Unattainable Coordination Matthew 1:18-25

On the way to Salome When shepherds call and

angels sing Did you know that your baby boy would

someday walk on water? Mary, did you know that

your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby... And the strong

will make you new. This child that you delivered

will soon deliver you. Oh Mary, did you know?

For something to be unattainable means that it

is out of reach or impossible to achieve. And

coordination means when two things work together

well, usually to achieve a greater result than

they could have separately, but not necessarily

always the case. Before we begin the sermon today,

we're going to do a little bit of homework for

a second. I'm going to catch you up to a couple

of things. So the first one is the name Jesus,

the word Jesus. Most people don't realize that

the word Jesus... has a meaning built into it.

And it means essentially Yahweh, that is the

creator God of the universe, saves. So in the

Greek, it is Iesus. There is no J sound in the

Greek language. And so when it came over to the

English, it got the J sound and it was developed

later. And so we get the word Jesus and we say

Jesus. It's Iesus in the Greek and it means Yahweh

saves. Emmanuel, which he would also be called

Emmanuel, comes originally from the Hebrew, and

it's Iman El. And they didn't have a lot of vowels

or any vowels, really, or punctuation in the

Hebrew. And it means God with us. And so Jesus

would be both God with us and also Yahweh saves.

So now you've got that in your, if you didn't

already have it, you have it in your retinue

of knowledge. I have two more. I'm not done yet.

So this... This passage of Scripture we're going

to look at is taking place at the time of Jesus'

birth, but I want you to understand a little

bit of the mindset of the people who lived in

that time. The Jewish people were looking for

a Messiah, one who would be sent by God. They

had lots of prophecies. In fact, they were always

searching the Old Testament, looking for prophecies

about the coming Messiah in hopes that they would

figure it out, right? Just kind of like people

are doing now. You know there's a lot of people

out there who are real concerned about the end

times. You know, like, oh, this could be a sign,

that could be a sign, this is happening, that's

happening. You know, the Bible says there'll

be earthquakes. Oh, there's earthquakes. You

know, the Bible says there'll be wars. Oh, there's

wars, right? And rumors of wars. Oh, there's

rumors of wars. And people are like, oh, Jesus

must be coming again soon. I submit to you that

probably people have been doing that in like

every generation, looking for signs of Jesus'

next coming. Well, they were doing the same thing.

They were looking for signs of the first coming

of the Messiah. And they had lots of references.

They probably, in the day in question, the story

that we're looking at today, they had located

easily over 200. getting close to 300 prophecies

in the Old Testament about the coming of Jesus.

And so Jewish men would have known many of these

prophecies, but I want you to understand that

they were a long time before. The main prophecies

about Jesus being called a certain thing, born

of a virgin, for example, 740 to about 700 BC.

So about 700 years before the birth of Jesus

to 740 years before the birth of Jesus, it was

prophesied that he would be born of a virgin.

And then the characteristics of the Messiah were

also in that same, that he would live a sinless

life, that he wouldn't kill anyone, how he would

die even, where certain things would happen,

all were in that same realm coming out of Isaiah

Isaiah 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7 and chapter 9. And then about 700 to

800 years before, Micah prophesied, and he prophesied

that... Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. And

so when they look up, remember that story in

the Christmas story, when they look up, where

will he be born? And they look up and they get

Bethlehem. They're looking at the prophet Micah

and places like that. But again, that prophecy

was 700 to 800 years old. Hosea prophesied the

part of it, like where Jesus would be brought

after he flees because of the Magi warned them

that King Herod is seeking to kill him. And they

flee and they go to Egypt and they come back

out of Egypt and they go back to Galilee. Well,

that was prophesied 750 years earlier by the

prophet Hosea. And then Daniel was more recent,

538 years before. Daniel gave, he said days,

but they're symbolic of years. And he gave a

pretty good idea in years when Jesus would be

born. But he did that 538 years before. And then

Malachi prophesied 400 years before, but his

prophecies were all about the guy who would come

before Jesus, the forerunner of Jesus, which

we know now, looking back at it, was John the

Baptist. So the most recent prophecies they had

about the birth of Jesus were 400 years before,

at least those that made it into Scripture. Now

we know there were a couple of prophets that

lived in their day right then. There hadn't been

for 400 years, but the prophets who lived in

the temple were talking about the coming of Jesus.

Simeon and Anna, but they weren't broad scope.

The ordinary man would not have known about that,

only somebody who was in the temple. So nobody

had any prophecies of the coming of Jesus for

400 years. And that was really about John the

Baptist. Then 530 years, and that was hard to

interpret because it was about from the rebuilding

of Jerusalem to when the Messiah would be born,

and they were looking at it symbolically. So

700 years. That matters because of the story

that we're going to look at. One more. It's the

parable of the four soils. So I'm not going to

dig into it deeply, but you need to know the

basic premise of it. Jesus gave a parable. He

said that there was a farmer who went out to

lay seed, and the seed fell along the way to

lay the seed. He dropped some. Some of it landed

on the path and was snatched away by the enemy

before it could take root. Some of it landed

on the thin soil next to the path and took root

right away. and began to grow, but since it didn't

have any good roots, as soon as the sun came

out, it was baked and destroyed. Some of it landed

amongst the thorns, good soil, basically, but

thorns were growing there, and so it grew up

and then was choked out by the thorns, and some

of it landed on good soil and produced a hundredfold.

Then Jesus, this is one of the few parables that

Jesus went and he explained exactly what he was

talking about. So on the path, that means you're

in proximity, you get the teaching, but it's

taken from you before anything good comes of

it. So the enemy steals it, temptation, sin,

the world system never really takes, never begins

to grow. Probably that person didn't get saved.

They were in proximity to the gospel and the

word, but they didn't get saved. But those who

were in the thin soil, they got saved, they get

excited, and they want to get right after it,

right? They're going to do everything that God

wants them to do. They're born again, maybe.

They feel like they are, and they want to do

everything that God wants them to do. But then

as soon as the sun comes out, difficulty arises,

boom, they're gone. No root. They don't stand

their ground and keep doing what they're supposed

to be doing. The ones that are amongst the thorns,

he said, that's the cares and the riches of this

world. So there are things in this world that

will take from you whatever you planned to do

from God if you just take their eyes off. Like

when Peter got out of the boat and started walking

on the water, looking at Jesus, he's literally

standing on the water, but as soon as he took

his eyes off Jesus and started looking at the

storm, down he went. And these are the cares

and the riches of this world, Jesus says in the

parable of the four soils. Then the last one

is the good soil on which the seed will take

root and produce a hundredfold. So why am I bringing

up this parable if this is not our text for the

day? For two reasons. So the first one is this.

Jesus said, if you cannot understand this parable,

how will you understand anything that I have

taught to you? That's why he explained it just

as I have briefly explained it to you today.

