SPEAKER_02: Hello everyone, I'm Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Steve Holt.
SPEAKER_02: I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast.
SPEAKER_02: Each week we go into God's Word.
SPEAKER_02: We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse.
SPEAKER_02: And we are here to build a Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.
SPEAKER_02: So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.
SPEAKER_02: Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you have your Bibles, would you open them with me to 1 Samuel chapter 5?
SPEAKER_00: 1 Samuel chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: And before we get started this morning, I just want to ask you a question.
SPEAKER_00: The question I have for you is have you ever asked God to move in your life?
SPEAKER_00: And then when he actually does, he does it in a way that you did not expect.
SPEAKER_00: You pray, God have your way, and then five minutes later you're looking around and you're like, wait, hold on.
SPEAKER_00: Not like that.
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand if you if that's been you.
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
SPEAKER_00: If not, just wait.
SPEAKER_00: You're either lying or you haven't walked, you haven't walked on enough with God yet.
SPEAKER_00: You ask him to bring change and suddenly everything starts shifting faster than you're comfortable with.
SPEAKER_00: You ask for peace and your comfort zone starts falling apart.
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: How we invite God in genuinely, sincerely, and then we flinch when he starts moving furniture around.
SPEAKER_00: We say, Holy Spirit, would you come and would you make this heart your home?
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, we invite you into our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: We ask you to make this heart your home.
SPEAKER_00: And when he comes in, we say, Awesome, welcome God, welcome to the kitchen of my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Don't go in the basement.
SPEAKER_00: That is where all the mess is, that is where everything that I don't want people to see, that's where it's all at with the Christmas decorations.
SPEAKER_00: No one's allowed down there.
SPEAKER_00: I don't go down there.
SPEAKER_00: You're not allowed down there either.
SPEAKER_00: Also, don't touch the living room because I've worked very hard to make that a comfortable space for when people come into my life, they can come in, they're comforted, and they can feel at home.
SPEAKER_00: Also, Lord, don't go in the bedroom because I've worked so hard and tirelessly and put so many hours to make it a place where I can feel safe, to make it a place where I can feel comfortable, and a place where I can feel at peace.
SPEAKER_00: But Lord, have your way.
SPEAKER_00: Do whatever it is you will, just don't go to those three places in my heart.
SPEAKER_00: We say, Lord, have your way, but what we really mean is have your way without touching that.
SPEAKER_00: And then life starts shaking a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Your job gets disrupted, a relationship hits turbulence, and your routine feels off.
SPEAKER_00: And what once felt like peace now feels like pressure.
SPEAKER_00: You're like, God, I asked for breakthrough, but all I see is broken stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I've asked for breakthrough, but all I see are things that are breaking.
SPEAKER_00: But what if that's not a mistake?
SPEAKER_00: What if that is breakthrough?
SPEAKER_00: What if God is moving just not in the way that you imagined?
SPEAKER_00: Because here's the truth: God doesn't always come in and renovate.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he tears things down and he tears them to the studs.
SPEAKER_00: Not to punish you, not to hurt you, but to build something stronger.
SPEAKER_00: Something that's not held together by idols, something that's not held together by ego or your own strength.
SPEAKER_00: And here's where a lot of believers get stuck.
SPEAKER_00: We ask God to build something new, but we never give him permission to remove what's already there.
SPEAKER_00: And he is far too kind to build on a cracked foundation.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you feel stuck right now.
SPEAKER_00: You feel stuck in your faith.
SPEAKER_00: You feel like, man, the moment you gave your life to God, you felt like you were on cloud nine, but you felt like that that was that was so long ago, and you feel like you haven't felt anything since.
SPEAKER_00: You feel stuck in your growth, or maybe you feel stuck in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: You've prayed the same prayers over and over.
SPEAKER_00: God, would you bring healing?
SPEAKER_00: God, would you bring freedom?
SPEAKER_00: God, would you bring an answer to this and bring clarity?
SPEAKER_00: But you feel like those prayers are bouncing off the ceiling or they're falling on deaf ears.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know what I'm talking about this morning?
