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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Faithful Word Baptist Church. Great to see you all here for Sunday evening service. We always have seats. Grab a handle. And open up our handles to sell them at $351. We begin the evening by singing the song of the faith of a 51, Tell it to Jesus. ["Tell it to Jesus"] Are you really, are you really, are you? Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. Are you really, are you really, are you? Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that will know. He will let us out from the water. Tell it to Jesus, Lord. He will take us home from the trees of Eden. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that will know. He will let us out from the water. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that will know. He will let us out from the water. Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you fear God? Can you not respond? Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. Are you anxious what you'll be tomorrow? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that will know. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Are you sure, Lord, now that I'm dying? Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. God is coming, keep the voice shining. Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that will know. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Do you know why there's such a friend or brother? Tell it to Jesus, Lord. Stand as light from crimson skin He watched it by His will And then before the flood I stand in Him complete Jesus, God, my soul to save My land shall still be clean Jesus made it all, all to Him I own. Stand as light from crimson skin He watched it by His will. Amen. At this time we'll go over to the announcements and we'll follow them and we'll sing the psalm number 22. If you'd like to turn right now, the psalm number 26. All right, thanks everybody for coming tonight. It's good to see everyone out. Of course we've got our service times listed there in the top left. We'll be in 1 Kings chapter number 11 this week on Thursday. We've got the salvation baptisms listed below that. We'll go ahead and count up the salvation going back to Friday or Saturday. I know a lot of us were out and about. And then today we had three for the group that went out today. Anything outside of those times? And then don't forget the New Testament 90-day challenge. Keep working on that. We've got the Tucson movie night coming up on April 1st, so that's just a couple weeks away. Again, just a reminder about the additional soloing times that we're adding there in the coming weeks to try and help promote that movie night. So if you can make it out to that, probably just going to go out for about an hour would definitely help. We've got about 500 invites to hand out. Those should be coming in this week. On the back, keep working on the Bible memory passage. And also just a quick thank you to those that prayed for and participated in the El Paso, Texas soloing marathon. We had 28 soloers and 23 salvations. There is another trip this week to Henderson, Nevada. I'd be willing to go up if there was enough interest. If we could fill a van if people wanted to go, I would probably be willing to do that. I know a couple people have expressed that. So if that's something you want to do, you can let me know and then I'll get back to you if it turns out we have enough. It's a little bit of a longer drive, though. This isn't as close. I think it's about as close as El Paso. It's about six-ish hours just driving. So you've got to factor in the stops and so on. So it would be a longer day. We give it back later Saturday night. You know, we got back nice. It was a nice time. We got back last night. We got back about 738, which is pretty nice. But that won't be the case. So I'm just saying, just to keep that in mind, if you want to do the Henderson trip, I'm willing to do that. But you're going to be getting back after 10 o'clock on Saturday night. Depending on what time we can leave, you're probably going to be getting to Henderson about the same time. Probably close to midnight again. Those of you that went to El Paso, gauge yourself now. How do you feel? Do you feel like you went to El Paso? Because I do. I know a lot of the rest of you probably do too. So it would be a little bit longer. But again, we had the salvation. If folks are wanting to do it, I'm willing to go ahead and make that happen. So if that's something you're interested in doing this week, let me know. I'm not going to be doing the one to Albuquerque just because that's our movie night. So I can't be doing that. But let me know. Anyway, there's also the immense preaching night coming up after that, as well as the Birthday Donut Sunday at the beginning of the month. Keep that in mind. That's going to do it for announcements. I'm going to go ahead and sing one more song before we get into the preaching tonight. Fully trusting in His grace this hour, All you've watched in the blood of the Lamb, All you've watched in the night, In the smoke and the blood of the Lamb, All you've gone and smiled and saw the light as well, All you've watched in the blood of the Lamb, All you've watched in the light of the Lamb, You've newly found. And holy is Your hand. All you've watched in the light of the Lamb, All you've watched in the light And the blood of the Lamb, why, O God, is for this early light as sin? Why, O God, should the blood of the Lamb in the plan of God have brought you close before? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Will your soul be paid for the precious blood? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Will your soul be paid for the precious blood of the Lamb? Will your harvest by the Sunday night as sin? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Will your sabbath come as much pain as sin? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Will your fountain flow into the school of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Will your soul be paid for the blood of the Lamb? Will your harvest by the Sunday night as sin? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Ecclesiastes chapter 12 Verse 1 of Acts 11 And when we are not like the Creator in the days of our youth, while the evil day is coming up, when the years go on, then thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in that, but the sun, and the light, and the moon, though the stars do not darken, and the clouds return after the rain, and the day, and the keepers of the house, shall tremble, and the strongmen shall talk, holding the fowl themselves, and the grinders cease because there are few, and they shall look out of the window in the darkness, and the door shall be shut, and the streets, and the sounds of drying and the glows, and ye shall rise up with the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of Egypt shall be brought low. Also, when they shall be afraid of God, which is hot in the field, here shall be the way, and all the trees shall burst, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and the desire shall fail, because man's door to his mother's home, and the mourners go out of the streets, and rather than the silver core be loose, and the gold be broken, and the titchers be broken, and the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cisterns, then shall it dust and turn to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall turn to God, and gave it, and then he gave that, and he saith the preacher, always that, and moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still thought there was knowledge, yet he gave good deed, and sought out, and said, and already made progress, so the preacher shot to find out acceptable words, and that it was written, and it was upright, and the word was true, the words of the wise are as those, and it nails passing like a master in the seminary, and he says, and he says, and he says, and he says, 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It doesn't always turn out that well. We're not interested in raising free-range Christians either. We're not a church like, Hey, however you feel. The Holy Spirit's spoken to you about that. That's great, but I'm not convinced that's a sin for me, kind of a thing, that we're all just free in Christ, that there is no introduces No condemnation to Him which you're in Christ Jesus, who walked not after the flesh, He goes on to say, That there is still condemnation to us if we disobey God's commandments, you know, God is going to go to us You know, he's going to corral us. He's going to get us on the straight and narrow But I want to talk about this this this idea of goading here if you look there at Acts chapter 2 did I had to go to Acts 2 Acts 2 in verse 36, and of course, this is a Peter preaching and he says to him therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God Hath made the same Jesus whom he have crucified both Lord and Christ Now that's that's quite the goading there. Isn't it? Say you crucified him, right? He's getting right up in there in there right up in their grill right as the kids say and it says now when they heard this they were pricked in their heart and Sent unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles men and brethren. What shall we do? So what's Peter doing here with the Word of God? What's he doing with this preaching? He's trying to goad these people and it works right because what what is a goat it's to prick something, right? That's what you're doing to that ox. You're pricking it trying to get to move and that's what he did He preached and he you know, he used some hard language saying hey you crucified the Lord in Christ and that You know that worked that goaded them it pricked them and it it moved them in a direction didn't they said what shall we do? so The idea of goading and and and the words of the wise being like and under goad, you know, it is synonymous with the idea that you know hard preaching works Hard Pete, you know, not always as we'll see here in a minute Some people are just going to be stubborn and stiff-necked and it's not going to work on them But there's a lot of other people out there who have a soft and tender heart who love the Word of God who love the Lord Who have some humility and when you know, the preachings hard when the Word of God is preached, you know It pricks their hearts and they say what should I do and they get goaded and they change I want to talk about one particular person Who was goaded by the Spirit of God and that's the Apostle Paul if you go to Acts chapter number 7 Acts chapter number 7 Say what's this got to do with ping-pong Well, hang in there. All right, that's that's the carrot on the stick right now You know to keep you alert and in paying attention that there's a tie in here with ping-pong, okay So stick with me Acts chapter 7 a particular person that was no prick that was goaded by the spirit by the preaching It's in this course is uh, Acts chapter 7. This is after the preaching of Stephen who also, you know use some Some hard language when he's preaching the Jews He called them stiff-necked and uncircumcised of ears and heart who always do resist the Holy Ghost. That's how he ended his sermon There wasn't a you know, one, two, three, you know a little a little uh, you know Where was the three points in a you know in a poem, you know, he let him have it And it says in verse 54 of Acts chapter 7 when