But also because... That parable is a very good

picture of the Christian life as we face. So

we face persecution, that's the sun came out,

difficulty, whatever, tribulation arises, and

we don't have a good root, and we die off and

don't do the things that we intended to do for

God. Or we come up amongst carers and riches,

and we start thinking, oh, I've got this, I've

got to deal with my job, my relationships, my

health, my struggles, my whatever, and we get

focused on those things and don't do the things

for God that we intended. And what we're going

to be talking about in the text today, then,

is the unattainable coordination between us and

God's efforts. How hard it is, and I submit to

you, unattainable means impossible. It is for

us to actually be in line with what God is actually

doing. We're going to see a motivation to do

that and a desire to do that, where it comes

from, and then maybe why a little bit, why it's

so difficult. But the parable of four soils already

speaks to it. And Jesus said, if you can't understand

that parable, how do you understand anything

that I've taught you? Okay? All right. So now

we've done all our homework. That was a lot.

I hope you drunk in some of it because you're

going to need it as we look at the text. And

then give me a little holler, a little louder

than normal because I can only hear you a little

bit out of this ear as we go to Matthew chapter

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

1. Thank you. I heard you. That's good. Keep

that up when I can hear because then I'll hear

it even better. Okay. Matthew chapter 1. It's

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

verse 18. It is a story that we are not altogether

unfamiliar with. You know that last week we looked

at the story of Mary and her visit from the angel.

And now there's another player here. There is

a human dad to Jesus who has to adjust to the

concept that Mary is having a virgin birth. And

this is that scene. But we are going to drill

down on a couple of key points that maybe a lot

of people glance over, I think, in reading this

text. So here we go. Matthew 1, 18 says, now

the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. You

now know Jesus, Yahweh saves Christ, Messiah,

the anointed one, was as follows. This is how

it went down. When his mother Mary had been betrothed

to Joseph before they came together, she was

found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. So

right away, you can imagine Joseph's mindset.

We've talked a little bit about this before.

My wife to be is pregnant. That's a real problem.

But also notice in there, it's already an assumed

fact, a child of the Holy Spirit. Notice that

she's not supposed to be pregnant. That is the

problem, right? But God has made her pregnant.

So she's not supposed to be pregnant, but God

has made her pregnant. Keep that in mind as an

out -of -time thing. It's a thing that doesn't

look timely. Verse 19, and Joseph, her husband,

noticed that even though they were just betrothed,

they were already considered husband and wife.

By the way, until roughly the 1960s in America,

until about the 1960s in America, if you ask

a woman to marry you and then broke off the engagement,

you had to pay alimony until she was married.

It is a relatively new adjustment in United States

society that you could propose to somebody and

then later decide not to get married. And you

can imagine the reasons why that was so. Right?

And so from the moment a man would say, will

you marry me? And she says yes. From that moment

on, they were basically considered legally married.

Even in the U .S. and across the world, it's

still true. Right? A lot of places in the world,

there's still arranged marriages. So if the parents

are involved, it doesn't mean anything. No matter

what. Will you marry me? Yes, I will. Go ask

his dad. No. Or her dad. No. You can't marry

her. Then it's over. It doesn't mean anything.

Right? But. The point is, it used to be, and

then they did away with it. They also did away

with common law marriage. If people lived together

for a long time, they were considered married.

That also has gone away. So Joseph, her husband,

really they were betrothed. They've not had an

actual wedding ceremony, but they were considered

married. Being a righteous man. Okay, so I want

you to see something right here before we go

any further. The Bible says, inspired by the

word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says

he was a righteous man. That means that we can

safely assume. that the choice that he's making

is a right choice. You understand? He's not sinning

against God. He's a righteous man. He desired

to do what was right. Does he get everything

right all the time? Probably not. But we can

safely assume that anything he gives serious

thought to and then makes a choice, he's making

the right choice. And he's about to make a choice

in this text, or he's already made one, and we're

going to get the account of it. It says, being

a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her,

planned to send her away secretly. So she's been

found with child when she shouldn't have been,

an untimely pregnancy. And instead of sending

her out in the street to be stoned, he's going

to put her away secretly. And we know that he's

a righteous man. So in righteousness, and this

could be a sermon all by itself, it's not here,

but in righteousness, there is grace. If you're

a righteous man or woman, you need to understand

that when somebody screws up, it's not your job

to hammer them down, to put them in their place.

That's not your job. So it is right. to forgive.

It is right to practice grace, mercy, and so

on. And he's a righteous man, and he doesn't

want to disgrace her. He doesn't want to publicly

see her ruined, right? Stoned. It probably would

be stoned, but she might not get stoned. But

even if she didn't get stoned, she'd be ruined.

She'd never be able to marry, right? And he doesn't

want that to be the case, so he plans to put

her away secretly. And then, you know, the details

are going to have to be worked out, because she

is going to have a child. What do we do now?

You know, and she's going to be a single mother,

that kind of thing. So basically, he wants to

set her right gracefully. He wants to do for

her what is graceful. Now verse 20. But when

he had considered this, now that word there that

is interpreted in the English considered means

he gave it long thought. He put some serious

mental power behind figuring out what to do with

this. And so we really can reason that he was

making the right choice under the circumstances,

except... He is denied valuable need -to -know

information at this point. Mary has told him

that the child is conceived of the Holy Spirit,

and we see in the previous verse, right, found

to be a child of the Holy Spirit. So we have

a reason to believe that, but Joseph doesn't

really have a reason to believe that. Remember,

it's been 700 years. since the prophecy was written.

And he probably is aware of it, but it is a prophecy

amongst over 200 other prophecies about Jesus.

So he may not be aware of it. He may be aware

of it. Either way, it's not like he's not going,

well, she's for sure telling the truth. There

were lots of other women probably over the time

that had been found pregnant when they shouldn't

have been. And then it was kind of like, oh,

how did this happen? It all found out that they

did the wrong thing. They got pregnant by doing

the wrong thing. And so he's denied at this point

confirmation so far. But he's thought hard about

it and decided that he should put her away secretly.

He should be graceful toward her. But now it

says, Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to

him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David,

do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for

the child who has been conceived in her. is,

and I submit to you that that is could be all

caps, right? Capital I, capital S. Is of the

Holy Spirit. The truth that he had already heard

is now confirmed by the angel in a dream. Now,

it is in a dream. It's not in person like it

was for her. But nonetheless, in a dream, the

angel confirms for him that the child is of the

Holy Spirit. Verse 21. She will bear a son. And

you, and the you there is Joseph and Mary, shall

call his name Jesus, for he will save his people.

So now I submit to you that Joseph is being asked

to extend himself. He was already going to extend

himself. Now he's being asked to do even more.

Not only is he not going to disgrace her, but

now he's being asked to take her as his wife.

