does he like just soft things?

00:55:15.586 --> 00:55:17.427
No, he likes the honor.

00:55:17.427 --> 00:55:20.322
He likes the attention.

00:55:20.322 --> 00:55:22.184
But see, we're like that.

00:55:22.184 --> 00:55:24.966
If it makes us look good,

00:55:24.966 --> 00:55:26.159
we'll make some denials

00:55:26.159 --> 00:55:28.197
if it makes us look good;

00:55:28.197 --> 00:55:29.619
we'll make the denials to be

00:55:29.619 --> 00:55:31.223
this kind of athlete over there,

00:55:31.223 --> 00:55:32.740
because we want that applause.

00:55:32.740 --> 00:55:37.775
But by nature, we are honor seeking.

00:55:37.775 --> 00:55:39.840
We are the kind of people

00:55:39.840 --> 00:55:43.502
that we seek self-gratification

00:55:43.502 --> 00:55:45.859
and applause and pleasure.

00:55:45.859 --> 00:55:50.487
That's what we are.

00:55:50.487 --> 00:55:53.487
Brethren, the reality is

00:55:53.487 --> 00:55:56.511
that when we get saved,

00:55:56.511 --> 00:56:00.634
I know that the cross of Jesus Christ

00:56:00.634 --> 00:56:04.204
has dealt our selfishness a mortal blow,

00:56:04.204 --> 00:56:07.801
but you and I know it's not dead yet.

00:56:07.801 --> 00:56:10.390
That principal is still -

00:56:10.390 --> 00:56:12.088
that's in operation within us,

00:56:12.088 --> 00:56:14.738
and that's why Paul has 
to come along and say,

00:56:14.738 --> 00:56:16.251
I beat my body.

00:56:16.251 --> 00:56:17.829
I give it a black eye.

00:56:17.829 --> 00:56:22.063
I keep it under.

00:56:22.063 --> 00:56:23.636
And that's why you get Jesus

00:56:23.636 --> 00:56:24.957
coming along and saying,

00:56:24.957 --> 00:56:25.946
you need to die.

00:56:25.946 --> 00:56:27.695
You need to deny yourself.

00:56:27.695 --> 00:56:30.869
Why? Because, brethren, I'm telling you

00:56:30.869 --> 00:56:33.614
just like I mentioned that 
in regards to Paul,

00:56:33.614 --> 00:56:35.935
there is something in our appetites

00:56:35.935 --> 00:56:37.797
that is willing to carry us away

00:56:37.797 --> 00:56:40.476
if we give place to it.

00:56:40.476 --> 00:56:42.935
This is what it is about the Spirit of God

00:56:42.935 --> 00:56:45.377
and putting to death 
the deeds of the body.

00:56:45.377 --> 00:56:46.577
It is by this Spirit,

00:56:46.577 --> 00:56:48.702
you are putting to death something

00:56:48.702 --> 00:56:50.596
that needs to be put to death.

00:56:50.596 --> 00:56:53.428
There's something in our mortal bodies.

00:56:53.428 --> 00:56:55.400
It likes softness.

00:56:55.400 --> 00:56:57.736
You know, one of the things today

00:56:57.736 --> 00:57:00.584
with all the wealth that we have,

00:57:00.584 --> 00:57:04.874
we have so much softness.

00:57:04.874 --> 00:57:07.405
And we don't really even think about it,

00:57:07.405 --> 00:57:11.459
I'm afraid.

00:57:11.459 --> 00:57:16.619
We are able to keep the temperature

00:57:16.619 --> 00:57:22.295
within very narrow bands 99% of our life.

00:57:22.295 --> 00:57:24.690
And we scream like -

00:57:24.690 --> 00:57:26.207
I know it's graphic -

00:57:26.207 --> 00:57:28.399
I just think of Bob Jennings talking about

00:57:28.399 --> 00:57:30.760
people screaming like stuck pigs.

00:57:30.760 --> 00:57:35.329
But we scream bloody murder,

00:57:35.329 --> 00:57:36.746
like my mom used to say,

00:57:36.746 --> 00:57:38.562
if we just have to walk from the door

00:57:38.562 --> 00:57:42.502
out to our cars and it's 30 degrees.

00:57:42.502 --> 00:57:45.703
Oh, it's so cold out here.

00:57:45.703 --> 00:57:48.217
We are so soft.