they heard these things they were cut to the heart So there it is again. There's that goading. There's that like like the the the Jews in Acts 2 they were pricked in their heart These ones they were cut to the heart. It's a goading taking place. It's it's God needling them Of course, it was a different reaction, right? They didn't say well, what should we do? How can we fix that? We're sorry about being you know, so stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart and ear. What let's make a change No, it says that they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth And I think that's in the very literal sense that they went up to him surrounded him began to bite him Now, I don't know I think imagine that I mean I've made some people mad, but I've never had anybody bite me You know, I mean I've had some kids, you know little kids go through that phase They start biting and eventually just got a bite back right and they learn. Oh that hurts. I shouldn't do that, right? But you know Steven here he's being surrounded by these people that have been cut to the heart But instead of them wanting to get right, you know, they they turn around and say we're gonna bite you And they gnash on him with their teeth Verse 55 but he being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing the Right hand of God and said behold I see the heavens open the Son of Man standing in the right hand of God Then they cried out a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord. I mean Working the way Maybe Steven thought I was gonna go and of course it goes on they cast him out of the city and she knows it says And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul now We know that that man Saul later becomes Paul It's the same guy and they stoned Steven calling upon the name of the Lord saying Lord Jesus received my spirit Acts chapter 8 we learned that Paul was consenting unto Stephen's death Now if you go to we know the story You know a few chapters later Paul's on the Damascus road and he's going to you know Hail men and women and haul them off to prison having letters to arrest Christians and on the way there on the road to Damascus, you know Christ shows up and he sees the bright light and He gets saved right, but I believe that you know this this this preaching and probably other preaching that Saul at that time had heard, you know was that whole time leading up to that conversion in Acts chapter 9 was probably what? Goating him It was needling him. It was cutting him to the heart. It was pricking his heart. I Mean, that's what Jesus said if you want to go to Acts chapter 9 I believe that Paul was goated by the preaching of God's Word in fact even much later after his conversion years later in Acts 22, I'll just read to you where he's you know, When the Romans have to come rescue him from the throng of Jews that are trying to tear him apart It says that you know and he's giving his testimony He brings up that that this what we just read in Acts 7 and he said when the blood of martyr Stephen was shed I also was standing by and consenting unto his death You know, that was a key moment in Paul's life It was a it was a milestone in his life that when Stephen was stoned and these those feet were late those clothes were laid at his feet and he consented unto his death you know, I believe that the words that he heard Stephen preach and No doubt I have no doubt that Paul had already maybe even heard Christ preach and heard the preaching of other apostles that all of that preaching that had taken place over the years and everything he'd heard and everything everything he had seen and heard about and slowly over the years needled him and prodded at him and goaded him until you got to Acts chapter 9 and It says in verse 3 and as he journeyed he came near Damascus and suddenly there was shined around about him a light from heaven And he fell his and he fell to the to the earth and heard a voice saying and in Saul Saul Why persecute is thou me? And he said who art thou loading said I am Jesus who now persecute us and here and here's what he said It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks He's not talking about it. You know, it's not a good thing to go kick a thorny bush He's talking about the pricks There are the pricks that I've been pricking you with the goading I've been doing the goading the the Holy Spirit that's been coming to You Paul and visiting you and saying Stephen was right. The Apostles were right. It was the Christ You did crucify him. That was the goading that was taking place. That was the pricks. I believe that Jesus is referring to He's saying look it's hard for you to fight against me, isn't it? Because you know, these people are right And we know the story he goes on and he gets saved it's another example of the Holy Spirit the preaching of God's Word being like a goad being like something that Pricks at you and tries to get you to move in a right in the right direction The purpose of a goat is to get an animal to move But does that always work does an animal always just move Not always you ever I think about this always thinking I know I've told the story before but I think of Don vu guy back in Dairy farmer and we would I'd be in the in the milking parlor with them and that big old Holstein bull would come walking in there at milking time and you know, you can't milk a bull folks You got to get it out of there because he's just need all the feet and a little 70 year old Don Just tapping that big bull right on the hip Getting it out of the barn And when he was goading him now, it worked All he had to do is a little little eight inch stick and just tapping him on the hip And I'm thinking man. It's a good thing that that bull is so compliant Because