He's being told, it's okay, take her as your

wife. It's true. Not only that, but you're going

to be part and parcel with raising this child

who will save his people from their sins. Notice

the name is given to the father, to the human

dad. The name is now given. That pretty much

settles it. Okay. Verse 22. Now all this took

place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord

through the prophet, which you now know. It was

over 700 years before. Verse 23. Behold, the

virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son

and they shall call his name Emmanuel. And that

was from Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. That name

Isaiah 7:14

Emmanuel, which translated means God with us.

That's the end of verse 23. Verse 24 says, Joseph

awoke from his sleep and Did, and boy, there's

a big word, and that big word should apply to

us any time we know what God has already told

us to do. Did is the right word. Not maybe I

will, or I'm working on it, or I'm building up

to it, but I did it. Past tense, ideally. If

you know what God told you yesterday, what you

should do, it either better be already going

on, or it should already be done. Because he

told you yesterday, or otherwise you're in sin.

So he did as the angel of the Lord commanded

him. He took Mary as his wife. Notice verse 25.

It says, but kept her a virgin until she gave

birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Okay, so there's a few things in here. It's a

different angle on a text that we are somewhat

maybe familiar with. The first thing I want you

to see in there is that we have what would be

considered out of time or what seems untimely.

And in her case, it is a pregnancy prior to marriage.

That is untimely. It doesn't seem like it's scheduled

in the proper way. And the truth is, if God wanted

to preserve her as a righteous woman before all

Israel, that she would not be found with child

before being married, he could have done that.

It wouldn't have fulfilled the prophecy. It wouldn't

have been the sign for everybody that it was

going to be, but he could have done it. He could

have had the Messiah be born to Israel. a righteous

woman already married to a righteous man. So

this seems untimely. I want you to understand

that sometimes when God is doing something, reason

fails and it just does not seem right. This week,

as you might have heard, I mentioned a little

bit earlier, I stepped into the tailgate of my

van. and I busted my ear pretty good, ripped

it, didn't tear it, I mean, didn't cut it, I

ripped it. And so when I ripped it, I thought,

oh, that probably means stitches. So I go to

the urgent care, and he says, yeah, you need

stitches, but it's in a place I can't do them.

You'd have to go to the hospital and have a surgeon

do it. Or I can glue it and put a stair strip

on it, and you might get a little scar, but it

should heal fine. It'll just take a little longer.

And I didn't want to go to the ER and go to a

surgeon and blah, blah, blah. I saw too much

work and extra money and stuff, and so that's

what we did. While I was there, I said, would

you take a look at my ear infection? Because

it really doesn't seem to be getting better.

I've been off antibiotics for three days. And

he said, well, I don't know how long he looked

at it. He said, I don't know how bad it was when

it started, but I can tell you right now, it

ain't healed. It's the same as it was, or it's

bad. It's a bad ear infection. So he says, well,

I'm going to give you a broad spectrum of antibiotics.

So I got double bang for my buck, right? I paid

one trip to urgent care, and I got glued on this

side and antibiotics for this side. Had I not

stepped into the tailgate, it well could be that

the antibiotic would go on and it may still yet,

right? So once when I, about 25 years ago, I

had an ear infection that went on for almost

nine months and that's when I lost 25 % of my

hearing. And so it can happen. The point is,

stepping into the tailgate, that is an untimely

event. Getting the broad spectrum antibiotics

looks like could be what God intended all along.

It hurt when I hit the tailgate. It hurt a little

bit last night while I was sleeping. But the

bottom line is sometimes the events that God

is using to do something, reason fails. It just

doesn't seem right to us. But we can crutch,

if you will, on Isaiah 55 where it says, his

ways are above our ways. You don't have to understand

it. You don't have to be able to put it together

mentally as to why it works the way it works

or what God is actually doing. Why? Because you

should be walking by faith, not by sight. So

you don't judge everything by reason. You judge

some things by I trust in the Lord and that God

has a better plan. Except sometimes faith falls

short. The truth is that sometimes we are distracted

by the cares and the riches of the world. See

how this plugs in now to the parable of the four

soils, right? Sometimes we say, yes, I'm following

God, but we get distracted by the cares and riches

of the world. Sometimes we're impatient. We want

to go super fast and do what it is that God wants

us to do right now. I want to get it all under

my belt right away. I want to do this and do

that and everything else, but we don't have the

roots that are necessary to sustain us, and then

a little something develops that goes not quite

right, and suddenly you're wilting, right, falling

apart. See how the parable of the four soils

applies to this? Sometimes we are distracted

and we don't even get it. God's doing something.

We're like, I don't know. I'm worried about this

over here. We don't even get what God's doing.

We don't understand that it's an untimely thing

or seems like an unreasonable thing because we

don't get it because we're focused on something

completely different. And the enemy steals that

realization from you that God is doing something

right now in your midst. Faith falls short sometimes

because we're distracted, sometimes because we're

impatient, and sometimes because our belief is

being choked out by cares and riches. The truth

is, sometimes what God is doing is just finally

fulfilled promises. God has promised the fruit

of the Holy Spirit in you. And if, for example,

let's say you're an impatient person, like I

have been often most of my life, and God has

grown a lot of patience in me. If you think I'm

patient now, it would be comical if we could

meet when I was 24. I was so unbelievably impatient.

I couldn't do anything that took more than a

minute or two if I had to wait. Like I never

waited on hold. Never waited in a line at the

grocery store. I'd shop, come up there, two people

in line. I'd go back and shop some more. Five

lines, every line's got two. I'd shop some more.

Even if I didn't have anything else to buy, there's

no way I'd wait in a line. I would go back up

to register. If I went back up to register three

times, the cart full of stuff, and there was

two or more people in line every time, I would

leave, shop later, leave my stuff in the cart.

I was so impatient. And so now I've developed

some patience. But sometimes God's just... Doing

what he's doing to build patience in you because

the fruit of the Holy Spirit is patience. And

so on. You could go further with that. But the

bottom line is, sometimes the finally fulfilled

promises of God are finally coming true. Galatians

4, 4 -5 says this, But when the fullness of time

had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman,

born under the law, to redeem those under the

law. In Joseph's life, It's actually coming to

fruition right now. It's being fulfilled, but

he didn't know it until the angel showed up and

spoke it. But as soon as the angel showed up

and spoke it, and he really did know it, what

did he do? He embraced it as the thing that God

was doing. I submit to you, if you can figure

out the thing that God is doing, even though

it seems unreasonable, even though it seems untimely.

Even though your faith might be failing you because

you're distracted or impatient or concerned about

the cares and riches of this world, if you can,

in the midst of all of that, go, wait a minute,

God might be doing something here. And FYI, he

is, right? So at the moment that you go, okay,

what is it that God's doing here? I realize that.