00:57:48.217 --> 00:57:50.744
The temperature, the humidity...

00:57:50.744 --> 00:57:54.030
And our food.

00:57:54.030 --> 00:57:57.911
We are a pampered people.

00:57:57.911 --> 00:58:00.140
That's just a reality.

00:58:00.140 --> 00:58:01.656
My great uncle came back from

00:58:01.656 --> 00:58:03.609
fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.

00:58:03.609 --> 00:58:06.157
He came in on like day four or five

00:58:06.157 --> 00:58:09.322
after D-day,

00:58:09.322 --> 00:58:12.436
and he fought behind Patton.

00:58:12.436 --> 00:58:14.513
And I went and talked to him -

00:58:14.513 --> 00:58:16.206
he and his wife were in their 90's,

00:58:16.206 --> 00:58:17.577
sharing the Gospel with him

00:58:17.577 --> 00:58:18.434
over in Tennessee.

00:58:18.434 --> 00:58:19.942
His wife said when he came home

00:58:19.942 --> 00:58:21.806
from the war, he slept on the ground

00:58:21.806 --> 00:58:23.612
in the backyard.

00:58:23.612 --> 00:58:25.509
Because he had been so used to that

00:58:25.509 --> 00:58:26.931
during the war,

00:58:26.931 --> 00:58:31.830
that getting in a bed was unheard of.

00:58:31.830 --> 00:58:34.993
We need some of that in us.

00:58:34.993 --> 00:58:36.660
Because brethren, we're soft.

NOTE Paragraph

00:58:36.660 --> 00:58:38.613
Doesn't it seem like they're figuring out

00:58:38.613 --> 00:58:41.175
how to make clothes softer?

00:58:41.175 --> 00:58:43.981
And towels softer?

00:58:43.981 --> 00:58:45.444
And if you would have heard

00:58:45.444 --> 00:58:48.006
how we cried when we went to Mexico

00:58:48.006 --> 00:58:50.120
because the water wasn't exactly

00:58:50.120 --> 00:58:53.318
the right temperature in the showers?

00:58:53.318 --> 00:58:54.622
Right, Pete?

00:58:54.622 --> 00:58:56.637
I mean, we are soft.

00:58:56.637 --> 00:58:59.318
And brethren, if we're going to

00:58:59.318 --> 00:59:00.857
live this Christian life

00:59:00.857 --> 00:59:04.363
with the kind of sacrifices that

00:59:04.363 --> 00:59:06.187
we need to be making,

00:59:06.187 --> 00:59:09.598
brethren, you need to deny the self.

00:59:09.598 --> 00:59:12.416
And listen, motive has 
everything to do with it.

00:59:12.416 --> 00:59:15.099
If the motive is, oh yeah,

00:59:15.099 --> 00:59:16.891
I'm going to make these sacrifices -

00:59:16.891 --> 00:59:19.485
so it comes back to the fasting thing.

00:59:19.485 --> 00:59:21.091
You see, fasting fits right in

00:59:21.091 --> 00:59:23.010
with all this self-denial.

00:59:23.010 --> 00:59:25.519
If you do it because you 
want to be seen of people,

00:59:25.519 --> 00:59:27.913
and you want to put a notch
in your spiritual belt,

00:59:27.913 --> 00:59:29.918
and you want to make 
sure everybody knows.

NOTE Paragraph

00:59:29.918 --> 00:59:32.395
Listen, I have a friend I 
went to high school with.

00:59:32.395 --> 00:59:33.618
He's now a Jesuit priest.

00:59:33.618 --> 00:59:35.500
He let the whole world know,

00:59:35.500 --> 00:59:37.410
right on the Internet - I saw it there.

00:59:37.410 --> 00:59:39.427
I was kind of finding out what's going on

00:59:39.427 --> 00:59:40.289
with his life.

00:59:40.289 --> 00:59:42.974
He tells the story publicly
in front of the whole audience

00:59:42.977 --> 00:59:44.760
about how when he was 
a kid in elementary school,

00:59:44.760 --> 00:59:46.727
he'd walk - this is back when I knew him.

00:59:46.727 --> 00:59:48.122
I used to be his neighbor.

00:59:48.122 --> 00:59:51.361
And he put rocks in his shoes.

00:59:51.361 --> 00:59:53.130
Why? Well, that's what Catholics do.