it wouldn't be much of a match Don But animals don't always you know, that goat doesn't always work. Did it work immediately on Paul? After after the preaching of Steve and said man, what have I done? No, he's still going out and arresting people I mean Christ had to appear to him and speak to him in a in a bright light and say hey It's hard to kick against the pricks, isn't it? You dummy? They don't always move it's like that you ever seen animal get prodded like that and they just buck That's how some people live their Christian life. They hear the preaching. They're just yeah You know, I'm not gonna actually try and buck folks You'd be picking me up off the floor But That's how they live their life just like some dumb mule just kicking at the pricks Kicking at the preacher kicking at mom and dad kicking at whoever is trying to whoever has some wisdom That's trying to instruct them and say this is the way you have to go and you shouldn't do that You should do this and pricking at them and goading at them and some of people just buck and buck and buck Animals Resist they kick they buck, you know, but often, you know, they do eventually move some of them do We saw it with Paul, you know, it took time, but he eventually he did move. He kicked it first, didn't he? But you know after that after Damascus, I mean Paul seemed like he was a pretty easy guy to get what needed to be done done He seemed like he was pretty easily led and I don't have time to develop all this But if you would go to Acts chapter 11, look, you know that that Jesus told the Apostles in Acts chapter 1 That they should be witnesses both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and under the uttermost parts of the earth That was God's plan, you know in Matthew chapter 10 He told them hey, you know going out into the way of the Gentiles nor to the cities of the Samaritans But go first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, you know Israel had their chance when Jesus was there the Jews had their chance But after they crucified him, you know, his plan was hey you guys need to take this message to the whole world And here's the thing. They didn't all do that. A lot of them just hung back in Jerusalem the whole time And it took a great persecution. It took the you know, the stoning of Stephen to scatter them It says there in Acts chapter 11 if you're there verse 19 It says now when they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that rose about Stephen traveled as far Fennas and Cyprus and Antioch preaching the word to none, but the Jews only So even after that even after these other Apostles and people who had been brought up in that early church Have been prodded to go out into the uttermost parts of the world to bring the gospel to the Gentiles Even after that, they're still out there. So well, we're only gonna preach to the Jews But notice also in verse 20 and some of them them that had been scattered Were men of Cyprus and Cyrene which when they were come to annex spake unto the Grecians So it wasn't all of them. Some of them got that prodding that proking that goading and said hey, you know what? Let's speak to the Grecians, you know, let's do what Jesus told us to do and Look at verse 21 in the hand of the Lord was with them now that them there I believe is referring to those that spoke to the Grecians and not to those who spoke to the Jews only And saying look somebody's doing what I want them to do I gave the Jews their chance They can still get saved if they want But I was there for three and a half years doing miracles and they still rejected me It's time to go into the Gentiles. These guys are Obeying, you know, I'm provoking them They're going in the direction I want to go and the Lord was with them and what was the result a great number believed and turned unto the Lord You Know this is just something a principle that we see in Scripture that You know God prods us and moves us and tries to get us to go in a certain direction You know and it's not always easy is it? The way he does it comes through preaching it comes through a rebuke. It comes through exhorting. It comes through all these things and you know, like I said earlier, that's what I've noticed in the Christian life the Christian life or Christian ministry rather it just seems like it's a process of just trying to move people along Just move people along get people to you know to provoke people unto love and the good works as the Bible says That's that's all we're trying to do here You know, I might be going you here and needing you there and trying to get you to move along And that's usually what it most of the ministry involves So here's the tie-in With ping-pong people Okay Ping-pong people are those that are more easily moved than other people. Okay, because some people are more easily moved than others, aren't they? I mean, did we just read that in Acts chapter 11? Some people got the message. Oh, we should preach to the Grecians Paul got the message Oh, I should go ahead and believe on Christ and and start preaching, you know His unsearchable riches riches among the Gentiles some people get the message. They're more easily moved than others The Jews they were they were predicted they were cut to their heart But you know what they ended up taking a bite out of Steven and stoning him to death Some people are more easily moved than others You know, some people are more like a ping-pong ball, right now think about it now I know we're all real familiar with ping-pong balls right about now because we've got a ping-pong table But I mean think how hard is it to move a ping-pong table or a ping-pong it's hard to move a ping-pong table It's even harder to build one right brother put one together man. I'm surprised