And stop being distracted, impatient, and focused

on the cares and riches of this world and start

to realize God is bringing about the fulfillment

of a promise. then you can embrace it and do

your part. That's when you become coordinated,

when you realize that this thing that you're

thinking about doing today is either part of

God's plan for you or it isn't. And if it isn't,

you should change your mind. And if it is, then

you should think about how is it part of God's

plan, and that's how you attain the coordination

that you can't otherwise attain. Otherwise, we

wind up doing all kinds of things. How we're

dressing, how we're eating, where we're working,

what we're doing at work, how we're addressing

people, how we're responding when people are

saying things to us, right? All of that, we start

doing all of these things out of our distraction,

our impatience, our concern for the cares and

riches of this world, our lack of being able

to reason out what God is actually doing. In

Romans 5, 6, it says, you see, at just the right

time, when we were still powerless, Christ died

for the ungodly. When did Jesus come? At just

the right time. And if Joseph does not adjust

to the fact that Jesus is coming at just the

right time, then Joseph would no longer be a

righteous man. But Joseph did adjust that Jesus

was coming at exactly the right time. Knowing

that the fulfillment will come and appear to

the untrained, unready, unrenewed mind as untimely,

we should desire, you should either be trained,

ready, and renewed, or accept that you will be

surprised. That is to say, you're going to have

to be trained, you're going to have to be ready,

expecting, and you're going to have to be renewing

your mind in order that when God starts to do

something incredible in your life, whatever that

thing is, and I'm submitting to you that it's

pretty often, actually. Otherwise, you're going

to be surprised. We do these things by practicing

seeking God. In Acts 17, it says that everything's

set up for you, that you might seek God and having

discovered him, realize that he's really not

all that far away in the first place. As it says

in Colossians 1, 9 -12. Hold on, next page. Right

there. For this reason also, since the day we

heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you

and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge

of his will. You see, you don't know everything

there is to know about God or everything there

is to know about what God is up to, and you're

not required to. That's not your calling. In

fact, for those who think they know everything

about God or anything about God in a certain

area, for those who are walking in what they

know about God, you can safely assume, That they're

going to be surprised when God does something

that seems unreasonable. Right? Doesn't that

make sense? I know. Therefore, I expect God to

do this. What is that? That's your reason. That's

your logic. That's your brain going, okay, I

know who God is. I know what he's up to, and

this is what I expect. When I was first asked

to preach my first sermon, a brother at East

Toledo said, hey, you know, I think God might

be calling you to preach, and I think you should

come and try to preach at the Gospel Rescue Mission

downtown. We do it. Every other month. I've got

two openings. I've got nobody scheduled. Why

don't you come and do it? I'm like, no. He said,

he was caught off guard. He stepped back a little

bit and he was like, what do you mean, no? And

I said, no. I said, there's no way that God is

doing that. I said, I know who I am. I know who

God has made me. I'm confident in who God has

made me. I can see the journey that I've been

on. And it does not make any sense to me that

God would then ask me to preach. Because I'm

thinking about... product rollouts at Pizza Hut

where my hands were all sweaty, my mouth was

full of cotton, and I could barely say, this

is what you do next. And I'm going, there's no

way God's calling me to preach. And he said,

well, you won't even pray about it. I said, I

don't need to pray about it. I don't need to

pray about it. There's no way God's calling me

to preach. See what I was doing? I was shutting

down the fulfillment of the promise, the thing

that God was doing. I said, when I got saved,

I said, God's going to make everything different.

And that's all God was doing. He was making everything

different. And I said, no, no, no, I'm not going

to do that. I'm not going to do it. And so then

I went home, and God wouldn't let me sleep or

eat or feel healthy at all for 48 hours. 48 hours,

actually, even though I wasn't sick or anything.

I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. Finally, I

said to God, I said, God, is this about that

stupid preaching thing? And he said, yes. And

I said, you want me to call him right now and

tell him I'll do it? And he said. Yes. And so

I picked up my phone and I called him and I said,

I know I said I wouldn't even pray about it,

but I don't really have to pray about it now

because God has put me through the ringer since

I said no. And I don't know what it's going to

look like or how it's going to happen, but I'm

going to do it, whatever that is. And I proceeded

to write a sermon based on basically John 3,

16. It was written out on 23 note cards, front

and back. And when I preached that sermon, I

stood in front of people and I read the front

and I flipped to the back and I read the back

and I read the next front. I flipped to the back

and I read the next back. 23 note cards, front

and back, 25 minutes. That's all I did. I wasn't

really preaching, but I wasn't, no way I was

going to say no to God because at just the right

time, God will want to do that thing in your

life that you want to do. So what do you do to

attain coordination in that moment? It is not,

it is not respond only to what you know of God.

It is to work, to be ready, to avoid the distracted.

to avoid the impatience, to avoid the cares and

the riches of this world choking out, to work

to be ready, to not rely on reason, but to rely

on faith, and then to avoid distractedness, impatience,

and submitting to the cares and riches while

training your mind, renewing yourself with the

word of God, of preaching and teaching, and the

spiritual disciplines. So we practice seeking

God. and practice spiritual disciplines. Romans

12, 1 and 2, the remembering of your mind. This

is beautiful. At the end of that, you know what

it says? It doesn't say that you'll always be

right by God, that you'll always do the right

thing. It'd be great if it did say that, because

then we'd never screw it up, right? Wouldn't

it be awesome to never screw it up? But it doesn't

say that. What it says is, you will know the

good and perfect will of the Lord. If you will,

practice spiritual disciplines. Pray, study your

Bibles, read, Bible intake, meditate. Get away

with the Lord. Serve. Give. Right? Forgive. Be

merciful and kind. Praise Him. Sing loud. Learn

an instrument if that's what God wants you to

do. Whatever. If you will do the spiritual disciplines

and your mind will be renewed and you will know

the good and perfect will of the Lord. Boy, that's

good. That's what we really want. And then that

way when God shows up and starts to do the will

of the Lord in your life, you will not be surprised.

Otherwise, you will be surprised. That's the

bottom line. Because I'm telling you right now,

if you're still here, it's because, number one,

God wants to do something through you today.

And number two, God's not done with you yet.

And when God's not done yet, God always shows

up and does something that will seem unreasonable.

Because if it didn't seem unreasonable, it just

seemed like, oh, that's not God. It just happened.

That happens. No big deal. Right? But when it

seems unreasonable to you, then you go, wait,

was that God? That was God. I need to embrace

this and figure out where are we going with this?

How can I jump on board? How can I do the things

that I want to get ahead of myself? Okay, so

the first thing is that there is an untimely

action of God, an out -of -time thing, a thing

that does not seem reasonable, and even faith

falls short, and we are called in Scripture to

do this, to ready ourselves, to remove distractions,

to be less impatient, trying to not running on

ahead of God. Boy, I've done that so many times.