00:59:53.130 --> 00:59:54.399
This self-mortification.

00:59:54.399 --> 00:59:57.234
But the thing is, he 
had to tell everybody.

00:59:57.234 --> 00:59:58.851
I'm not talking about the things

00:59:58.851 --> 01:00:00.245
that you go and broadcast.

01:00:00.245 --> 01:00:02.491
Paul was setting himself forth

01:00:02.491 --> 01:00:04.286
as an example, but he didn't tell us

01:00:04.286 --> 01:00:06.929
exactly how he did, what he did -

01:00:06.929 --> 01:00:08.197
that's not the issue.

01:00:08.197 --> 01:00:09.598
But brethren, we need to

01:00:09.598 --> 01:00:13.119
look at our lives.

NOTE Paragraph

01:00:13.119 --> 01:00:14.902
Look, I'll tell you this.

01:00:14.902 --> 01:00:18.304
It doesn't help us to make things

01:00:18.304 --> 01:00:21.549
more comfortable, more soft.

01:00:21.549 --> 01:00:24.153
So often we can get this, you know,

01:00:24.153 --> 01:00:26.398
we're in this day where we have

01:00:26.398 --> 01:00:27.532
so much wealth.

01:00:27.532 --> 01:00:30.086
We can eat exactly these right things.

01:00:30.086 --> 01:00:31.537
All these diets, well,

01:00:31.537 --> 01:00:33.971
it's in the name of health,
and I'm going to live longer

01:00:33.971 --> 01:00:35.476
and I'm going to be healthy.

01:00:35.476 --> 01:00:37.892
But I'll tell you this, 
if all the pampering

01:00:37.892 --> 01:00:39.526
makes you soft spiritually,

01:00:39.526 --> 01:00:40.653
it's not helping you.

01:00:40.653 --> 01:00:42.510
You might live a little bit longer,

01:00:42.510 --> 01:00:44.295
but that's not what we need.

01:00:44.295 --> 01:00:45.711
We don't need to live longer.

01:00:45.711 --> 01:00:49.220
We need to live better while we live.

01:00:49.220 --> 01:00:52.439
Brethren, don't go after

01:00:52.439 --> 01:00:55.048
all the self-pampering in this life.

01:00:55.048 --> 01:00:56.645
Don't do that.

01:00:56.645 --> 01:00:57.731
Hudson Taylor.

01:00:57.731 --> 01:00:59.171
Brethren, there was a reason

01:00:59.171 --> 01:01:00.703
before he went to China,

01:01:00.703 --> 01:01:02.439
he went into the inner city.

01:01:02.439 --> 01:01:05.531
And he was eating the 
very meagerest of diets.

01:01:05.531 --> 01:01:07.445
And you know this. You've heard it.

01:01:07.445 --> 01:01:09.057
He slept on boards.

01:01:09.057 --> 01:01:11.435
And he lived in poor housing

01:01:11.435 --> 01:01:12.616
in the slums.

01:01:12.616 --> 01:01:14.631
Why? He was preparing

01:01:14.631 --> 01:01:15.934
to go to China.

01:01:15.934 --> 01:01:17.080
And he recognized this.

01:01:17.080 --> 01:01:18.835
He recognized that if he's going to

01:01:18.835 --> 01:01:20.154
make it over there

01:01:20.154 --> 01:01:23.061
being all lavished with the best food

01:01:23.061 --> 01:01:24.294
and the softest clothes

01:01:24.294 --> 01:01:25.395
and the nice house,

01:01:25.395 --> 01:01:29.032
which really is how he grew up;

01:01:29.032 --> 01:01:40.375
he wasn't going to do well over there.

01:01:40.375 --> 01:01:41.825
(incomplete thought)

01:01:41.825 --> 01:01:44.461
You say, well, Hudson 
Taylor did those things.

01:01:44.461 --> 01:01:45.678
I'm not a Hudson Taylor.

01:01:45.678 --> 01:01:47.888
Yeah, but the thing that 
we have to recognize

01:01:47.888 --> 01:01:49.593
is how did Hudson Taylor get to be

01:01:49.593 --> 01:01:51.208
where he was a Hudson Taylor

01:01:51.208 --> 01:01:53.098
and accomplish the things that he did?

01:01:53.098 --> 01:01:54.837
There was a lot of self-sacrifice;

01:01:54.837 --> 01:02:00.361
a lot of self-denial.