SPEAKER_00: We feel stuck in a season that doesn't make sense anymore.
SPEAKER_00: But what if you're not stuck at all?
SPEAKER_00: What if you're just standing in the ruins of what God so lovingly tore down?
SPEAKER_00: What if you're standing in the ruins of what God's tore down and what you're doing is you're trying to rebuild what He has broken?
SPEAKER_00: What if instead of moving forward, you're in the ruins of what God has broken and you're picking up the pieces, trying to put it back together, and we call that stuck?
SPEAKER_00: What if you're not stuck?
SPEAKER_00: What if you're rebuilding?
SPEAKER_00: And instead of rebuilding, what if you're invited to build with a new perspective, a new posture, and no idol sitting at the center of your life?
SPEAKER_00: So the title of my message today, if you're taking notes, and I hope you are, is you are not stuck, you are rebuilding.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a better way to put that is you are not stuck, you are just rebuilding.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to be clear, today's message isn't about trying harder.
SPEAKER_00: It is not a hellfire and brimstone message, it is not a try hard and do more message because here at the road, we believe in the finished work of the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: We believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ, and we believe that the only way for us to be saved and changed from the inside out is Christ in Christ alone.
SPEAKER_00: But this message is not a pep talk either.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a message to tell you how amazing you are.
SPEAKER_00: It is not a message to tell you how put together you are.
SPEAKER_00: It is not a message to tell you just how everyone else is against you, but you're fine, okay, exactly where you're at.
SPEAKER_00: No, this message is about what happens when God starts moving in the ways that break your comfort but grow your capacity.
SPEAKER_00: It's about what happens, and it's about what we do when your old foundation collapses and God is calling you to move forward, anyways.
SPEAKER_00: So before we dive into the word, would you bow your heads and would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Heavenly Father, I ask right now.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I ask for the courage to preach this word, I ask for the gentle words as they need to be given, but I ask for a boldness to preach this word, God.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I ask, would you let everyone in this room or everyone who is listening online know?
SPEAKER_00: Lord, that you love them.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, that you have sent your son to die for them because you want to spend eternity with them.
SPEAKER_00: But God, I do ask right now, if I'm adding anything of my own cleverness into this word, Lord, would you cast it as far as the east is to the west?
SPEAKER_00: Father, would you hide me behind the cross of your son Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: And would you let the only thing that we remember and the only thing that we see here is him and him alone.
SPEAKER_00: Father, would you help us elevate the name of Jesus today in our hearts?
SPEAKER_00: Pray this in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And amen.
SPEAKER_00: First Samuel chapter 5, starting in verse 1, it says this.
SPEAKER_00: So they took Dagon and they put him back in his place.
SPEAKER_00: But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the Ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon, and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold.
SPEAKER_00: Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.
SPEAKER_00: This is why the priest of Dagon and all who were under the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdot to this day.
SPEAKER_00: You see, in that time it was common for warring kingdoms to capture their rivals' gods.
SPEAKER_00: To capture a people's god meant that they were completely conquered.
SPEAKER_00: To capture a kingdom's god meant that the only source of protection and provision they had was now under a different reign, and that God has now been captured.
SPEAKER_00: So now there is no more provision, now there is no more protection.
SPEAKER_00: That means that this kingdom of whatever of whatever kingdom their God has taken, that means that they are completely defeated.
SPEAKER_00: And if that were true, it wasn't true for the Philistines in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the Philistines had no victory that day.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, the Lord proved to them that he cannot be conquered.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord proved to them that even though his people lose a battle and cannot fight for themselves, he, the Lord, will still fight for them on their behalf.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord will fight for you.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that when the Philistines walk into the temple of Dagon, they find him bowing before the throne of God.
SPEAKER_00: And the first thing they do is they get him off the floor and they put him back into an elevated position.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing they do when they see their idol fallen is they pick him up and they re-erect this idol to be able to be back where he was at, to be in his rightful place.