To avoid getting distracted. wrapped up in the

cares and riches of this world, seek God and

practice spiritual disciplines so that when God

does the thing that doesn't seem reasonable,

instead of us going, oh no, I'm just going to

be the nice guy. I'll just ride this out. We're

going to say, okay, God's doing something here

and I'm going to get on board. That surprise,

I want to talk to you about the dangers of surprise.

The danger in this verse was immense. You see

what he was doing? He was caught off guard by

the fact that God was sending The Messiah to

be born of the virgin that he was betrothed to.

He was caught off guard by that. So what was

he doing? He was doing the gracious thing. Seems

righteous. He was going to put her away so that

she would not be disgraced. All good, right?

Wrong answer. This is a chance for the Robinsons

to steal. I'm telling you what. What Joseph was

doing was putting away God's plan for his life.

in doing what he thought was the gracious, righteous

thing toward her. It's not that he was sinning

against himself or his family or his name or

that was going to come out later and ruin him

or anything like that. It's not that. Not that

it was sin to treat her graciously. That was

righteous. But what he was doing was he was saying,

okay, I'm not going to be the dad of the Messiah.

He was literally throwing away God's perfect

will for his wife by proceeding to be a righteous

man doing the gracious thing. See how dangerous

that is? You can be righteous in Christ doing

the gracious thing and throw away God's perfect

will for your life. That's really dangerous.

You know that I run tabletop role -playing games?

In tabletop role -playing games, the one I run

anyway, there's a thing called a surprise role.

And if you're surprised, all of a sudden everything

happens really fast. If you happen to be the

one that's surprised, you basically stand there

and can kind of like stutter and do the best

you can and really can't do anything while everybody

beats the crap out of you. And vice versa. If

you can surprise the enemy, you beat the crap

out of them while they're still shocked that

you're even there. In the military, there's such

a thing called an ambush. When people are in

the woods around you and you're walking down

the trail and all of a sudden they pop up and

start shooting and everybody's caught flat -footed,

that's a thing. And people are dying all around

you because you've been ambushed. You've been

surprised by an enemy that you didn't know that

was there. And so military troops move with...

flanking people on the outside. And they have

tactics so everybody's looking in every direction.

And they have scouts, somebody walking out ahead

to look. And if the scout walks into an ambush,

that's one thing. But if the whole troop walks

into an ambush, they're destroyed. In football,

an explosive run play versus a prevent defense

in football will yield yards and possibly a touchdown

while they're going, we're not going to let them

get big yards. $12 million running back, busts

out of the backfield, runs 80 yards for a touchdown

because they were running a prevent defense.

It is dangerous to be surprised. We must not

be surprised that God is doing something that

we do not expect, even though we are called by

Scripture to have the mind of Christ. This is

part of having the mind of Christ. Joseph was

responding in compassion toward Mary. So on the

surface, it seems gentle and maybe even God -honoring,

maybe making the best of a bad situation. But

this baseline goodness was resulting in his being

about to completely miss God's perfect plan for

his life. God could do it another way. But God

was going to do it through Joseph. By the way,

who was it who had to report home during the

census to Bethlehem so that the Savior would

be born in Bethlehem? Not Mary. Joseph. The prophecy

said that they would be in Bethlehem when the

baby was born. God would have had to come up

with another way to send Mary and whoever was

taking care of her to Bethlehem. But he wasn't

going to do that, right? Because God already

had a plan. And all he really needed to do was

get Joseph to adjust to it. And that's all he

really needs to do for us too. And he's already

given us the steps to do so. And we've already

talked to them. Talked about them. Sometimes

coping, dealing with what's going on in our life

right now, is actually about replacing healthy

habits with dealing with the outcome of unhealthy

habits. So we have had unhealthy sleeping habits

for our whole life. We stay up too late, watch

too much TV, just screen time right before bed,

etc. And so we turn 40 and we're like, man, I

just can't keep coping with this. So we go to

the doctor and get sleeping pills. And the truth

is sometimes coping... is just about that. Or

we've not worked on our problem resolution, right?

So we don't know how to address somebody that

we have a problem with them and talk to them

like a human being. We can only yell or fight

or whatever. And so then we get in that situation

with our significant other or with somebody that

we just can't kick out of their lives. So we

get coaching, counseling, therapy. We do study.

We do begging forgiveness. We have all these

coping things, but really what they're about

is they're replacing healthy habits that we should

have had all along with coping mechanisms. You

can't do that. Church is not a coping mechanism.

Being here for worship is not a coping mechanism.

Giving, serving, they're not coping mechanisms.

They're not making up for our inability to be

the kind of person that God wants us to be. Rather,

they are a part of who we have become. And so

sometimes coping is about being the one in a

position to make a decision and grasping at the

most reasonable course, even when the most reasonable

course does not align with God's plan. That's

what Joseph was doing. He was coping with a bad

situation, trying to make the best decision he

could make under the circumstances. Other people

are doing that too. And we've got to realize

there are healthy things that we can do to avoid

being surprised by what God is doing. We were

not made to cope with a lack of understanding

or to be trapped dealing with the ramifications

of the very ignorance and sin and death that

Christ died to free us from. You don't have to

do that anymore. You say, well, I still have

these old habits from before I got saved. Those

old habits, they don't have to win. They don't

have to take you back. They don't have to set

you back. You can be new. That's what it meant

when it said all old things passed away. If you

can look at there's something about yourself

that's a bad thing, and you don't really like

it, and you're still struggling coping with it

on a daily basis, and you've got some plans and

some steps and things that you do, and that's

how you're getting by, you don't have to do that.

You can let that thing go. Let God erase it out

of your life. You say, oh, but I still do it.

I give it over to God, and I still. So what part

do you think you're missing of this whole equation?

Let go of the old. Stop being distracted. Stop

being impatient. Stop dealing with the cares

and riches of this world. Stop reasoning that

somehow or other God has to do exactly what you

expect him to do. What if God sends you something

that will deal with that old thing and he's done

it five times or ten times and you've used coping

mechanism to avoid that, right? So you're making

sure that you don't suffer. So you don't go and

share the gospel with somebody that you think

might not want to hear it. You don't go out late

at night and do the thing that God told you to

do because it's late at night and you're tired.

It's your time to watch your program or hang

out with your family, right? You don't give that

extra dollar amount above and beyond your tithe

or whatever. You're not sacrificing financially

because you're like, well, but we got to pay

our bills, right? So you're not doing the things

that God's really pushing you to do. And in failing

to do that, you've missed three, four, 10, 20

times possibly the thing that God was going to

do to bring you to the point That the thing that

you're thinking should have been erased a long

time ago should have been erased. You ever see

the cartoon where the artist is drawing and the

cartoon is talking to the artist and he's like

erasing things and he's making it more difficult

for him and stuff like that. And then the cartoon

gets a hold of the eraser and starts erasing

things and doing things himself. Well, you're

like that. You want the eraser. You want to control

the eraser. But God is the one with the eraser.