NOTE Paragraph

01:02:00.361 --> 01:02:03.351
Now, I don't know where 
I came across this,

01:02:03.351 --> 01:02:06.061
but I believe that this was John Piper

01:02:06.061 --> 01:02:08.973
that basically pointed out -

01:02:08.973 --> 01:02:13.352
he was taking fasting, again,

01:02:13.352 --> 01:02:18.466
which is a form of self-denial,

01:02:18.466 --> 01:02:21.632
and he put fasting

01:02:21.632 --> 01:02:23.519
and young people

01:02:23.519 --> 01:02:28.029
struggling with pornography

01:02:28.029 --> 01:02:31.832
into the same little message.

01:02:31.832 --> 01:02:36.014
And I made a slight 
little effort to find it,

01:02:36.014 --> 01:02:39.391
but I just don't know where it's at.

01:02:39.391 --> 01:02:41.546
But you know what he said?

01:02:41.546 --> 01:02:47.203
He said you take young people today

01:02:47.203 --> 01:02:52.453
who are so wired

01:02:52.453 --> 01:02:56.038
to just gratify everything.

01:02:56.038 --> 01:02:57.959
We get sick. We take the medicine.

01:02:57.959 --> 01:03:02.937
Get sick. Go to the doctor.

01:03:02.937 --> 01:03:06.011
Soft.

01:03:06.011 --> 01:03:07.764
We're supposed to get out of bed.

01:03:07.764 --> 01:03:09.249
You know the Scripture says,

01:03:09.249 --> 01:03:14.215
"consider the ant."

01:03:14.215 --> 01:03:15.905
The ants often out there -

01:03:15.905 --> 01:03:17.693
these fire ants around here are often

01:03:17.693 --> 01:03:18.920
out there - you wonder,

01:03:18.920 --> 01:03:21.470
how did all those piles get out there?

01:03:21.470 --> 01:03:22.834
Well, the reality is,

01:03:22.834 --> 01:03:24.106
they were at work

01:03:24.106 --> 01:03:27.579
when a lot of us were still in bed.

01:03:27.579 --> 01:03:29.425
Get out of bed.

01:03:29.425 --> 01:03:30.997
That's one of the self-denials.

01:03:30.997 --> 01:03:33.217
Just get out of bed.

01:03:33.217 --> 01:03:35.411
You don't need to sleep ten hours a day.

01:03:35.411 --> 01:03:37.877
Get out of bed.

01:03:37.877 --> 01:03:40.086
Stop with all the softness.

01:03:40.086 --> 01:03:41.391
Take up the cross.

01:03:41.391 --> 01:03:45.862
But Piper said these young people -

01:03:45.862 --> 01:03:48.759
instant gratification;

01:03:48.759 --> 01:03:50.834
instant.

01:03:50.834 --> 01:03:52.831
I mean, again, I've been reading

01:03:52.831 --> 01:03:54.169
Adoniram Judson.

01:03:54.169 --> 01:03:56.570
He oftentimes would board a ship

01:03:56.570 --> 01:03:58.516
and because of tides and winds,

01:03:58.516 --> 01:04:00.542
they would often sit there for three days.

01:04:00.542 --> 01:04:03.148
Can you imagine if you got on an airplane

01:04:03.148 --> 01:04:04.865
and you had to sit on the airplane

01:04:04.865 --> 01:04:07.527
for three days before it took off?

01:04:07.527 --> 01:04:10.187
Again, we'd all be screaming like...

01:04:10.187 --> 01:04:11.217
what's going on?

01:04:11.217 --> 01:04:12.876
We'd get off the airplane.

01:04:12.876 --> 01:04:14.851
We'd find some other way.

01:04:14.851 --> 01:04:17.041
We don't have patience 
for that kind of thing.

01:04:17.041 --> 01:04:18.513
We want our food now.

01:04:18.513 --> 01:04:20.001
We want it the way it is.

01:04:20.001 --> 01:04:21.436
Send it back.

01:04:21.436 --> 01:04:23.350
It's not cooked just like I want it.

01:04:23.350 --> 01:04:25.956
It's not the right temperature.

01:04:25.956 --> 01:04:27.320
You know what?

01:04:27.320 --> 01:04:29.875
When you have young people
that are wired that way,

01:04:29.875 --> 01:04:31.811
you have parents that 
give them everything.