SPEAKER_00: The next day, Dagon is not Dagon is not only face down before the Ark of God, but this time his head and his hands are cut off.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why is this significant?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll tell you why.
SPEAKER_00: You see, a head is where it is where a crown sits.
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's a king, whether it's an idol, a head is where you place the authority of a crown.
SPEAKER_00: A head is also where orders are given.
SPEAKER_00: And so what the Lord has shown in this moment with the head of Dagon being cut off is he no longer has authority and he no longer has a voice.
SPEAKER_00: So this idol can no longer speak to his people, this idol can no longer give commands to his people, and this idol no longer has authority over his people.
SPEAKER_00: Now the hands of Dagon, you see, the hands are a symbol of strength, the hands are a symbol of power, and the hands are a symbol of war and fighting.
SPEAKER_00: The psalmist writes, Lord, train our hands for war and our fingers for battle.
SPEAKER_00: You see, to be in one's hands meant that they had a grip in your life.
SPEAKER_00: It meant that they were either in control of you or that they were protecting you.
SPEAKER_00: And so to have his hands cut off shows that there is now no more strength, to show that there is now no more protection, and to show that now that there is no more fight left in this idol.
SPEAKER_00: Even Dagon himself, the name Dagon is being their idol, he is the god of grain.
SPEAKER_00: This idol was supposed to be their provider.
SPEAKER_00: This idol was supposed to be the provider for the Philistines.
SPEAKER_00: And so what God has shown here is that the Lord has killed their means of provision because he has killed their God of provision.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew Henry says this, he says, But they, the Philistines, but they were mistaken in the God of Israel when in putting his ark by Dagon's image, they intended to do him honor.
SPEAKER_00: For he, the Lord, for he is not worshipped at all if he is not worshipped alone.
SPEAKER_00: For he is not worshipped at all if he is not worshipped alone.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we pray, God, have your way.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, have your way.
SPEAKER_00: And then we start panicking when he starts knocking over our comfort, when he starts knocking over our habits, our identity, our routines.
SPEAKER_00: Beloved, can I say this?
SPEAKER_00: The Lord will not share a temple.
SPEAKER_00: We've seen that with Dagon.
SPEAKER_00: He won't share a temple, but the Lord will also not share a throne.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you cry out time after time, oh Lord, would you work in this situation?
SPEAKER_00: Lord, would you work in this circumstance?
SPEAKER_00: God, would you have your way?
SPEAKER_00: Would you move in my life?
SPEAKER_00: As long as you move, as long as you're as long as you free me from this trial, Lord, would you have your way?
SPEAKER_00: And then the next thing we do is we start declaring to the winds and the waves, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: As for me in my house, we will honor the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We start we start yelling at the devil, devil, you have no power in my life.
SPEAKER_00: Devil, you have no you you have no purpose in my life, you have no authority in my life.
SPEAKER_00: But when we look around, we see these trials still happening, we see these attacks still happening.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because we try to take hold of the authority of God, but we have an idol sitting on the throne in our heart.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say this sometimes an idol can be built in our heart, sometimes unintentionally.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us have idols in our heart that are there unintentionally.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Marcus, what do you mean by that?
SPEAKER_00: How is that done unintentionally?
SPEAKER_00: If you look at the book of Genesis and you look at the account of Abraham, we see Abraham had an idol in his heart.
SPEAKER_00: The idol I'm speaking of is his son Isaac.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Isaac was a promise from God.
SPEAKER_00: He is the promised son.
SPEAKER_00: He is the fulfillment of the covenant that God has made with Abraham, and Abraham has made him an idol.
SPEAKER_00: We know this because the Lord had woke up Abraham and he said, Hey, you were gonna take Isaac and you were gonna sacrifice him to me.
SPEAKER_00: You were gonna put him on the altar and you were gonna sacrifice him to me.
SPEAKER_00: Abraham, being a faithful man of God, woke up early the next day.
SPEAKER_00: He took Isaac towards the mountains, he laid him on the altar, and being an obedient servant, he was ready to sacrifice his son before the before the Lord stilled his hand.