You want to control with a drawing utensil. But

God is the one with the drawing utensil. God

is the one who will add to your life and subtract

from your life. And if you add anything to your

life that is outside God's will, if you reason

your way to greatness, the Bible says, what if

you gain the whole world? But if in the process

you lose your soul? We were not made to cope

with a lack of understanding or to be trapped

dealing with the ramifications of the very ignorance

and sin and death that Christ died to free us

from. We were meant to know the mind of Christ,

1 Corinthians 2 says. We are not as friends or

acquaintances or even as servants of God. Hear

me. I'm going to say that again. We are not as

friends or acquaintances or even as servants

of God. But now God has given us the right to

be called children of God for those of us who

have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

You are a child of God. If you serve now, you

serve as a child of God. Like Arianna comes home

from school and about 65 % of the time she just

walks around the house and looks and sees what

she can do. And as I raised all my kids, you

know what I did? Most of them did not have a

chore list after school. If we got to the point

of a chore list, it was by the way of discipline.

Most of them would just say, you know what needs

to be done. Let's get this done. What are you

waiting for? Right? And they would just come

in and they'd start looking around and go, well,

I did this, this, and this. And if there were

ten chores to be done, they'd pick three or four

of them and just do them. Usually the ones they

wanted to do and leave the ones they didn't want

to do for me. And that's okay. Right? They were

contributing. And that's where we are as children

of God. We think, okay, if I'm a child of God

and a household of God, now what am I going to

do about that? You've heard. Possibly the illustration

of insanity. One of the illustrations of insanity

is doing the same thing over and over and over

again and expecting a different result. So as

I look around this room, I would say that there's

no one in this room who's nuts. Not in that way.

You might think of yourself as nuts in some other

way. I'm a little crazy myself. But we don't

just keep doing the same thing over and over

again and expecting a different result. Because

reasonably speaking, if you keep doing the same

thing over and over again, you're going to get

the same result that you've gotten in the past.

Because that's true, we don't see ourselves that

way. And so we look for something more, something

different, something new. We're always looking

for how we can serve. Change your perspective

from, I'm just getting by on the kingdom of God,

at least I'm saved now, whatever, that's good.

And if God wants me to do something, he'll tell

me. There's a whole book of things that God has

told you to do. Just read the Bible, find a command,

and go do that. And then once you think you got

that down, read the Bible again, find a command,

and go do that. But I know people say, well,

I'll share the gospel when God tells me to. He's

already done it. Jesus himself in the flesh told

the disciples and delivered that message as the

whole meaning of the church's existence. We already

know what we're supposed to do. And we're not

doing some of the things that we're supposed

to do, but we're expecting God to do all the

things that we want him to do. Are you a child

of God? If you're a child of God, then you know

you don't keep doing the same things that you've

done. You keep looking for new things to do.

Final point, then, is on the something extra.

We are called to unashamed trust. We're called

to unashamed trust in God, not in reason. Unashamed

trust in reason can be a problem. Unashamed trust

in general leads to A desire to do something

more. I believe, I trust, right? So I trust in

Allah, so I strap on a bomb vest that blows me

up in a cafe. Or I take out a plane, right? I

trust in Buddha, so I follow tenfold laws, right?

Or whatever. So we look for extra when we trust

in a thing. When reason fails and we're looking

for extra, it results in legalism. We say, well,

there's rules. You can't do that here. You can't

do that here. You have to do this here. You have

to do that here. Because instead of us looking

for what God really wants us to do and being

the kind of person God wants us to be, we're

setting up a set of rules so that we can be the

kind of person that we want God to want us to

be. You follow? When faith fails, we get rituals.

I always go to church. I'm always in church.

I always give. I always serve. This is how I

serve. This is what I do. I'm going to work.

I do this, and I'm always there, and I'm always

faithful. And based on that alone, I think I'll

go to heaven when I die. No. People do not go

to heaven when they die based on rituals or work.

Not how many candles you lit. Not how many prayers

you said. Not how many times you cleaned. Not

how many times you gave. Not how many nice things

you said. Not how many people you lifted up.

Not how many hands up you gave. None of that.

Outside Christ, those are all as filthy rags.

And inside Christ, if faith fails, and that's

the works that we wind up with, then that means

reason has failed as well. Ananias and Sapphira

sold a piece of land that they had, and they

had seen Barnabas do the same thing. They sold

a piece of land they had, and they brought the

money to donate it to the church because people

were hungry. And the church was taking care of

a lot of people. So they sold a piece of that

land, and they brought the money. But along the

way, they thought, well, we could keep a little

bit of ourselves, sort of a nest egg, in case

we get hungry later. Now, that was all completely

within their rights to do. They didn't have to

give it all. Nobody had to give it all. We don't

know that God told them to give it all. We don't

even know that God told them to give anything,

for sure. The scripture doesn't say. But they

sold the land, kept a little back for themselves.

But then when they turned it in, they said they

gave it all. You see, faith failed. Reason dictated

if they gave the money like Barnabas gave the

money, then they would get a lot of honor in

the church. Then they gave the money and the

faith failed. Well, you know the end of the story,

right? God killed them both. First he came in

and he said, here's all the money. Peter said,

this is all the money? And he said, yeah, this

is all the money. And he said, well, you're lying.

and here come the men at the door, and they're

going to carry you out. God killed him on the

spot. And then Sapphira came, and she had a chance

to admit that they lied, and she didn't. And

the same men that carried Ananias out carried

her out next. They didn't have to give all the

money. They didn't have to give any money. They

didn't have to sell the property. They wanted

to do extra. They wanted to do something more.

They said, well, God is good. And the church

is good. And what the church is doing is good.

And so I want to do something extra. They want

to do something extra. But then as they went

to do something extra, they made a ritual out

of it instead of a faith activity. And we do

that sometimes. Distracted, impatient, concerned.

When God acts, do something extra. When you know

that God is acting, do something extra. God shows

you something in Scripture that you never saw

before. Apply it. Figure out what you're supposed

to do about it. Look deeper. Is there more that

he wants me to see? Get busy doing what God has

called you to do. Do something extra and do it

out of a righteous heart and of a mind that desires

to know God. And it will not be caught off guard

or surprised that God is doing something new,

something extra. As Joseph was honoring God with

his choice. There's a story in the Bible and

then we're almost to the conclusion. about there

were some men who had the blessing to be there

when Jesus was transfigured. So Moses was there

and Elijah was there and Jesus was there and

Jesus is lit up with bright light and they show

the disciples see and Peter says, Lord, it is

good that we are here. We can build you tents.

Now, no one said they were camping out for the

day, right? Or at all, right? And so why do they

need tents? But he said, we can build you tents.