01:04:31.811 --> 01:04:34.389
Oh, you want those clothes?
Here, have those clothes.

01:04:34.389 --> 01:04:37.732
Oh, you want that cell phone?
Here, have that cell phone.

01:04:37.732 --> 01:04:38.695
And more and more,

01:04:38.695 --> 01:04:40.907
you know we get away 
from agricultural life,

01:04:40.907 --> 01:04:43.743
and this is one of the struggles 
I've had in the city.

01:04:43.743 --> 01:04:46.624
It's like putting the 
children to work is hard.

01:04:46.624 --> 01:04:49.203
And so you grow up with 
this pampered generation,

01:04:49.203 --> 01:04:51.468
that knows very little about hard work,

01:04:51.468 --> 01:04:54.046
about getting out in rough conditions,

01:04:54.046 --> 01:04:56.869
and what happens?

01:04:56.869 --> 01:05:00.572
You've so trained those young people

01:05:00.572 --> 01:05:03.673
to say yes to their appetites,

01:05:03.673 --> 01:05:05.863
that when their body says:

01:05:05.863 --> 01:05:07.629
"I want sexual gratification."

01:05:07.629 --> 01:05:09.560
It's just like, "yep!"

01:05:09.560 --> 01:05:14.818
Just right there.

NOTE Paragraph

01:05:14.818 --> 01:05:17.084
Brethren, if I could desire something

01:05:17.084 --> 01:05:22.386
of this church that there would be -

01:05:22.386 --> 01:05:23.826
not the kind of self-denial

01:05:23.826 --> 01:05:25.036
that you want to parade,

01:05:25.036 --> 01:05:26.450
so that you could tell people

01:05:26.450 --> 01:05:28.520
like putting stones in your shoes.

NOTE Paragraph

01:05:28.520 --> 01:05:32.134
But brethren, you don't 
need the softest towel

01:05:32.134 --> 01:05:34.072
You don't need the softest clothes.

01:05:34.072 --> 01:05:36.246
You don't need the most comfortable shoes.

01:05:36.246 --> 01:05:39.176
You don't need the most comfortable
temperature in your house.

01:05:39.176 --> 01:05:42.859
You don't always need to eat
all the fancy food.

01:05:42.859 --> 01:05:45.476
You don't need to live in the nicer house,

01:05:45.476 --> 01:05:49.920
or have the more comfortable car.

01:05:49.920 --> 01:05:51.732
You know, it can almost be like,

01:05:51.732 --> 01:05:54.586
that automobile doesn't 
have air conditioning.

01:05:54.586 --> 01:05:55.890
We need to fix it!

01:05:55.890 --> 01:05:58.228
Well, you know, that 
isn't necessarily something

01:05:58.228 --> 01:05:59.356
that needs to be fixed

01:05:59.356 --> 01:06:01.023
for your automobile to do

01:06:01.023 --> 01:06:03.457
what automobiles are supposed to do.

01:06:03.457 --> 01:06:05.903
Look, I'm the first one 
to like air conditioning.

01:06:05.903 --> 01:06:08.755
I know the heat down about kills me.

01:06:08.755 --> 01:06:13.055
But brethren, we are soft.

01:06:13.055 --> 01:06:14.615
And the truth is that

01:06:14.615 --> 01:06:17.311
there's decisions that we can make

01:06:17.311 --> 01:06:20.150
to keep our body under,

01:06:20.150 --> 01:06:21.857
like Paul did.

01:06:21.857 --> 01:06:26.623
Take up your cross daily.

01:06:26.623 --> 01:06:30.685
Adopt a course of habitual self-denial.

NOTE Paragraph

01:06:30.685 --> 01:06:35.614
Basically, what Piper 
was getting at is this:

01:06:35.614 --> 01:06:40.585
When young people

01:06:40.585 --> 01:06:46.072
actually develop the habits of fasting -

01:06:46.072 --> 01:06:49.767
that kind of self-denial -

01:06:49.767 --> 01:06:52.032
it makes it a whole lot easier to say no

01:06:52.032 --> 01:06:54.463
to these bodily appetites when it comes

01:06:54.463 --> 01:06:56.624
to sexual problems.