SPEAKER_00: You might be like, Marcus, what where where does that what does that have to do with Isaac being an idol?
SPEAKER_00: Well, as I said before, Isaac was the promise of God.
SPEAKER_00: Abraham was not able to have children, but yet he was told he was gonna be the father of many nations, and that promise was gonna come through his son Isaac.
SPEAKER_00: And what has what had happened was that Abraham has taken Isaac and put Isaac on the throne of his heart.
SPEAKER_00: And Abraham, knowing God's character, knew one of two things: either the Lord is going to steal my hand and save Isaac, or the Lord is going to resurrect Isaac.
SPEAKER_00: But the thing is, Isaac was called to be sacrificed.
SPEAKER_00: Abraham was called to sacrifice his son.
SPEAKER_00: Now we also know that that is a foreshadowing of Christ, that God the Father was going to send his son to be a sacrifice for all of us.
SPEAKER_00: But we also see another foreshadowing in that story.
SPEAKER_00: We see that when the Lord stilled Abraham's hand, that there was a ram in the thicket, and the Lord has provided a sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: The whole reason was to be able to get Isaac off the throne of Abraham's heart because that place belongs to the Lord and the Lord alone.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not gonna stand here and pretend to know what your idol is, but I will say this: an idol is anything you give your trust, identity, or devotion to that rightfully belongs to God.
SPEAKER_00: It's anything you look to for security, purpose, comfort, control, or provision in the place of Him.
SPEAKER_00: You could also phrase it this way, write this down.
SPEAKER_00: An idol is anything that sits on the throne of your heart where only God belongs.
SPEAKER_00: So it may not look like a statue, but it shapes your decisions, it dominates your thoughts, and it defines your worth.
SPEAKER_00: Some idols you may deal with are, I just have a short list of these.
SPEAKER_00: Some idols that we deal with here in the Western Church are comfort.
SPEAKER_00: We idolize comfort.
SPEAKER_00: We desire to avoid difficulty, pain, or inconvenience, even if it means compromising obedience.
SPEAKER_00: We idolize control, the need to be in charge of outcomes, the need to be in charge of people, the need to be in charge of plans, trusting yourself over God.
SPEAKER_00: We idolize success and achievement.
SPEAKER_00: We do that by basing our identity on performance, on titles, on recognition, on our job, on our occupation rather than who you are in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of you might be sitting there, you might be like, Well, Marcus, I actually prayed for the Lord to open this, open this door for me to have this job.
SPEAKER_00: I've actually prayed to the Lord to give me this opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: He's opened the door and I've walked through it.
SPEAKER_00: So don't you dare call that an idol because that is an answered prayer.
SPEAKER_00: I'll get to that in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Some things we, another thing we idol is image and appearance, worshiping how we are perceived, or how your spouse is perceived, or how your children are perceived to the world around you.
SPEAKER_00: We idolize relationships by placing a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a spouse, or even our own children in the center of our heart instead of God.
SPEAKER_00: And here's a big one.
SPEAKER_00: This one this one might step on toes a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: We idolize money insecurity, trusting in our savings accounts, trusting in our job titles, our financial status instead of God's provision.
SPEAKER_00: All of these are idols because each one of these can glorify self.
SPEAKER_00: The biggest idol most American Christians deal with is the idol of self, the idol of me, my truth, my dreams, my comfort, my timing.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, the modern the modern altar is not a place of stone and wood.
SPEAKER_00: The modern altar is often our own ego.
SPEAKER_00: The late Tim Keller would have put it this way: he said, an idol is often a good thing that becomes a God thing.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning this the idol can be a place, it can be something that starts with good intentions, it could be something that God has promised, but we have festered on it so long, we have focused on it so long that it has become a good thing, and we have made it a God, lowercase g a god thing.
SPEAKER_00: Looking at scripture, we see that the ark is a representation of the presence of God, and Dagon is a representation of idol worship.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, I will say that the Lord will not share his glory.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 42.8 says this I am the Lord, that is my name.
