WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.480 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:18.000 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProquay.org. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:21.280 Pray to Kevin. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:23.120 Lord, that's our. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.399 I hope that's the experience of everyone in this room. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.519 We get that sin has left a crimson stained part. 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:37.119 But I want all of us to understand that you have the power, the efficacy, the capacity, and the willingness to wash it white as snow. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:45.200 So if there's anybody in this room right now that's living in the shame and shadow of sin, I pray that they would hear you, Holy Spirit, today saying, Ollie, Ollie, and free. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:46.880 Come out, come out wherever you are. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:49.280 Sin no longer has power over you. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:52.479 You can not only be forgiven, you can be set free from that. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:59.039 You can stop orienting your life around sin, and you can orient it now around the king and the kingdom. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:00.640 So this is the gospel. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:02.640 This is the good news of Christianity. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:07.760 It's not religious determination, it's not self-hatred, it is freedom. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:14.239 You're getting us back to the garden where you said to Adam and Eve, You are free to eat of any tree in the garden. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:16.560 But of this one tree, don't eat. 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:20.879 Lord, give us the capacity to believe you today in a way we've never believed you before. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:21.840 This is our prayer. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:24.079 Make it our experience, we ask in Jesus' name. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:26.079 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:26.480 Amen. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:27.359 You can have a seat. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:31.040 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Acts chapter 23. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:32.239 Acts chapter 23. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:34.239 If you're our guest, we're going through the book of Acts. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:35.840 Uh we're in chapter 23. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:40.560 Acts, we're gonna start right at the end of Acts chapter 22, about verse 30. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:43.680 But I want to talk to you today about how to keep going when you're spiritually tired. 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:52.159 And by the way, before I get into what happens, I was back here in my little office back here, uh, and I got a phone call from a friend of mine who he's he works at a church. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:54.879 And I was like, What do you call me on Sunday for, dude? 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:55.760 I'm getting ready to preach. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:57.519 And he said, Hey, are you getting ready to preach? 00:01:57.680 --> 00:01:58.879 Yeah, why are you calling? 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:05.280 Uh, I'm calling because there's a guy in our church that owns two brothers in our church, own a moving company, a large moving company. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:12.960 Uh, they relocate relocation services all over America, and we're trying to load a big truck, like an 18-wheeler, with stuff for North Carolina. 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:17.120 And I'm just wondering if your church would like to get in halves on this and help us do this. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:21.759 Now, his church is a little church north of town called Champion Forest Baptist Church. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:25.360 It's like six flags over Jesus, if you've ever been there. 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:30.800 Uh and I and I said, back into the phone, hey man, your church is bigger than ours. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:31.520 We can't afford that. 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:33.840 No, I said, absolutely, we won't in on that. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:38.800 So when it gets time, let me know if we got to collect stuff or just give you money to fill this thing up. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:43.520 He said, We're gonna fill it with with baby stuff, diapers, water, things that are tangible. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:44.719 Do you have boots on the ground? 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:46.000 Oh, I got boots on the ground. 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:46.960 Oh, yes, sir. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:49.120 I got Sherry Elder up there running the world. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:51.840 I'll send her an 18-wheeler and go enjoy. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:55.039 Uh, and so I obligated us to help send stuff to North Carolina. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:56.240 So here's what's happening today. 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:02.159 We're gonna receive our hilarious Sunday offering, and we're also gonna bless North Carolina in the in the weeks to come. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:02.800 All right. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.360 So uh no big some of the people are like, what are we doing? 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:06.960 Are we gonna do yes, we're gonna do something. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:12.960 But what North Carolina doesn't need right now is a bunch of Texans to go running up there and occupying all the hotels. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:15.280 We came to help. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:16.719 This is not helpful. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:18.479 So we we're on it, okay? 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:19.199 We're working on it. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:23.039 All right, and we'll be talking more about that uh in in the days and weeks to come. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:27.039 But right now, I want to talk about how to keep going when you're spiritually tired, all right? 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:29.439 Uh what do you mean, spiritually tired? 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.759 This is a snapshot of spiritually tired. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:36.159 A while back, a person came to see me and I said, Tell me, I'd never seen them before for counseling. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:40.159 Let them go to our church, they got referred to me, and I said, Tell me why you're here. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:43.840 Well, she said, Well, I'm depressed, I'm ready to give up, and I'm pretty much hopeless. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:46.400 And I said, Besides that, how was Dallas, Mrs. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:47.120 Kennedy? 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:53.039 Uh and she, no, no, okay, never mind. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:55.360 Later, Rivers, go ahead and have a seat. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:59.759 Uh, and she chuckled and she said, I pretty much feel like this is the end. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:02.080 And I said, Uh uh, okay, let me ask you a question. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:02.879 Are you a Christian? 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.759 And she kind of went, put her head down, she goes, actually I am. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:07.919 And I said, Why do you say actually? 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:15.919 You act you say actually because you kind of act like Christians can't get to a place where you're just kind of, I said, you're just kind of, she goes, ready to give up? 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:17.519 I said, I you say that. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.600 I would say that you're just spiritually, physically, and emotionally exhausted. 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:23.680 And she says, Yeah, that's pretty much where I am. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:28.000 I said, It's easy to grow weary of the right thing and feel separated from the right thing. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:29.680 Let me ask another question. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.560 Is there anything that you know but you've forgotten and you probably should remember? 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.199 She said, say that again. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:45.759 Is there anything that you really I know this, I know this is true, but I've kind of forgotten it in the warp and move of life, and maybe I would be helped to remember. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.360 And she said, I know God loves me. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:50.800 And I said, I'm gonna write that down. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:53.360 I say anything else, and she goes, I know I'm forgiven. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:54.240 I wrote that down. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:55.920 She goes, Are you literally writing this down? 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.519 I'm literally writing this down. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:04:59.439 And she said, I said, What else? 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:02.639 And she said, I know God has a plan for my life. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.759 And I said, You think days like today are a part of God's plan for your life? 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:11.519 And she goes, No, I've made some poor decisions recently, and this is a consequence, not a plan. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:16.079 I said, You want to come sit in this chair and ask me questions? 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:18.879 And she goes, Am I forgetting anything? 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:21.360 She goes, Well, what would you add to the list? 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:24.480 And I said, Oh, I agree with the plan part. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:29.920 I agree that God has a plan, not just and it's not just a plan, it is a plan to bless you, not to harm you. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:33.519 God wants to go above and beyond anything you could ask or imagine. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:37.680 You didn't just come out of Egypt, come out of bondage, you're headed to the promised land. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.040 And she said, Ooh, what else? 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:43.120 And I said, You got a hope in a future. 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:44.959 That's what God says in Jeremiah 29. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:47.680 I give you hope, part of my plan is for you to have a hope in a future. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:49.439 I don't feel very hopeless right now. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:51.199 You can't live in your feelings. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:54.319 Your feelings are real small, the kingdom's real big. 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:59.439 And so we spent the better part of an hour and just basically I said, I think you're spiritually tired. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:02.480 What you're gonna see in here is that Paul, the apostle Paul's the same way. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:04.959 He's kind of beat down, he kind of loses his temper. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:10.560 When's the last time you were kind of tired and you didn't have the reserves you normally have, and you snapped at somebody? 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.120 Besides on the way to church this morning. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:14.639 This is what happened. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:15.199 You'll see this. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:18.879 And so I want to talk to you today about how to keep going when you're spiritually tired. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:22.240 Uh, I'll start reading in Acts chapter 22, verse 30. 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:27.680 But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, they still haven't figured it out. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:30.480 This poor tribune guy, this is now the third time. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:32.240 He's like, What's going on? 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:33.759 Why what's the real reason? 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:36.079 Why are you being accused by the Jews? 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:41.920 He unbound him and he commanded the chief priest and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:48.639 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:53.600 And the high priest, Ananias, commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:58.079 When Paul said to him, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.399 Are you sitting to judge me according to the law? 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.680 And yet, contrary to the law, you order me to be struck? 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:07.120 Those who stood by said, Would you revile God's high priest? 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:08.560 And Paul said, Uh-oh. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:15.279 I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:16.399 Hang on a second. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:19.279 You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:22.399 You got 30 days, people. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:24.000 30 days. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:26.560 Get that tattooed on your chest, okay? 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:28.560 Verse 6. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:37.360 Now, when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other part Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Brothers, I am a Pharisee and son of Pharisees. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:42.079 It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:47.360 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:51.680 For the Pharisees say that there is no resurrection, no angel, no spirit. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:53.839 But the Pharisees acknowledged them all. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:00.160 Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes and Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.160 We find nothing wrong in this man. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:04.560 What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him? 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:19.360 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, this is the guy in charge of this little group of soldiers, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:29.199 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:34.720 Now, why does God, first of all, God did the Bible says the Lord come and stood beside him? 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:40.879 Sometimes when you're just beat down by life, the only thing you can pray is, Lord, can you just stand by me? 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.039 Can you just let me sense your presence? 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:46.480 I I know you're real, but man, you feel like a million miles away. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:51.279 To quote that great theologian Susan Ashen, there's a grand, grand canyon between you and me. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:52.799 Can you just come stand by me? 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:53.600 You know what I do? 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:55.840 And I feel like, hey, do you remember my name? 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:01.120 I sing that verse of a way in a manger that says, Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask you today. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:06.320 Close by me for and I'm just it's kind of takes me back to this child like, oh yeah, he's here. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:07.600 He's not forgotten about me. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:08.399 So what do you do? 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:10.399 How do you keep going when you're spiritually tired? 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:12.159 There's three things I want to point out in the text. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:14.000 Number one, remember your audience. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:15.120 Remember your audience. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:16.799 It's chapter 23, verse 1. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:24.240 Hear this phrase you have to look hard and a long time to find one sentence that makes a claim as big as this one, okay? 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:26.639 Hear it again, verse one of chapter 23. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:34.720 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:35.679 Hello. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:44.879 Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience, okay, up to this day. 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:47.519 It's those two little words before God. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:54.960 When I say remember your audience, uh before God, it the Latin term for it is quorum deo, before the face of God. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:56.879 I've lived my life before. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:11.279 So when I say remember your audience, one of the reasons we get spiritually beat down is we look to the wrong people for the right response, the response that can only come from God, but we look to people to get from people what we can only get from God because we're living for the wrong audience. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:15.679 And when we look to that audience and they disappoint us, and they always will, by the way. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:17.440 This is a news flash students. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:25.200 The people you go to middle school, high school with right now, after you graduate, you will rarely see 98% of them. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.960 You should go to school tomorrow and get on the microphone and just go. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:32.159 I just want to announce to all of you that none of you matter in my life. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:34.960 So I will be discounting all of you and your opinions. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:35.519 Thank you. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:36.960 Good night now. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:43.440 I'll give you$500 if you if you're making the morning announcements and you say that. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:47.200 Can you imagine that coming through the PA system into all the classrooms? 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:49.600 You'll be throwing your your books in the air. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:51.679 Free alas, free alas. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:54.960 Listen, that that wouldn't make you ruthless. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:57.120 That would make you righteously free. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:10:59.519 But they he says, hey, I've lived before God. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.159 When I say, remember your audience, this is the big idea. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:02.639 R.C. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:06.639 Sproul, the great preacher and theologian, he said, this is the big idea of the Christian life. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:08.240 It's quorum deo. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.000 It is the essence of the Christian life. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:12.879 You say, now what do you mean to live quorum deo? 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.000 Here's what it means to live quorum deo is to live your entire life. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:21.200 Look at me, in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:28.879 Quorum deo is to live your entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, but for the glory of God. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:30.720 You don't live for the glory of yourself. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:37.440 You don't live for the approval of people at your school or at your workplace or in your social grouping or in your economic status. 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:39.279 You remember your audience. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:45.200 Now, when I say to live quorum deo, it is to live your life, your entire life in the presence of God. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:47.759 Now, this this past week, how often did you think? 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:50.240 Now wait a minute, I'm in the presence of God now. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:52.080 I'm in the presence of God. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:56.879 Let us inform what I do under the authority of God, and then yet to the glory of God. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:58.399 Because God is everywhere. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:04.159 This is happening, whether you acknowledge it or not, whether you enjoy it or not, whether you understand it or not. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:04.720 What do you mean? 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:05.519 What is happening? 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:11.440 What is happening is you are you and I live every moment of every day in the presence of God. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:14.240 Well, I'm going to demonstrate from the 139th Psalm. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:16.480 He says, Where shall I go from your your spirit? 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:19.039 Or where shall I where shall I flee from your presence? 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:21.200 If I ascend to heaven, you're there. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:25.200 If I make my bed in Sheol, the place of the dead, you are there. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:32.799 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:39.519 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:42.879 The night is as bright as the day, and the darkness is as light with you. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:45.679 Verse 13, he says, For you formed my inward parts. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:48.080 You knit me together in my mother's womb. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:51.039 I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:54.720 Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:13:01.600 My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:02.799 Here, verse 16. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:05.600 Your eyes saw my unformed substance. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:06.639 Pause. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:14.639 We're about to elect a president, probably on the issue of abortion, which is an indicting reality for our country. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:16.159 And this is not a fact. 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:17.840 Stay with me, don't check out. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:21.519 We have an eight-week ban, we have a 12-week ban. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.000 How about an unformed substance ban? 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:30.559 Because the Bible says of God, your eyes saw my unformed substance. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.200 Not eight weeks, not 12 weeks, now they got a heartbeat. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:35.679 When you were sperm and egg, God saw you. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.399 The substances haven't even come together. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:42.240 And then he drops this on us in your book were written every one of them. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:43.120 What's them? 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:47.039 The days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:50.720 So when I was unformed, my days were formed. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:52.639 This is what the Bible says. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:54.320 There's two things I want you to see here. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:57.279 Number one, there's no place you can be where God is not. 00:13:57.519 --> 00:13:58.799 There is no place you can be. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:03.440 You can turn out your light, you can turn off the lights and think nobody sees, but God's in the dark too. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:06.240 The Bible says that night is as the day to God. 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:08.399 So there's no place you can be where God is not. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:12.320 Secondly, there's not a day of your life for which God doesn't have a plan. 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:17.120 There is not a day of your life for which God doesn't have a plan. 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:22.159 Now, the lady I referenced earlier when I started with, we're probably 45, 50 minutes in. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:24.000 And she kept coming back to this plan, plan. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.799 I said, What do you think God's plan for today is? 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:31.120 And she said, No offense, but I don't think I need to sit in here and talk to you all day. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:33.440 And I said, Neither do I. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:34.879 I'll walk you out. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.519 And we're walking down the hall, and she goes, Thank you. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.200 This was this was refreshing. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:40.720 I said, For me too. 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:41.759 Absolutely. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.720 Because there's not a day of your life which God doesn't have a plan. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:45.679 Now, what does that mean? 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:55.600 That means that your life and your success in life doesn't depend on your SAT score, your athletic prowess, or your family's participation in that pyramid scheme you call travel ball. 00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:58.799 No, it doesn't. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:14:59.440 Stop. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:00.960 Look at me, mom and dad. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:06.720 Stop pressuring your kids and parenting them like God doesn't have a plan, so your dad has a plan. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:09.039 We got to go to Florida and play softball. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:10.480 Really? 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.279 Then you wonder why your kids are neurotic. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:22.399 Because they live every day under this pressure that, oh, if I don't do this, if I don't win, if I don't get a scholarship, my life is going to be ruined. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:24.080 Hey, students, this is free. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.320 I made a 14 on the ACT. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:30.559 I'm not making that up. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:32.320 Now my kid made like a 34. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:34.720 She's like, Dad, you're the smartest person I know. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:36.799 I'm infinitely smarter than you. 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:40.879 And a stupid standardized test didn't, because I was lifeguardian in a summer camp. 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:43.519 They said, Oh, you got to take this thing, this test to get into college. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:47.360 So I put on a shirt and to and wore my bathing suit to the SAT. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:48.559 And they said, Do you have a pencil? 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:50.080 And I said, I need a pencil. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:53.120 I think you're getting six for putting your name on there. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.240 I entered college on scholastic probation. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.840 Yes, I'm telling you this, because God has a plan. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:08.960 Now, three semesters in, when I made the dean's list every year, the president's secretary called me and said, Uh, uh, Neil, Dr. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:10.559 Craig would like to see you in his office. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.519 And I was like, Oh boy, what'd they find out about now? 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:15.759 Wear some khakis and a golf shirt. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:20.960 And so I go over to see the president of East Texas Baptist University because the light on the hill will never die. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:24.240 And he comes out and he says, Hello, friend, I just wanted to meet you in person. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:30.480 And how do you explain to me how you entered on scholastic probation and how you've been on the dean's list every semester you've been here? 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:34.080 I said, I wasn't a Christian in high school and I acted like it. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.720 And he said, Keep talking. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:38.320 Would you like some coffee? 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:39.120 Yeah. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.759 And I said, So I just, and then so I became a Christian. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:42.960 They said, Gotta go to college. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:44.320 I was like, eh, okay. 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:45.759 They said you got to take this test. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:46.639 So I took it. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:49.840 I didn't, they they didn't have prep classes back then. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:51.039 Now you got prep classes. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:54.879 My kids go into prep class, and all I'm like, great, wonderful, go to all that. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:17:01.360 Here's the thing do whatever you gotta do to prepare, but never live a day of your life like it all depends on you. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:06.880 Because if you think it all depends on you, what you're really saying is, I want the credit for this. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:11.519 Let me say that again. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:24.240 If you think it all depends on you, and you live like it all depends on you, then in your heart, your little idol factory you call a heart, what you're really saying is, I can't wait to take the credit for this. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:31.759 And my the president of my college said, So that's it. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:35.680 And I said, Yeah, I just when I became a believer, it changed the way the lens through. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:37.759 I went looked at life and I like learning. 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.519 I enjoy stuff, and so yeah, college is not really hard for me. 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:43.440 He said, I can tell. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:45.279 I said, Yeah. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.240 And he goes, uh, can we cut down on the pranks? 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:51.680 I have no idea what you're talking about, Dr. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:52.160 Craig. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:53.279 Yes, you do. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:55.119 I'll see what I can do. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:56.960 I'll talk to my sources. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:01.200 Again, there is not a day of your life for which God doesn't have a plan. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:03.759 See, this is what I mean when I say remember your audience. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:09.519 Paul remembers, he says, Hey, brothers, I've lived my life before God in all good conscience. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:16.720 I live, I live for an audience of one, not thousands, not the 500 that go to my school or the 3,000 that go to my school. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:20.400 You people are gonna be strangers to me within seven days of graduation. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:22.799 I'm not giving you power over me now. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:25.200 Remember your audience. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:26.079 Secondly, what are you doing? 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:26.960 You're spiritually tired. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:28.319 You remember what it's all about. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:29.680 You remember what it's all about. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.799 This poor tribune guy, whoever he is, they don't ever give his name. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:34.319 He still can't figure it out. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:39.279 This is now the third time that he's trying to say, okay, why do these people hate you? 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:40.880 Why do they want to tear you apart? 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:46.079 In verse 30, he says on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:46.960 He doesn't know. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:48.880 Paul has to tell him finally in verse six. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:49.440 Look at it. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:52.480 He says, Brothers, I'm a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:57.440 It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:01.599 Now, listen, there's what people tell you, and then there's the real reason things are happening. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:06.000 People tell you, the media tells you stuff all the time, but you got to get to the real reason. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:07.680 You got to remember what it's all about. 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:10.000 Paul says, Here, here's why I'm on trial. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:15.279 I'm not on trial because I brought some uh some non-Jewish person into the temple, which is what they said. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:16.480 Here's why I'm on trial. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:26.079 I'm on trial because since the very beginning of the book of Acts, I have preached about the hope that is ours in Christ and the resurrection, which is the culmination of that hope. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.880 And this is why these people hate me, because they're religious and they have no hope. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:34.960 He just cuts right to the right right to the chase, to the heart of the matter. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.839 See, discouragement comes when you lose sight of what matters. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:38.160 Okay? 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:42.000 You get caught up in all these peripheral things and you overheat and boil dry. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:54.799 And then in the church in America today, what we do when we get caught up in peripheral things like church growth and competition with other churches and stuff and the other, you try to manufacture with your programming what only the Holy Spirit can do in the first place. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:59.440 And I just want you to remember this is how simple it was in the book of Acts. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:00.400 This is how they thought about it. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:03.440 Go all the way back to Acts chapter 4, verse 1. 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:04.960 As they were speaking to the people. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:13.519 Now, this is uh these two guys that they said these are uh uneducated and ignorant men, but they recognized them as having been with Jesus. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:19.519 As they were speaking to the people, the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees, same guys in 23. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.920 Remember, he said there's some Pharisees and some Sadducees. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:26.400 The Sadducees don't believe in the resurrection, they don't believe in angels, they don't believe in the Holy Spirit. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:36.079 The Sadducees who don't believe in the resurrection, they came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:40.240 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:42.880 But many of those who had heard the word believed. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:44.720 Here's what you cannot do with programming. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.079 Look at this, that last part. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:48.960 And the number of men came to about 5,000. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:53.200 Have you ever been to a church service where 5,000 people came to faith? 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.960 See, you cannot program what only the Holy Spirit can send down. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:03.119 Now, one of the things all through the book of Acts is this thing called hope. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:05.279 And this hope is found only in Jesus. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.599 This is why they're proclaiming in Jesus. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:09.920 And then secondly, the resurrection. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:12.640 There's things that are found in Jesus. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:18.720 That's why in Ephesians chapter 4 it says, Surely you were taught according to the truth that is in Jesus. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:23.039 There's a truth that you only find in Jesus, that you don't find in the world. 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:24.400 You don't find in religion. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:28.799 You don't find in the arts or the humanities or science or music or whatever. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:31.599 In the lyrics to a Taylor Swift song. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:33.359 In Jesus. 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:34.799 That's the only place you find this. 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:36.880 And this is what drove these people crazy. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:37.839 Don't lose sight. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:39.119 This is what it's all about. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:45.599 We're talking about the hope because religion leaves people hopeless in the resurrection, that there's life after this life. 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:47.440 Therefore, this life matters. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:50.559 This theme is all through the book of Acts. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:55.599 This hope is only found in Jesus Christ and it culminates in the resurrection. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.680 Okay, because this hope is based on the person of Jesus, his birth, his sin. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:02.720 Life and his purposeful death. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:06.720 And finally, his verifiable resurrection. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:10.559 Jesus rises from the dead as the first fruits of those from among the dead. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:14.319 Now, the law of first fruits dictates that there will be more fruits. 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:20.000 Christians who have died after Jesus rises from the dead, they are the first fruits of the resurrection. 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:24.000 Father, the Bible says when Christ comes, the dead in Christ will rise first. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.160 That's not a reference to the Baptist. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:27.680 That's a reference to all. 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:33.359 We're not falling for your little mind games, monkey boy. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:34.079 No. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:40.000 It's why you can go to your grandma's funeral if she's a Christian and be sad, but be hopeful. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:43.359