01:06:56.624 --> 01:06:59.929
And I just wondered hearing that,

01:06:59.929 --> 01:07:04.173
huh, I wonder if a poll could be taken

01:07:04.173 --> 01:07:05.836
and everybody was totally honest

01:07:05.836 --> 01:07:08.297
and we knew all the facts,

01:07:08.297 --> 01:07:10.215
if the young people most likely

01:07:10.215 --> 01:07:14.515
to fall into some kind 
of sexual temptation

01:07:14.515 --> 01:07:16.740
are likewise the ones that are least given

01:07:16.740 --> 01:07:18.920
to fasting.

01:07:18.920 --> 01:07:21.152
I wonder if that correlation is real.

01:07:21.152 --> 01:07:27.026
I suspect there's reality to it.

01:07:27.026 --> 01:07:28.460
You see, the fat guy

01:07:28.460 --> 01:07:36.134
who says, "oh, my stomach hurts," -

01:07:36.134 --> 01:07:38.012
I mean, that's one thing.

01:07:38.012 --> 01:07:41.411
Being overweight - that's 
a good indication

01:07:41.411 --> 01:07:43.486
that you're not saying no

01:07:43.486 --> 01:07:45.648
to these bodily appetites.

01:07:45.648 --> 01:07:46.741
You see, the thing is,

01:07:46.741 --> 01:07:49.042
when you have secret prayer

01:07:49.042 --> 01:07:50.890
and doing good

01:07:50.890 --> 01:07:53.449
and self-denial,

01:07:53.449 --> 01:07:57.026
oh, brethren, that is a threefold cord

01:07:57.026 --> 01:08:00.534
that is not easily broken 
in the Christian life.

01:08:00.534 --> 01:08:02.049
Because what it will do

01:08:02.049 --> 01:08:04.704
is it will free you to make sacrifices

01:08:04.704 --> 01:08:07.265
even when it's uncomfortable to do good.

01:08:07.265 --> 01:08:09.618
And you surround all that with prayer

01:08:09.618 --> 01:08:11.388
and bringing down the power of God,

01:08:11.388 --> 01:08:13.634
brethren, I'll tell you 
what it will produce,

01:08:13.634 --> 01:08:17.182
it'll produce the kind of life 
that we find in Christ.

01:08:17.182 --> 01:08:18.485
And may God help us to have

01:08:18.485 --> 01:08:19.864
as much of the life of Christ

01:08:19.864 --> 01:08:21.956
and the strength of His life in our lives

01:08:21.956 --> 01:08:24.100
that is mortally possible

01:08:24.100 --> 01:08:28.192
for men and women like 
us who've been saved

01:08:28.192 --> 01:08:32.398
to make us as much like Him as possible.

01:08:32.398 --> 01:08:33.783
Deny yourselves.

01:08:33.783 --> 01:08:35.230
You know what Scripture says.

01:08:35.230 --> 01:08:37.339
Sell your possessions 
and give to the poor.

01:08:37.339 --> 01:08:38.450
Is that a denial?

01:08:38.450 --> 01:08:40.232
It is.

01:08:40.232 --> 01:08:41.483
Make time for prayer.

01:08:41.483 --> 01:08:42.454
Is that a denial?

01:08:42.454 --> 01:08:44.332
Rather than doing the 
pleasurable things?

01:08:44.332 --> 01:08:45.207
It is.

01:08:45.207 --> 01:08:46.645
Take more time in fasting

01:08:46.645 --> 01:08:47.800
even beyond this week.

01:08:47.800 --> 01:08:50.120
Make this a year of prayer and fasting.

01:08:50.120 --> 01:08:51.032
Is that a denial?

01:08:51.032 --> 01:08:52.481
That is a denial.

01:08:52.481 --> 01:08:55.229
Jesus talked about all forms of denial.

01:08:55.229 --> 01:08:56.595
Take the lowest seat.

01:08:56.595 --> 01:08:58.451
Don't seek the places of honor.

01:08:58.451 --> 01:09:02.887
Serve the Lord in ways 
that nobody else will know.

01:09:02.887 --> 01:09:04.465
Die to yourself that way.

01:09:04.465 --> 01:09:05.418
Die.

01:09:05.418 --> 01:09:06.671
Go do good things.

01:09:06.671 --> 01:09:10.504
Give in ways that people 
don't even know you do it.

01:09:10.504 --> 01:09:12.502
Make sacrifices that nobody else sees

01:09:12.502 --> 01:09:14.456
but you and the Lord.