we're still friends Okay, but I mean how hard is it really to get this to move I may just You know, there it goes, you know, it doesn't take much to just throw it out there. Does it? This is the junior church preacher coming out. You're getting an object lesson tonight, right and That's what ping-pong people are like. It's like hey read your Bible oops There they go. It's like oh, hey, you know go soul-winning You know go to church now, you got to pay attention now Now because you might catch a ping-pong ball right in the eye right about now, you know, obey your parents, you know You know all the things that we tell people to do obey the Lord, right it doesn't take much effort I Mean just a light breeze and we're blowing these things across More people some people are more easier to move than others now How would it you know, I can blow a ping-pong ball out of my hand, right? But what about tennis ball? I'm not even gonna try Right now if I had a leaf blower, I'm just kidding. I don't have a leaf blower. I Thought I thought I was like I should have got a leaf blower right and Some people are more like a tennis ball than they are a ping-pong ball, aren't they? Not everybody's a ping-pong person Right. Some people are more of a tennis person, you know, they're a little bit harder to move I mean you can get them to move right? I mean, how do we move a ping-pong ball when we take a Paddle, right? It doesn't take much effort to just send one sailing does it I'm telling you better look out You're gonna catch one because here comes the tennis ball Now, can I move this tennis ball with this? Not as far. I don't know. Did you look like that one's all the way rolling back out the door I didn't make it past the second row But hey if I got a tennis racket, right if I got a bigger with all the you know Bands in it and the net and everything I could really send that tennis ball sailing, right? Now what if I took a tennis racket and hit a ping-pong ball with it then it would really go right It's like a ping-pong ball takes obviously takes less force, you know, and people are the same way people who are more of like a ping-pong person You know, it takes way less force to get them to go in the direction They need to go and in fact if you applied too much force, you know They would go way further than you want them to go. You might run you might run them right out of the room, right? So The objective is this is to be like the ping-pong ball That's what you want to be. Look to the ping-pong ball. You say what kind of what kind of Christian should I be? What kind of person be be a ping-pong person? You know, don't be don't be a tennis ball. Don't be a bowling ball You know some people it's like they're like this pulpit. It's just like Go to church They don't budge an inch go soul-winning You Know read your Bible. I Mean, I'd have to get down on a three-point stance and try to you know I have to go get a dolly you have to get a truck I had to pick this thing up trying to just move in an inch You know trying to get it to go anywhere near is one of those balls. I'd break a sweat But that's how some people are You know some people they get they they get that needling they get goated a little bit It's like oh man, what do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go? Well, you want me to go this way? I'm gone. All right, I'll do it Other people it's like hey, you need to do this. You need to do this. You need to do this And you just got to repeat yourself And look there's a date there's a danger of not being a ping-pong person, okay And that is that you know, the Bible says in Proverbs 21 he that being often reproved hardened at this neck Shall suddenly be destroyed that without remedy You know, God might just get so sick and tired of needling you and needling you and goading you and go to you say You know what? I'm just gonna destroy you then Or maybe he won't even have to do it You know, maybe maybe you're being needled. Maybe you're being goated about some sin in your life Maybe the Holy Spirit saying you shouldn't do that better knock that off Don't get involved in that cut that out and you just keep doing it doing it doing it You're being reproved. You just keep hard in your neck and stiffening your neck And you know what you eventually you just he's gonna say Alright, and that sins is going to destroy your life It's like hey look out. There's a cliff up there. There's a cliff. I know what I'm doing You know, you're looking over here all stiff-necked You should turn your head that way and look ahead of you watch where you're walking. I know what I'm doing Right Splat and it's not gonna be like it's not gonna be cute like Wile E. Coyote where you're just gonna walk away all like a slinky like It's gonna be a bloody mess and there's not you're not gonna be putting the pieces back together But that's how some people choose to live their life The Holy Spirit's goading them. Their parents are goading them. The preacher's goading them saying look out don't go down that path. Look out. I Know what I'm doing and then right off a cliff They're not like this ping-pong ball They're like a big anvil And you just got to try and drag them back and pull them in the direction. They need to go You know, that's the danger and not being a ping-pong person Someone who's light and easily moved and easily set in the direction you want it to go Is that you eventually it could get you destroyed That's What Peter told or excuse me, that's what Stephen told the Jews, isn't it? You stiff-necked and uncircumcised and hard you do always resist the Holy Ghost. Look those Jews were not ping-pong people They were big sticks in the mud and they were not gonna budge You know the ping-pong you want to be the ping-pong person