SPEAKER_00: My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
SPEAKER_00: Your heart was not made to worship both Jesus and your own comfort.
SPEAKER_00: Your heart was not made to worship both Jesus and your own control.
SPEAKER_00: Your heart was not made to worship both Jesus and your own lust, your own pride, your own addiction.
SPEAKER_00: Many believers want a broken idol but not crucified.
SPEAKER_00: They want Dagon humbled but not removed.
SPEAKER_00: See, many believers don't want to remove their idol, they just want the Lord to humble their idol so they can feel something inside of them again.
SPEAKER_00: How do I know this?
SPEAKER_00: Because too many times, too many, too many of us come to the altar to watch Dagon fall, and then we spend the next week trying to glue him back together.
SPEAKER_00: We come to the altar, we ask, God, would you remove anything that's not of you?
SPEAKER_00: Dagon falls.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord allows that idol to fall.
SPEAKER_00: We spend the next week trying to glue him back together, and then we call it things like, oh, that thing happened because that's spiritual warfare, that's a spiritual attack.
SPEAKER_00: We call it these things when the Lord breaks an idol, instead of us realizing, hey, that's an idol in my heart, we look at something we cherish and it's being attacked, and we say it's the work of the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: When it's the Lord saying, No, you've asked me to do this, I am tearing down this idol.
SPEAKER_00: God does not come to coexist, he comes to conquer.
SPEAKER_00: Turn with me to Luke chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: God has not come to coexist, he comes to conquer.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we have to let these idols fall.
SPEAKER_00: That is the whole point of being a follower of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Luke chapter 9, verse 23, it says this.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
SPEAKER_00: For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
SPEAKER_00: For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
SPEAKER_00: That verse sounds powerful.
SPEAKER_00: That verse we quote across all the churches in America, we quote that all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Pick up your cross daily and follow me.
SPEAKER_00: And it sounds powerful until you actually try to live it.
SPEAKER_00: Because the truth is this cross that we are called to carry is heavy.
SPEAKER_00: It's not decorative, it's not a tattoo, it's not a necklace, it is a death beam.
SPEAKER_00: It is an instrument of death, and it is heavy.
SPEAKER_00: AW Tozer said, We have made the cross a charm instead of a sword.
SPEAKER_00: We have made the cross a charm instead of a sword.
SPEAKER_00: David Wilkerson said, We want resurrection power without crucifixion pain.
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you this.
SPEAKER_00: In your life, through your trials, in your family, do you want resurrection power?
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to see the Lord move?
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to see the Spirit of the living God move?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I want to see.
SPEAKER_00: But there have been so many times in my life when I'm like, God, would you move?
SPEAKER_00: He said, Yes, will you pick up your cross?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Jesus, that hurts.
SPEAKER_00: The cross is heavy.
SPEAKER_00: Physically, I know I can't carry it.
SPEAKER_00: Physically, I know Emmanuel can't carry it.
SPEAKER_00: I know Emmanuel, I share an office with him.
SPEAKER_00: I've seen the biceps.
SPEAKER_00: I know Emmanuel can't carry it.
SPEAKER_00: Physically, we cannot carry the cross.
SPEAKER_00: But can I say this?
SPEAKER_00: We're still called to carry it anyways.
SPEAKER_00: The cross?
SPEAKER_00: It's meant to crush the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: It's meant to press you down, to break your pride and bring you to the end of yourself.
SPEAKER_00: That means death.
SPEAKER_00: That means surrender.
SPEAKER_00: That means I don't just let it go, I let it die.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot carry the cross and Dagon at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: It's designed that way.
SPEAKER_00: You guys ever seen a one-handed cross?
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever seen a picture of Jesus carrying the cross one-handed?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: If you did, throw that image out.
SPEAKER_00: That's a weird image.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying anything's wrong with it.
SPEAKER_00: It's just weird.
SPEAKER_00: The cross is supposed to be something that we have to carry with our not just our hands, but our whole body to move forward.