01:09:14.456 --> 01:09:16.827
Saying no to your flesh,

01:09:16.827 --> 01:09:19.515
even when by all rights,

01:09:19.515 --> 01:09:21.237
you could pamper it.

01:09:21.237 --> 01:09:23.592
I'm not saying eating a bowl of ice cream,

01:09:23.592 --> 01:09:25.574
having a piece of lemon meringue pie...

01:09:25.574 --> 01:09:26.773
but you know what?

01:09:26.773 --> 01:09:29.467
There can be times and places

01:09:29.467 --> 01:09:32.390
when you say no.

01:09:32.390 --> 01:09:34.793
We're not going to that party.

01:09:34.793 --> 01:09:38.773
We're not going to that get-together.

NOTE Paragraph

01:09:38.773 --> 01:09:41.329
You know, several years back,

01:09:41.329 --> 01:09:42.654
an Assemblies of God church

01:09:42.654 --> 01:09:44.445
just south of Monterey asked me

01:09:44.445 --> 01:09:47.037
to come down and preach 
at a missions conference.

01:09:47.037 --> 01:09:49.318
I knew that was risky going in.

01:09:49.318 --> 01:09:52.208
But, I had a group of people there

01:09:52.208 --> 01:09:54.540
and they all wanted to jump and shout

01:09:54.540 --> 01:09:55.763
and clap and scream,

01:09:55.763 --> 01:09:58.822
and I kind of killed that right off.

01:09:58.822 --> 01:10:00.793
But I said to them -

01:10:00.793 --> 01:10:03.283
this was a bunch of people

01:10:03.283 --> 01:10:05.847
that didn't even have their Bibles.

01:10:05.847 --> 01:10:07.803
And look, I had to be honest with them.

01:10:07.803 --> 01:10:09.796
I said we're having a missions conference

01:10:09.796 --> 01:10:11.584
and you don't even have your Bibles.

01:10:11.584 --> 01:10:13.516
I said you're not fit to go.

01:10:13.516 --> 01:10:16.665
This group at large is not fit to go.

01:10:16.665 --> 01:10:18.572
I said you know the people that end up

01:10:18.572 --> 01:10:20.046
making a difference is when

01:10:20.046 --> 01:10:21.938
all the other young 
people are over here

01:10:21.938 --> 01:10:23.857
hooting and hollering
and having a good time;

01:10:23.857 --> 01:10:26.753
it's the person that makes the sacrifice.

01:10:26.753 --> 01:10:28.302
They go grab their Bibles

01:10:28.302 --> 01:10:31.421
and they go off by themselves.

01:10:31.421 --> 01:10:33.518
That's the person who's going to

01:10:33.518 --> 01:10:36.139
end up turning the world upside down.

01:10:36.139 --> 01:10:38.633
Self-denial.

01:10:38.633 --> 01:10:40.930
Sacrifice.

01:10:40.930 --> 01:10:43.093
Threefold cord.

01:10:43.093 --> 01:10:46.051
Oh, brethren...

01:10:46.051 --> 01:10:48.617
Make an immediate beginning.

01:10:48.617 --> 01:10:52.252
Here it is 2018. A good mile marker.

01:10:52.252 --> 01:10:54.062
If there's something that resonates

01:10:54.062 --> 01:10:56.239
in your own conscience,

01:10:56.239 --> 01:10:59.229
don't procrastinate.

01:10:59.229 --> 01:11:01.816
Immediately. Immediately,

01:11:01.816 --> 01:11:03.643
make the determination.

01:11:03.643 --> 01:11:06.989
Monday morning - different.

01:11:06.989 --> 01:11:08.914
Re-order.

01:11:08.914 --> 01:11:12.564
Brethren, this is our life.

01:11:12.564 --> 01:11:14.489
Threefold cord.

01:11:14.489 --> 01:11:15.940
Not easily broken.

01:11:15.940 --> 01:11:18.265
Strong life.

01:11:18.265 --> 01:11:19.550
Father, I pray,

01:11:19.550 --> 01:11:20.325
help us.

01:11:20.325 --> 01:11:21.823
Give us grace,

01:11:21.823 --> 01:11:25.946
in the name of Jesus Christ, I pray.

01:11:25.946 --> 01:11:26.850
Amen.