What was he doing there? He was making a statement.

He wanted to do something extra. What could they

do? They could build tents. Well, what can I

do? I can build tents. There's no money needed

here. Nobody's paying anything. There's no bills

to be paid. There's no meals to be cooked. We

don't have any food. But we can build tents.

So he offered to build tents. They don't need

tents. And that's what Jesus says. We don't need

tents. And so they don't build the tents. But

the point is the desire is part and parcel. When

God is clearly doing something extra, something

special, something that goes a little beyond

reason, instead of being caught off guard by

it, we should be ready to step up and do whatever

comes next. And if it is part and parcel, then

we can imagine that it is part of why the good

soil produces a hundredfold. Because that unattainable

coordination with God, that moment at which you

and God are actually doing the same thing, putting

your strength together, and I understand he's

contributing a lot more than you are, But imagine

what he can do if you would just say, okay, God,

and jump right in there. That brings us to our

conclusion then. Zeal uncoordinated is very possible.

Lots and lots of people get super excited about

doing things that God isn't doing. As a young

Christian, people say, well, I'm going to do

this. For example, I see people doing street

witnessing. I've only been saved a week. I'm

going to go street witnessing. I'm going to start

going out there and telling people about Jesus,

and I'm going to do it every day from 6 to 8

p .m. Right when I got off work, I'm going to

go 6 to 8 p .m. every day, Monday through Sunday,

until Jesus comes again. You see it? I'm going

to call every member of the church and pray for

them. I'm going to immediately, I just got saved.

I'm so excited. I'm going to give 100 % of my

income in the offering plate for the next month.

I'm just going to give all my money from now

on. You see, running on ahead of God. It's easily

enough done. Zeal is that energy, that passion,

that desire to do something more. It should be

there, but it is very possible for it to be uncoordinated

with God, and it's also very dangerous when it

is. Zeal, uncoordinated, has a tendency to forget

human limitations. You are just one person, even

indwelt by the Holy Spirit. If you're married,

you're still one person. You and your wife, you

and your husband are still one person. And you

have human limitations. You can only be in so

many places at once. You can only do so much.

If God is not doing it, you run on ahead of God.

He will not provide the resources. He will not

provide the strength. He will not provide the

finances. And you will hit rock bottom. Zeal,

uncoordinated, is not only possible, but it's

also very dangerous. coordinated results in situations

like David and Goliath. Where I submit to you,

Goliath was the great victim in that story. Because

David's zeal was coordinated with God, and God

wanted to show up and do something glorious,

and he did. And he brought one stone home and

felled one giant. And we're still talking about

it almost 3 ,000 years later. Zeal coordinated

with God results in something like surviving

the fiery furnace, where three men are thrown

in the furnace because they just won't stop living

for God. But when people look in there, they

see not just three men, but four, and the fourth

looks like a son of God. And when they come out,

an entire nation was converted so that the king

made the law that the only God who could be worshipped

was the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Zeal coordinated with God results in situations

like the lion's den, Where Daniel, who was praying

to God, spiritual disciplines, being ready that

God would do something different, was not even,

I submit to you, surprised. Read the story. See

if there is even an undertone of surprise when

Daniel is told that he will now be thrown in

the lion's den. He's not surprised in the least.

He's not taken aback. There was no surprise rule.

He instead says, okay. And he gets thrown in

the lion's den. And the lions do not consume

him overnight as they were wont to do. And in

the morning, again, everybody is repentant because

Daniel's God saves from lions, Joseph interpreting

dreams, and so on. Zeal uncoordinated with God

results in situations like the Tower of Babel,

Cain killing Abel, and the list goes on. We must

be prepared to let God do what no one else can

do. But at the same time, in idol worship, for

example, there are extreme acts of fanaticism

designed to prove one's faith. So, people who

believe in false gods cut themselves, burn themselves,

burn their children, etc., etc., strap on bombs,

etc., etc. In fact, they all yield a desperate,

growing conflict with the things of God. especially

where those things could actually occupy hearts,

minds, resources, time, direction of the one

who is faithful. So idols and demons are at work

to try to draw people into something that's zealous,

like I'll never miss, insert whatever, a football

game, a camping trip. A date on my anniversary.

It's a birthday. We've got to go out. Right?

All of those things are zealous things. They're

zeal that belongs in a person. But probably the

most dangerous aspect of this in idol worship

is the ability to appeal to your reasonable mind.

It makes perfect sense. We say, I'm going to

do this. I committed to do it. I'm going to be

there. And so as a righteous man, we keep our

commitment. But then the commitment interferes

with what God is doing, and we still keep our

commitment. Caution. To offer a reasonable trade

of that which you don't greatly value for that

which has been presented as being of great value.

So you're giving up whatever it is that God is

offering, time in worship, time in service, giving,

whatever, in exchange for what the world values.

time on the TV, time in recreation, whatever.

And people surrender the perfect will of God,

first followed by the will of God, next as the

extra becomes more obviously needed. So that,

in other words, you start to not do what God

wants you to do and you're committed to it and

it's a course of action and it seems to be working,

but you want to do more. And so then, now you

give up not only the perfect will of God, but

also the will of God in its entirety. All the

while, the fulfilled promises of God are in the

offering and they cannot be received because

the individual in question has abandoned seeking

God and disciplining himself. Are you seeking

God and disciplining yourself? If you're not

seeking God and disciplining yourself, whatever

it is that you see on the horizon that's coming

that looks really good, kiss it goodbye. Because

if it's not from God and you get it, that's only

going to make your life worse. If you go after

that person, young people, if you go after that

person that you're dating and you want to get

married and you're so sure that that's what God's

doing, you better, darn well better, spend time

in the spiritual disciplines and seek God and

renew your mind because the journey that lies

ahead is impossible without God on your side.

And if you would say, well, I don't think God

is doing it, but I'm going to do it anyway, you

are literally committing yourself to live outside

the perfect will of God and probably outside

the will of God. I'm going to tell you a brief

story. There was a man. He got to be older, and

his dad was about to pass away. His dad called

him in the study and sat him down. He said, I

want to tell you, son, you know that we've always

been fairly prosperous. And he said, that's true.

Our family has always done fairly well for itself.

Work hard, high integrity. He said, I want you

to know that the integrity, all the hard work,

none of that was it. And the guy's like, wow,

okay, what was it? If it wasn't integrity and

hard work, I thought that pays off. And that's

what you always taught me growing up. He said,

it was this. And he pulls out a little box, little

wooden box. And he brings it over to him and

he sets it in front of him. And he's wheezing,

he's on oxygen, he's not long to live. And he

shows his son a magic pebble. He says, this is

it. This magic pebble is the thing. And he says,

and I now bestow it upon you. You're the new

head of our family, even though I probably have

weeks to live. You're the new head of our family.