SPEAKER_00: The cross is heavy.
SPEAKER_00: It is impossible to carry the cross and Dagon at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: You can't follow Jesus and prop up idols in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: The cross isn't just a burden, friends, it is a Death sentence.
SPEAKER_00: It is a death sentence for the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: And the cross is not a decoration, it is an execution.
SPEAKER_00: It is an execution.
SPEAKER_00: Don't miss this.
SPEAKER_00: Even Jesus couldn't carry his cross alone.
SPEAKER_00: And I might take you back.
SPEAKER_00: You might be like, Marcus, what are you saying?
SPEAKER_00: Why would you say something like that?
SPEAKER_00: But that's not me saying it.
SPEAKER_00: I got that from scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Luke 23, 26 says this.
SPEAKER_00: The sinless Son of God, the one who raised the dead and calmed the storm.
SPEAKER_00: When it came time to carry the cross, he collapsed.
SPEAKER_00: Not because he was weak in spirit, but because the weight of the cross is so real.
SPEAKER_00: He could have called down angels to wipe out the Romans.
SPEAKER_00: He could have called down angels to wipe out the crowd who was mocking him.
SPEAKER_00: He could have even called down angels to pick up the cross and put it to Calvary because he had to die.
SPEAKER_00: He could have, but he didn't.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he let himself fall into the dust.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he was showing us something.
SPEAKER_00: He was showing us that you will not carry the cross alone.
SPEAKER_00: He was showing us that the weight of the cross will break you, but he will be there in the breaking.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Marcus, time out.
SPEAKER_00: You said first Jesus couldn't carry the cross, and now you're saying Jesus chose not to carry the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Well, which one is it?
SPEAKER_00: Well, my answer to that is uh yes and both.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus was 100% God, and Jesus was also 100% man.
SPEAKER_00: Being 100% man, Jesus has taken a beating.
SPEAKER_00: He was beaten, he was imprisoned.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know how I don't know how many days exactly he was having to stand trial before the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_00: He was trying having to stand trial before the Sanhedrin.
SPEAKER_00: He was supposed to stand trial before Pontius Pilate.
SPEAKER_00: But we do know that days have happened.
SPEAKER_00: So so I don't know how long it took.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how great his sleep was, but I do know that he had to stand trial and it was several days.
SPEAKER_00: I do know that his back was beaten for us with a cat of nine-tails, and it was ripped open.
SPEAKER_00: You could see his muscle fibers, you could see his bone.
SPEAKER_00: And if that happened and he had to go back and sleep, I don't know about you, but like I can't even sleep when I tweaked my foot the wrong way.
SPEAKER_00: There is no way I can sleep with my back ripped open.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think anybody in existence can sleep with their back ripped open.
SPEAKER_00: And so being a hundred percent man, he could physically not carry the cross because of the beatings and his back being ripped open and the lack of sleep.
SPEAKER_00: So that is where Jesus couldn't carry the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Now, being a hundred percent God, he chose it that way.
SPEAKER_00: He chose to take the beating for you, he chose to have his back ripped open for you, he chose to carry this cross to fall down in the dust.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: To be an example.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you think you're failing God because you keep falling under the weight of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: But hear me, you are not failing God.
SPEAKER_00: You are in the process of sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: When you carry your cross, it is meant to knock you into the dust.
SPEAKER_00: You are in a great place.
SPEAKER_00: You are walking where Jesus has walked when you are in the dust because you are being emptied of yourself.
SPEAKER_00: The cross is supposed to drop you to your knees.
SPEAKER_00: It is supposed to wreck your self-reliance.
SPEAKER_00: It was supposed to make you cry out, God, I can't do this without you.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, I know, that's the whole point.
SPEAKER_00: Now let me carry this cross for you.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the reason why Jesus calls us to take up our cross daily is not because he expects us to be strong.
SPEAKER_00: He has us carry our cross daily, not because he expects us to be strong, but because he wants us to stay dependent on him.