because you know It's gonna it's gonna you're gonna go in the direction that that you need to go And why is that? Why is it that a ping-pong person is going to go farther? It's because of the fact that they're lighter. I Mean isn't I mean, I know I'm not a physicist. I lost my tennis ball already, but I'm pretty sure that's why yeah Let me see that Left-handed see that man. I'm good. Nice throw Yeah, it turns out the tennis ball is lighter or heavier. Excuse me. The ping-pong ball is is is lighter You know, you don't get anything else you got that tonight, you know, what's heavier, but that's why it goes further Is it because it's more aerodynamic? They're both round It's what they're made out of well one's rubber, you know One's just plastic. It's pretty much the same thing, right? Oh, it's what color they are. That's what makes one go further right green for go Right, that's why it goes further right because it's green go No, it's because of one reason it's because this is lighter, isn't it? That's why it's so much easier to send just sailing across the room That's why it takes them a lot lighter paddle to get it to do what it needs to do Because it's lighter You know the application is this is that the reason why certain Christians don't go very far in the Christian life is because they're way down Go over to Hebrews chapter 12 Hebrews chapter 12 we all know it But that's why a lot of Christians are just they're not going to go as far in the Christian life as other people are Because they're not like the ping-pong You know, they're weighed down with things They're not as light look at Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 wherefore seeing we also are compassed about With so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us And let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Look there's a direction we got to go There's a race that needs to be run the you know, the finish line is here, you know There is that there's a certain line you have to cross in order to To run well to be able to say like Paul. I have I have kept the faith. I have you know, I've I've finished my course Right, you can't just cross any line you want. You have to get you can't win a race by just cutting across the track Can you? Last I checked, you know that that would get you disqualified You know if you don't stay in your lane in fact Isn't even on the track races you can't even cross the white lines into the other lanes You got to stay in that exact lane for you to finish same way in the Christian life There is a race that is set before us This is the path that you must run down if you're going to run well and finish well You know and you got the referee there to goju don't you you step out of line he blows the whistle Deque you're out of here But you know, that's just you know, just knowing the course is just that's probably the easiest part well I go around That's an oval, okay, you know just go around I just stay between these two lines, uh-huh That's the easy part, isn't it? Right. It's like you tell people in there driving just stay on the right side, you know, just stay between these lines That's easy You know, but then the hard part is you know Navigating it the hard part is controlling the vehicle You know, the hard part of the race is moving faster than everybody else being the quickest guy on the track. That's the hard part Trust me All right So I don't run so I don't race This I already know I'm gonna lose right But that's what he's saying here. Look the race is already set before us You know, what we need to learn to do is lay aside the weight and the sin You know, it's not just sins in our life that we need to get rid of Its weights and since some things are weights in our life that aren't even sins. They're not even bad things In fact, they might even be beneficial to some degree But you know what? Do you have to ask yourself? Is this weighing me down? It's just keep me from running the race You know one thing I think about a lot is is you know, like jobs or something? priorities or school maybe People want to have a certain career they want to go in a certain direction and If they if they run that it's what it's going to turn into is it going to turn into a it's going to turn into a weight It's gonna slow them down in the Christian life You know, I'm not gonna take a job if it's gonna get me out of church It's not gonna do it Now that's easy for you to say you're on staff Yeah for the last three years. I've been saved and in church for 20 I mean, there's a lot of jobs. I just said well, I can't take that job because it's gonna get me out of church Good job. I just said well, well, we need you to work Sundays can't do it Won't do it. I'll go work a lesser job. I'll have less. You know what I might not have as much money But you know what? I'll have I'll be more like this And I'll cross that line a lot quicker than some other people You know, I'll get there a lot easier than some other people. God's just gonna have to go on me To get me to move in the direction other people that are getting weighed down. He's gonna say oh you're you're a little heavier You're a little more weighed down And he's gonna just have to hold back and let you have it to get you to go in the direction he needs you to go You know not just might be a weight. That's what I'm saying. It might not even be something that's sinful The sins are obvious. I mean, I I don't think I have to get up here and preach about how you shouldn't sin That's you shouldn't do it because sin is a sin, right? You just don't do it It'll slow you down. It'll get you destroyed We need a little set lay aside the weight lighten the load in the Christian light You know think about the Apostle Paul II, you know, he started