This is the magic pebble. And he takes the magic

pebble, and he's so grateful to have it because

he's the new head of the family, but he puts

it in his pocket. Now, unbeknownst to him, he

put it in his pocket, and the threads at the

bottom of his pocket were badly worn. So that

afternoon, he and his family visit Pebble Beach.

You can imagine where this is going. And while

they're walking on Pebble Beach, The pebble of

prosperity falls out of his pocket. He gets to

the end of the beach. And he was talking to his

wife. And he's finally going to bring it up.

And he says, I know, you know, we've taught our

kids about integrity and hard work and all that.

But my dad says, it's not all that. It's the

pebble. And he puts his hand there. And it's

not there. And he's like, it's gone. And she's

like, what's gone? And he says, the pebble. And

he's like, it was in my pocket. And he puts his

fingers through the hole. And he's like, it's

gone. And so he and his wife and their three

kids, they spend the afternoon searching where

they walked on Pebble Beach for the pebble of

prosperity. And they don't find it. And he purposes

in himself he's going to work harder. And so

he goes back the next day. He quits his job.

He's like, it doesn't pay off anyway. So he quits

his job and he goes back and he searches Pebble

Beach every day, end to end, searching for the

pebble of prosperity. He picks one pebble up

and he looks at it and he says, that's not it.

And he throws it down. He picks another pebble

up and he looks at it. That's not it. He throws

it down. He picks another pebble up. That's not

it. He looks at it. Throws it down. And he keeps

doing that over and over again. Days go by. Weeks

go by. He's been doing it for months. Six months

later, it's getting cold. It's rainy. He's walking

Pebble Beach. He picks a pebble up. And he says,

that's not it. And he throws it down. He picks

a pebble up. And he says, that's not it. And

he throws it down. He picks it up. And he says,

oh, that's it. And he throws it down. And the

waves wash up. And he's like, oh, crud. See,

he was searching for the pebble all that time.

But the process became the thing. And he threw

away, now he's intentionally thrown away the

pebble of prosperity back into the monks. And

yeah, it's not the whole beach, but it's going

to take some searching. And I submit to you that

if you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,

and you have not disciplined yourself, if you're

not seeking daily to know God, to know more,

to have a higher knowledge of the Lord daily,

then the pebble of prosperity, when God starts

to do a thing, When God starts to do something

that seems unreasonable and untimely, and it

will because He's God, you're going to toss it

away. You're going to be surprised, and you're

going to toss it away. And for this reason, young

Saul, who loved God more than life itself, who

had studied under one of the greatest teachers

known to mankind, the name still rings in hallowed

halls today, Gamaliel. Young Saul said, this

upstart church, this upstart religion that's

drifting from Judaism is wrong and nobody's doing

anything about it. I'm going to do something

about it. And he started persecuting Christians

and killing them and taking their lands and having

them in prison and putting them in shackles and

carrying them off. And he got papers from the

high priest to go and do the same thing in another

city, one of the largest, oldest cities to ever

exist. And he was walking down the road to go

there and do that when Jesus said, Saul, Soul,

why are you persecuting me? And do you now see

that in your righteous and gentle spirit, if

you will not discipline yourself, if you will

not daily seek the Lord, that when the Lord begins

to do something in your life, not only might

you miss the perfect will of the Lord and not

jump on board and coordinate with Him, but on

top of that, You could leave the will of the

Lord completely. And that's what Saul did, even

though he knew the Bible better than any of us.

Even though he was dedicated, he was in their

version of church, was the temple, but he was

there seven days a week, 20 hours a day. You

think you know God? You think you know what God

is doing? You think that knowing the Bible is

what it takes to know what God is doing? Or showing

up for church each week? If anybody could know

it that way, it would have been him. And men

and women and children lost their lives, lost

their property. The flip side of that, David,

pursued by Saul across the countryside by an

army. With just a few refugees, essentially,

or a few hundred refugees, essentially, to comfort

him and to find food and all those kinds of things.

People, criminals, and mostly rebels and so on

that he was taking care of. And Saul pursued

him. And three times, three times David had the

right to kill or God gave him over into his hands.

The one time he crept up and he cut a little

corner off of his cloak. And then he went out

and confronted him. And he said, look, I could

have killed you. God gave you into my hands.

I could have killed you. But he didn't. Even

though David had been anointed king of Israel,

had been chosen by God to replace Saul, and yet

David didn't kill him. In Acts 4, after they

healed that man sitting at the beautiful gate,

they were being persecuted. And they brought

him in and they said, you will not speak in the

name of Jesus anymore. And they said, well, you

tell us. Is it right to listen to you or to God?

What were they saying? And they said, they beat

him and cast him out, telling him not to talk

in the name of Jesus anymore. But they thought

about killing him. And you know why they didn't?

Because Gamaliel was there. And Gamaliel said,

many men have come and claimed to be messiahs.

Many men have come and claimed disciples for

themselves. And this Jesus, he was like them,

but also miracles and things, but he was a lot

like them. And he said, and the truth is, If

he is not the son of God, he's not the Messiah,

he's not the one we've been waiting for, then

in time, he'll fade away and be nothing. End

of the story. 2 ,000 plus years later, he has

not faded away, right? He's not going to because

he was the son of God. And he said, but if he

really is who he says he is, and you resist him

now, you might even be found fighting against

God. And that he said to the high priests. We're

not high priests. And we don't have the Bible

memorized. We have not spent two days a week

for our entire lives fasting and going without

food. But the Scripture is clearly calling us

to discipline ourselves and be ready for God

to do something new. And how do you do that?

You practice the spiritual disciplines. You eliminate

distractions. Overcome, really let go, impatience.

And separate yourself from the cares and the

riches of this world. Don't run on ahead of God.

Do it in a godly way. Start by giving your life

over to the Lord if you never have done that.

And then if you're thinking about making some

kind of a radical choice, always run it by Him,

run it by Scripture, run it by wise counsel.

So that you restrain that zeal, so you don't

run on ahead when faith fails or do something

stupid, ruin your life or ruin God's chance to

do something amazing in your life. And in the

meantime, renewing our minds, practicing spiritual

discipline, seeking the Lord daily. The truth

is, if you have not been doing that, you've already

missed an untold number of times that God was

doing something incredible. God wanted to do

something amazing. Repent today and say, Lord,

if I have my way, I will not miss what you are

doing. And then when you feel like you want to

do something more, coordinate your efforts with

the Lord. That is not unattainable if you'll

prepare yourself, if you'll be ready, undistracted,

not impatient, not wrapped up in the cares and

riches of this world. You can do it. And you

might be an evangelist and you might see dozens

of people saved. You might give at just the right

time so that people don't starve to death. Any

number of things God could do. But the one thing

you'll know is if you do that, then when God

does something amazing, you'll not be surprised.