SPEAKER_00: You don't grow stronger by carrying your cross.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care what crossfit tells you, you can carry a log over your head all the day and run down your neighborhood like a weirdo.
SPEAKER_00: The cross does not actually the cross does not make you stronger like that.
SPEAKER_00: The cross is actually supposed to make you weaker.
SPEAKER_00: You don't grow stronger by carrying the cross, you grow emptier.
SPEAKER_00: And the emptier you are, the more he can fill you with himself.
SPEAKER_00: The emptier you are, the more you realize, hey, there are idols in here with all with all the mess away, with all the clutter away, with all the hoarding away that's in my heart, there are idols in here that I need to get out.
SPEAKER_00: See, the cross is supposed to empty you so you can stay dependent on him, so he can fill you with his power, so he can fill you with his presence, so he can fill you with his goodness.
SPEAKER_00: You're not weak because you're tired.
SPEAKER_00: You're not broken because you've stumbled.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, you have not failed God because you are in the dust.
SPEAKER_00: You have not failed God because you have stumbled.
SPEAKER_00: You are right where Jesus meets people with a cross that is too heavy to carry and a heart that is too surrendered to fake it anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Are you there today?
SPEAKER_00: Are you there this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Are some of you in here putting on a fake face, putting on a smile to make it look like everything's together, but you feel like you're licking dirt.
SPEAKER_00: You feel like you're in the dust.
SPEAKER_00: Well, for those of you that are there, our friends, I just want to say you are exactly where God meets people.
SPEAKER_00: Let the cross do its work, let it crush what needs to die, and let Jesus carry you where your strengths can't.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't carry the cross alone, so stop pretending that you can do that you can carry yours without him.
SPEAKER_00: The cross will break you down, but Jesus will lift you up.
SPEAKER_00: You're not stuck, you're just where surrender begins.
SPEAKER_00: Stop rebuilding the idols and pick up your cross.
SPEAKER_00: If you still have a cry in your heart for the Lord, if you still have a desire for God, if you still want to be delivered, if you've given your heart to Jesus Christ, even though you may have stumbled, even though you may still be having some problems, you are still the Son of Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: You are still the daughter of Holy Father.
SPEAKER_00: You are still a child who was bought with the blood of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So even though you're struggling, if you have a cry in your heart, Lord, free me, Lord, heal me, Lord, use me, Lord, move in me, break whatever idols are in my heart, God.
SPEAKER_00: I feel like I'm failing you.
SPEAKER_00: God is saying, No, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: You are still my son, you are still my daughter.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing has changed.
SPEAKER_00: You can still stand up against the devil without fear and trembling.
SPEAKER_00: The whole reason for the cross is to help us refocus on whose strength we are actually fighting in.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the devil wants you to go out and fight your own battles.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to try to resist your sins, he wants you to try to try to tear down your idols in your own strength because he knows that we can't do it on our own.
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to get frustrated with God, he wants us to doubt and throw our hands up.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I guess God doesn't work for me, he works for everyone else, but I guess I'm the exception, and I guess he doesn't work in my life.
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what he wants to do.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the devil wants you to do it on your own, so that way your walk for the rest of your life is under condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to do it on your own.
SPEAKER_00: That way the walk for the rest of your life is under guilt and shame is fear because he is terrified of the living God sitting on the throne in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: The devil is terrified of God sitting on the throne in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: The cross is the way to Calvary.
SPEAKER_00: We know this, we hear this all the time to come to Calvary.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the cross is the way to Calvary, and Calvary is the place where victory was won for us.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let the devil keep you from that place of victory.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let the devil keep you from that place of victory by saying, Hey, here's another idol you can focus on.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, here's another problem you can have.
SPEAKER_00: Here's something else you can build your identity on.
SPEAKER_00: Just take this, feel good, feel comforted about yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let him keep you from Calvary.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let him keep you from that place of victory because Calvary is the place where we find the strength to stand against anything the devil tries to throw our way.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say that again.
SPEAKER_00: Calvary is the place where we find the strength to stand against anything the devil tries to throw our way.
SPEAKER_00: But the only way for us to get there is to fall under the weight of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: The only way to Calvary for us is to fall under the weight of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus Himself can come, he can pick us up, he can dust us off, and he can show us the way.
SPEAKER_00: You've seen Dagon fall.
SPEAKER_00: You've seen God break the idol.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's time to choose.
SPEAKER_00: Will you keep rebuilding what God has already crushed?
SPEAKER_00: Or will you take up your cross, fall into his arms of grace, and let him carry you into resurrection life?
SPEAKER_00: He let Dagon fall so you could stand.
SPEAKER_00: He let the idol break so your walk with him could begin.
SPEAKER_00: He let the idol stay on the ground with its head cut off and its hands cut off so that way there would be no roadblock between you and the journey he has set aside for you and him.
SPEAKER_00: You're not stuck.
SPEAKER_00: You're being called forward from the temple of Dagon to the road of Calvary.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you are standing in the rubble and you think you're stuck, but you're not.
SPEAKER_00: See, God already knocked the idol down.
SPEAKER_00: You're just being invited to move forward.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, this isn't where you die.
SPEAKER_00: This is not where the Lord abandons you.
SPEAKER_00: He will not abandon you.
SPEAKER_00: This is not where you die, but this is where your old self does.
SPEAKER_00: Let Jesus help you carry what you can't anymore.
SPEAKER_00: You're not alone in this.
SPEAKER_00: He carried the cross with help so that way you'd never have to carry yours alone.
SPEAKER_00: He carried the cross with help so that way you would never have to carry yours alone.
SPEAKER_00: Can I ask you something this morning?
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to be honest.
SPEAKER_00: If you were to look inside of your heart, on the throne of your heart, is there something that's sitting on that throne other than God?
SPEAKER_00: If it is, that's fine.
SPEAKER_00: No one's judging you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not judging you on that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm asking us to be honest with ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Is there something there that we were unaware of that is sitting on that throne?
SPEAKER_00: Because I want to tell you, God in his mercy is offering an invitation right now to get that thing off the throne of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the crazy part.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of us as believers, we do a thing, I like to call it half-cheeking it.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and that sounds weird, but like I have two kids and they do that when they share a chair all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Like the Lord won't half cheek the throne of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: That sounds weird, I know.
SPEAKER_00: It sounds weird, and and we laugh at it, but can I be honest with you?
SPEAKER_00: We've done that.
SPEAKER_00: We've done that, and we've said, Oh, this must be acceptable because we're asking the Lord to share a throne of our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, he's not wanting to share the throne, he wants the whole thing, and that speaks to his character because God doesn't just want a piece of you, God doesn't just want half of you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't just die for a piece of you, Jesus didn't just die for half of you, he died for all of you.
SPEAKER_00: He died for the throne of your heart, he died for the halls of your heart, he died for the basement and the attic and the living room and the bedroom and whatever else, whatever other corridor you have in there.
SPEAKER_00: He died for the whole thing because he wants the whole throne of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Not because he's trying to be pompous and show that he's in charge, but because it's only through him that we can have victory.
SPEAKER_00: It's only through him that we can have mercy, it's only through him that we can have grace to go forward in this walk called life day after day.
SPEAKER_00: And it's only through him that we can look at the devil and say, No more.
SPEAKER_00: No more.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord who sits on the throne of my heart owns me.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord who sits on the throne of my heart protects me.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord who sits on the throne of my heart stays there.
SPEAKER_00: He is not like Dagon.
SPEAKER_00: He is not gonna fall, he is not gonna be powerless, but he has, he has, he has, he has given you everything that Jesus had.
SPEAKER_00: See, we look at the life of Christ, we look at the walk of Christ as something that is miraculous, as something that is amazing, and it is.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus lived a perfect, obedient life for us, but he lived that life for us so that way we could do the same.
SPEAKER_00: And the only way we can do that is by the Lord sitting on the throne of our heart.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast.
SPEAKER_01: We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about the Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org.
SPEAKER_01: That's therode.org.