out kicking against the pricks did he but Did he end up going further probably more than anybody? I Mean, I mean the apostles were the ones that were there with throughout Jesus's ministry They saw those things but you know through by the time you get the book of Acts they're not really mentioned that much becomes all about Paul Because maybe you know what? He didn't start out when they started out But you know what? He was is he was more like a ping-pong ball He wasn't weighed down with what we just got to reach the Jews we can't leave Jerusalem we can't leave Israel He's like hey you want me to go over there? Oh Yeah, you just blow on me and I'm gone You want me to go over there I'll go over there I'm gonna get punished or I'm gonna get persecuted there fine I don't care because he wasn't weighed down with cares That's what weighs so many people down so many Christians If you would go to go to Matthew Actually go to Luke chapter 8 Go to Luke 8 You know a lot of Christians start out good but then they end up getting just choked out in the Christian life They don't run the race. They get too many weights They get too many cares of this world that make them unfruitful Jesus said in Matthew 13 a parallel passage to Luke 8 where you're going He also that receives seed among the thorns as he that here at the word and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of Riches choke the word and he becometh unfruitful You know, he had potential he could have done something He could have done something great for God, but you know what the care of this world The deceitfulness of riches and look these aren't even necessarily Wicked things. I mean we all have certain cares of this world, don't we? I Mean we have to we have to care for some of the things in this world. We have responsibilities You know parents you have to provide for children children have to get an education We have to care about the things of this world a certain degree You know, we let those things get out of hand and they end up choking the word They end up just becoming a weight that just slows us down Look at Luke 8 it's a parallel passage. He says and some fell among thorns and The thorns sprang up with it and choked it and I always like to point that out in this in this passage You know, it's the parable of the different grounds. There was nothing wrong with this ground was there This is good ground. The problem was is that there were thorns in it Notice the thorns sprang up with it. I mean this this ground is perfectly capable of supporting plant life. I Mean, that's what the thorns are. It's just another plant that's springing up The problem was is that they didn't get the thorns they get take it out of the way. That's what end up choking them You know the stony ground the ground was the problem. They know they couldn't get any Depth of earth because it was full of stones right that the problem is in the soil. The problem here is that You know, it's not the soil it's the fact that the thorns are growing up with it. It's just rain folks I promise it's not getting through You know some Christians they need to just get the thorns out they need to get the weights out They need to drop the weights They need to quit just letting themselves be bogged down with the cares of this life and just you know, quit being such a heavy You know ball so to speak a ball and chain a bowling ball Christian you want to be ping-pong people Be light be easy to move You know where it's just gonna take a light paddling to get you to do what you need to do You know, you know this would this could get very literal for some of you, couldn't it? Some of you children who are properly raised and being disciplined in your home You know, if you step way out of line, it's probably a bigger spanking, you know a little bit harder You know, but if you do good, you know, you get less of those you get less of those paddlings, right? You say I want less spankings well then obey more, you know Go to Psalm 32 and we'll end there Psalm 32 You Know not all animals need to be goaded not all animals need to be goaded Some do though and the more stubborn they are and the more you know, just Unwilling to cooperate they are the more they get goaded You know, and it's not like the guy that's trying to drive that hurt just leaves them behind He's saying no you're valuable to me. I need to get you to where you need to go I'm just gonna needle you I'm just gonna goad you more Mm-hmm Look at Psalms 32 verse 8. He said I will instruct thee and teach thee the way what thou shalt go I will guide thee with mine eye Well, that's comforting, isn't it? That God's gonna teach us and instruct us in the way that thou shalt go And notice that not the way which I would like you to go. He's like no you're gonna go this way It's Not optional there is no exit. This is what God wants out of you. I will instruct you and teach thee I will instruct thee man. I just love the fact that God's got his eye on me And look that can that's that is a comfort and comforting thought, isn't it? Until you find out you're doing something wrong And see realize God's seeing you make a mess out of things It's like oh don't look over here You know you then you want to run and hide That's why he goes out and says be not as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding That's a real nice way of saying don't be stupid don't be a big dumb animal in the Christian life You know has some understanding has some discernment about how you're gonna live your life Don't be as a horse don't be as the mule which have no understanding whose mouth need to be held in with bit and bridle You Know this is another way of controlling animals, right? We're talking about the goading you earlier now We're talking about the bit and bridle God saying don't make me put a you know leather strap around your face and a piece of metal in your mouth to make me and so to make you so I can get You to do what I need you to do You ever you ever look into those bit and bridles on horses It's it's really interesting because a horse's mouth is actually made for it. Like they have the front teeth You thought that's all the teeth they had right their molars are way in the back and in between their front teeth and their molars Their jawbone dips down and there's this huge space about that long Which is just perfect for a little Bridle just slip right in there But I mean you ever seen somebody steer a horse with a bridle. It doesn't look very fun to me To have someone just jerking your head all the sudden, you know What if what if someone was there every time you needed to turn a corner someone just slap you upside the head? Go left. Okay, you know go right. All right stop But that's what they're doing And God's saying look I'll guide you I'll instruct you I'll get you where you need to go, but just don't be like the horse Just don't be that big dumb animal that I'm gonna have to just jerk their head around because you're not gonna like it It's not fun You know, the horses aren't they're not that's it doesn't tickle them. You know, I was watching one video I think they were they were advertising a certain type of bit because they're saying this bit won't pitch the pinch the horse's tongue Let me imagine that having every time someone wanted you to you know, turn a little this way you're someone's they just pinch your tongue Give me your tongue No, what are you trying to tell me turn right? Stop just by just by pitching your tongue But that's you know, that's why we're good some people are gonna live their Christian life God's gonna say hey, I need you to do this. I want you to do this. This is my will for your life I don't want to do it Because they get this idea they get this foolish notion that they think well I get I'm saved I get to just do whatever I want I Mean you can go try and do whatever you want But he's like he's saying look I will teach thee I will instruct thee and the way which thou shalt go He's saying I'm not letting you off the hook that easy bud I'm not gonna just let you go do whatever you want I'm gonna be there to rein you in right pull back on the reins and get you back on the path So that the answer is this is you know, if you don't like being goated, you know, you don't like being paddled You don't like being someone pulling on your reins then be more like the ping-pong You know be a ping-pong person Be light, you know be something that's easily moved Not someone whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridal lest they come near under thee We think they can just go and do whatever they want So that's the message tonight, you know, is that we want to be people who are easily, you know, this sounds wrong Okay, but I when I say this easily manipulated In a good way, you know, what I'm saying is we want to be pliable You know, we don't want to be what stiff-necked You want to be people that God can mold and shape Cuz cuz God is gonna mold and shape you He that's his intention and and God's not just someone who's just gonna just just give up on his children that easy And look, I I love that about the Lord That he doesn't just say oh, you know, you made one mistake. I'm done with you. Can't I can't work with you anymore? You know if we end up going way off the trail, he doesn't just so old. I guess that one's gone You know, he says, you know what the Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep, you know He doesn't rejoice of the 99 which are at home. He goes out and finds the one that's lost and brings it back You know sometimes that that bringing them back. It's not going to be It's not going to be fun. You know if that's gonna end up being you It's not going to be that that painting you saw in some Catholic, you know catechism somewhere or whatever Little some long-haired hippie little gentle Jesus with a little lamb over his shoulders You know, he might be just dragging you back by one leg You're just some dumb, you know, you're bleeding the whole way back. Ah, let me go Drag you through the mud and the sticks, but he'll get you back He'll get you back on the path. You know, the answer if you don't like all that is this just stay on the path Just stay on it. Just do what you're told just obey Just you know obey God's Word. I don't like it when my parents punish me then obey I don't like it when God comes down on me and starts, you know chasing my life then just obey Because those are your options That's it You can either be like the horse that needs a bridle You can be that big dumb animal or you can just be somebody like Paul Who gets the message? But when it finally gets through says, okay, this is how it works No need for the bit and bridle. No need for the goad. Let me just do what you want me to do Lord, let's go and pray dear Lord again. Thank you for The fact that you don't give up on us Lord that you watch over us that you care for us and Lord even when we disappoint you and we do wrong when we make mistakes Lord that you correct us and you instruct us Lord and You bring us back to the fold that you don't let us wander and Lord. I prayed help us to To not be people that wander far from the full Lord that we that we stay Where we belong and Lord that we we know that that if we follow you Lord You're gonna lead us in a good way Lord and we pray that you would just help us to To be people that are that are pliable and not stiff-necked we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go tonight Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh You