This is Not an Alternate Reality 2 COR 4: 8-12

Thank you. Praise the Lord for His mercy Praise

the Lord for His love of the shadow of death.

Your perfect love is casting out beams. And even

when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of

this life, I won't turn back. I know you are

mine. was born. Sometimes it seems like the world

is against you. You ever felt that way? Yeah.

Yeah. Sure. Yeah. So, I have met people who blame

everything on somebody else. It's kind of funny.

I can be that kind of person. I got in the car

and I bumped my cup that was sitting in the cup

holder. And I shut the door behind myself, and

the cup tipped over and began to spill. And I

thought to myself, I think that's Sherry's fault.

I'm not sure how, but somehow that's Sherry.

No, no, that's not right. That's not Sherry.

It's got to be Aaron's fault. No, it's not Aaron's.

And then I went, wait a minute. I think, well,

I bumped the cup, but I didn't bump the cup on

purpose. So it basically came down to it seemed

like it was nobody's fault. But I worked through

several people first. You know what I'm saying?

When Arden was younger, he was about 10 years

old, he was going through the house, and we had

a little table stand in our living room at that

time, and he tripped over the stand, stubbed

his toe, and he yelled at, I think it was Amalia,

and he said, you made me stub my toe! And she

said, how did I make you stub your toe? And Amalia

was just the one to pick a fight with when she

was younger, because we used to call her Little

Miss Contrary. Arden has filled that role since

there's always got to be one in our house. Anyway,

he said, because you, the table, I don't know.

In the moment when things are going wrong, we

want to place blame. I get that. That's why we

say things like, well, he or she didn't hold

me up. He or she didn't hold up their end of

the deal. He or she put that there. He or she

caused that. Because we realize that it sometimes

seems like everyone is against us. I want to

say that these people who think that it's everyone

else's fault has made their own problems, that

they are paranoid. But it may be actually that

they are kind of correct. Maybe more so than

you might expect. Would you grab your Bibles

and go with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Amen.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

It is God's Word. And it will speak to your heart

today. I know that because He's already been

speaking out of this passage of Scripture today

before we got up here this morning. 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. The target verses are 8 through 12,

but we're going to read up to it so you understand

the context. I won't do as much explaining until

we get there. Therefore, since we have this ministry,

as we receive mercy, we do not lose heart, but

we have renounced the things hidden because of

shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating

the word of God, but by the manifestation of

truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience

in the sight of God. Okay, now that's a mouthful

right there, wasn't it? That was a lot. Basically,

they're saying we're going to give up worrying

about this other stuff to be focused on what's

really important. Because we've been given the

ministry of reconciliation, telling people about

Jesus and sharing the truth about God, because

of that, we're going to give up all these other

things and get ourselves focused. And because

of what we show of the truth, then people will

know to whom we belong. And even if our gospel

is veiled, even if people don't understand what

we're talking about or how we're trying to live,

it's veiled to those who are perishing, in whose

case the God of this world has blinded the minds

of the unbelieving that they might not see the

light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, who

is the image of God. In other words, herein lies

the biggest problem. People don't get us. They

don't understand us. They can't fathom us because

they don't understand Jesus and we are of Him.

The problem is, Maybe some of us are not as much

of Him as we should be, and so then we are a

little better understood by them. That's a separate

problem. But he's saying, be focused on this

one thing that you're living for Christ, that

you're delivering the message, and allow the

message that you have to whom you belong and

what you're doing to speak for you. And people

who don't understand you then, well, it's because

their minds have been blinded. Verse 5, For we

do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as

Lord. That's one of the problems I have. Even

though I do support now inviting people to come

to church so they can hear the teaching and that

some people come in through the back door and

all of that, I still have trouble with people

who will only invite people to church because

inviting people to church, if that's all you

do, is not what we were called to do. In fact,

if that's all you do, you probably didn't answer

the call of Christ. Because our job is to invite

people to Jesus, not to us or to our organization.

We not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as

Lord, and ourselves as your bondservants for

Jesus' sake. In other words, we are slaves to

God for Jesus' sake. For God and slaves to those

who would yet hear. For God who said, Light shall

shine out of the darkness is the one who has

shown in our hearts to give the light of the

knowledge of the glory of God in the face of

Christ. 7. But we have this treasure in earthen

vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the

power may be of God and not from ourselves. And

now we're heading into our target verses, but

don't miss 7. We are stuck in bodies, he says.

We have this treasure in earthen vessels that

the surpassing greatness of the power may be

of God, not from ourselves. If you had risen

to be totally awesome, if you were an amazing,

incredible creation, If you were rich and could

buy everybody into church, and you could pay

people $1 ,000 every time they come here on Sunday,

you could buy everybody new cars, and they all

come to our church because we're buying everybody

new cars. If that was what was happening, then

that would not be a testimony to God. But we

have this treasure, this knowledge, this job,

this salvation, we have all of that in earthen

vessels, in messed up bodies, if you will, so

that the surpassing greatness of power maybe

of God and not from ourselves. And then it says,

we are afflicted in every way. In other words,

we are stricken. We are under attack. And notice

that it's not just by disease or not just financially

or not just by persecution, but in every way

we are afflicted, but not crushed. They can punch

us, but they aren't going to defeat us. They

can hit us hard, but they aren't going to defeat

us. We will not be crushed. We will remain. We

are afflicted in every way, but we will remain.

We are not crushed. We are perplexed. That means

we can't figure it out. This is crazy. I'm baffled.

I don't understand how I come to the end of my

rope and I've got nothing left. I don't know

what to do. Some years ago, and the Lord brought

this back to mind, this morning as an illustration

of this particular point that was closer to home.

I shared an illustration. Once before when I

preached this text about preparing for a marathon

and what it would be like to prepare for an entire

year and then the last half mile of the marathon

people come running out of the trees smacking

you with pillows to keep you from finishing the

race. It was a funny illustration. This one's

not funny. I got up on a Sunday morning. I got

up at about 9 a .m. and I was headed to the church

building. I wasn't picking anybody up. For a

little over a year, I had a pain in my upper

jaw that I hadn't told anybody about. I had a

bad root canal done, and I went back to the same

dentist, and he said, no, there's no reason you

should have pain. And so I was just suffering

with it. Didn't have the money to go see another

dentist, or I thought I didn't. Didn't have a

solution. So a little over a year, I'd had a

pain, felt a little bit like the beginnings of

a migraine, and it was right here right along

my cheek. And every Sunday, I had preached with

that pain. Every Sunday. I never told anybody

about it. until toward the end when the Lord

convicted me of it. I did tell people and they

prayed and amazingly enough I got it resolved.

The night before I had had my sermon done by

Friday p .m. The night before the Lord had told

me that that wasn't the sermon. He'd do it again.

So I had gone to bed at about 4 a .m. after waking

up three or four times laying on the floor in

the most uncomfortable position I could find

to try to stay awake to finish the new sermon.

And I had finished it about 4 a .m. and crawled

in bed and then got up. Got a shower and still

felt dirty. You know what that's like. I was

tired. It had been a long week. And all of those

things, every single one of them had happened

before. But on this particular morning, as I'm

driving to preach, which is probably the thing

I love to do most, is to work with God's people

in some capacity, just to share the Word. I'm

driving to do one of the things I love to do

the most, but I'm in pain, tired, I still feel

dirty. I know I have the sermon that God wanted

me to preach, but it took me until 4 a .m. to

do it, and I'm feeling particularly guilty because

why on earth would I write the wrong sermon by

Friday night and then have to write it again

on Saturday and get done at 4 o 'clock in the

morning on Sunday? What did I do wrong that I

totally missed what it was that God wanted me

to speak about? And so all of these things had

happened before, but on that Sunday morning,

as all of those things piled together and I reached

the corner of... Navarre and East Broadway passing

East Little Baptist Church, who was our sponsor,

who had commissioned us to come and plant new

heights. But there were some negative feelings

by certain members, and that came to mind. At

the moment, I felt as if I had no one to call

and no one to talk to. And I almost turned my

car right on Navarre instead of going down East

Broadway toward... toward Star and Star and Main

and Main Street and Main Street building, and

I almost didn't show up to church that Sunday

morning. Not because I had a pain in my jaw,

because I've been like that for over a year.

I've been preaching for over a year like that.

Not because I was tired. I've been tired before.

Not because I was gritty, sweaty, and my shower

didn't help, because that's happened before.

Not because I didn't have a moment to call, because

that's happened before. But at a moment in time

when you just can't see a way out, you can't

figure the solution, you're perplexed, you're

baffled, the question is nagging, why is it like

this? And you don't hear an answer. But in that

moment, as I was driving, I remembered something

that a friend of mine said. He said, there is

only one measure in this ministry. There is only

one thing that you have to do to finish well.

I said, people are always worried about that.

I want to finish well. At the end, I want to

be able to look back and say, I ran my life faithful.

I ran strong. I was good. I did right. I saw

some people say, I want to finish well. I want

to say, I raised my kids good. I raised my grandkids

good. You know, whatever. I didn't wind up with

a ton of debt to leave my spouse, or she's got

a place to live, or he'll be fine. I want to

think I finished well. And he said, there is

just exactly one, just one standard in the entire

Bible on finishing well. And I thought, okay,

I heard his voice speaking, and I thought it

was me remembering what he had said. And he said,

it's faithfulness. And so then I asked him, because

I'm not stupid, you say there's just one measure,

I want to know the parameters. I said, so what

does that mean? You say there's just one measure,

faithfulness. And he said, here's what you have

to do. Just be found doing what it is that God

wants you to do. Just be found doing that until

the end. And so if I turn my car right on Navarre

and I don't go and preach the word at New Heights

that Sunday morning, then that's not faithfulness.

That's not me doing what I knew God had called

me to do. That's just the opposite. That's me

choosing not to do what God had called me to

do. And so whatever else is messed up, no matter

how bad my jaw hurts, I don't have anybody to

call, I'm sweaty, gritty, nasty, I've been up

late, I can't do this, I feel, I can't fathom

in my brain how I could possibly, whatever that,

all of that amounts to, all I have to do is be

found faithful doing the one thing that God called

me to do and that's where I'm at. I'm perplexed

to the point that I'm just about not to do that.

And the next thing I know, my car is pulling

into the parking lot at 613 Main Street, actually

across the street to the bank where I always

used to park. And during the first worship song,

the very first song, the end of the first verse,

I could have swore I heard God laughing. Not

laughing because I had been distressed. Not laughing

because I had almost not done what I was supposed

to do. Not laughing because of my hardship. but

laughing because just as he did with Job, he

could say, have you considered my servant, Daniel,

who is still found doing what it is that he's

supposed to be doing, even though you did all

of this to stop him. Perplexed, but not despairing.

When a Christian cries out and says, I'm at that

point where I don't understand, They're not despairing.

They're expressing. Expressing their emotions.

Expressing their situation. Now, when a non -Christian

cries out, and they say at that point that they

don't understand, they're despairing probably

because there's no hope in that situation. What

is the hope in that situation? If I die here

today, what is the hope? What will happen? What

good could come out of it? Well, for them, nothing.

And they are perplexed and despairing. But a

Christian who is perplexed is not despairing.

Persecuted. You're persecuted. Beaten up and

attacked, not just because you're in an earthen

vessel, but because you're a Christian. To be

persecuted is to be attacked because you're a

Christian. See, I could have, the night before,

I could have said, well, pardon my language,

but I could have said, well, screw it. This sermon's

done. I'm not staying up until 4 a .m. So I'm

tired at 9 or 10 or whatever it was driving to

Main Street primarily because when I found out

from the Lord I was not supposed to preach one

message, I said, fine, then we'll preach the

message that you say we're supposed to preach

and I'll stay up until it's done. And I could

have maybe tried to pry my eyes up with toothpicks

except I learned on Tom and Jerry years ago that

doesn't actually work. So I fell asleep and I

woke up and I fell asleep and I woke up and I

stayed in the most uncomfortable position until

I had it done. Why? Because I am a follower of

the Lord God. Because I do what God wants me

to do. I am suffering because God does what God

does. He allows us to be His representative.

He allows us to have this treasure in earthen

vessels. And He does not forsake us. Persecuted,

but not forsaken. He doesn't leave us alone in

the midst of that struggle. He doesn't miraculously

fix it all. And you can be irritated with him

if you want because he doesn't miraculously fix

it all. But I think that you'll find it didn't

work out so well in the psalmist's lives. They

were irritated to God. They cried out to God.

How dare you profit the false prophets? How dare

you benefit the false prophets? How dare you

bless the evil? Why did the evil rise up and

become strong and the wicked seem to be doing

well and your servant is falling apart? And every

time they come back to, but merciful is the Lord.

Thank you God for saving me when I clearly don't

deserve it still. Every time they come back to

repentance, recognizing, yes, they are persecuted.

Yes, they are perplexed. Yes, they are afflicted

in every way, but they are not crushed. They

are not forsaken. They are not despairing. And

if they are crying out despairing, then I submit

to you again, it was because they didn't have

faith. And they repent and turn to God again

to bolster their faith. And then it says, struck

down, but not destroyed. Now the context of this

phrase, struck down, I need you to understand

very clearly. This is the end of a dream. This

is not, well, I thought I was going to get to

buy that new car and now I've got to wait an

extra 15 days. This is not, I thought I was going

to get to pay my rent on time, but now I've got

to make the grace period at best. This is not,

I thought I was going to have that relationship,

but now that person has fallen in love with somebody

else. This is the end of a dream. This is the

end of hope of all good things in life. This

is the end knowing that the best you might have,

the best thing that could happen to you is to

die now because you've been crucified and you're

in ultimate pain and you'll never come down from

this cross alive. And he says, struck down like

that, the end of a dream, the end of all human

hope. But he says, struck down like that, but

not, I lost my spot, I'll find it once again,

struck down, but not destroyed. Oh, now that's

interesting, isn't it? What's the hope? The hope

is after this flesh is gone, after you evacuate

this tent, you get a new, living, resurrected

body. You say, well, this isn't working right.

I can't do what I want to do. I can't figure

it out. Your brain isn't good enough to contemplate

all the things of God. Your body isn't strong

enough to do all the things that you've been

given to do. Your creativity doesn't go long

enough to figure out the answers to all the problems

that you will face. All of these things are meant

to come up short because at the end of the coming

up short comes the fishing around for God and

people grope around for God and they encounter

God and then they're saved. And that's why we're

designed in earthen vessels so that your earthen

vessel could lead you to a need for a better

one. And when you're struck... and about to die,

then it will be that either you will realize

now I will come into the presence of the Lord

or now I have lived my life in such a way that

I will not come into the presence of the Lord.

And the atheist screams and howls as he goes

into an eternity separated from God. And the

Christian rejoices and sings and praises God

for the good of his life and that which he had

and that which he's about to have. Struck down

but not destroyed. always carrying about in the

body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus

also may be manifested in our body. See, as we

live, we have that shortcoming. Jesus died. Don't

you understand? The Son of God died. I know we

say it all the time like it's no big deal, but

it's a really big deal. God himself took on human

form so that he could die. He died. Now, this

teaching is so significant and so powerful that

one of the primary oppositions to Christianity,

those who would hunt down and kill Christians,

don't kid yourself, the book says kill infidels,

right? Even the peace -loving ones still say

kill infidels because it's in the book, right?

They just don't actively do it because they believe

that Allah will commission some folks to do that,

right? One of the greatest oppositions, one of

the next largest religions on the face of the

planet, if you would call Christianity a religion,

it really isn't. It's a relationship with Christ.

But culturally speaking, they call it a religion.

One of the next largest says that Jesus did not

die on the cross. It's one of the main tenets

of their belief. They say he did not die. Rather,

that he was transported out of his body and that

Judas was transported into his body so he could

suffer because only he should suffer that way,

being the betrayer of Christ. That's not in the

Bible. It's in no teaching anywhere that makes

any real sense. And I'm not trying to slaughter

somebody else's religion. I just don't frankly

care. The bottom line is Jesus Christ lived,

and He died, and He rose again. And if you take

the death out of it, the sacrifice of Christ

becomes something less. And if you take your

daily death out of your living for Christ, your

sacrifice becomes something less. To whom have

you sworn allegiance? To a God that created everything?

Sure. But to a God that willingly died? Yes.

And you'd be smart to, if called upon, be ready

to willingly die. And smart to daily choose against

your own wishes, against your own physical, emotional,

and psychological desires, so that you are dying

daily. denying yourself and taking up your cross

and following after Him. Half of what we're mourning

the loss of, half of the affliction, half of

the perplexity is in that we can't have what

we perceive to be the good things that other

people have. Why can't I be that healthy, that

strong, that rich? Why can't I be that happy,

that emotionally successful? That's psychologically

stable. We see people in a short window of their

lifespan. If you have seen me every opportunity

that you had opportunity, you have still seen

me less than 10 % of my life. It doesn't matter

if we've spent hours and hours and hours together.

Maybe less than 1 % of my life you know me. And

you could say, well, why does he get that and

I don't? You don't know me. God knows me. The

truth is, the old adage, The bigger they are,

the harder they fall. How many rock stars commit

drug suicide in hotels that you never heard of?

And what do they have? Millions and millions

and millions of dollars. So if you're fussing

over money, if money's your thing, if you had

it, what would you have? You say, but I would

never fall into those traps. We carry about in

this body, in our body, the dying of the Lord

Jesus, always remembering by our earthen vessels,

by our current struggles, by our difficulty,

by our shortcomings, that the life of Jesus also

may be manifested in our body. For we who live

are constantly being delivered over to death

for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also

may be manifested in our mortal flesh. First

of all, I want you to notice the tenses of the

verbs there. For we who live are constantly.

That means it began at a certain point in time

and it never stopped. And we do the best we can

in English to carry that out. We say we are constantly.

So this word means that at a certain time, God

authored it, that it began and it will never

stop, that Christians are being delivered over

to death for Jesus' sake. Now notice it says

it began and it will never stop. And I know you

and I, we may not know anybody who has been persecuted

unto death. But there are many countries in the

world where it is still completely illegal to

talk about Jesus and they're persecuted over

to death even today. But I submit to you that

this verse, like all Scripture, still completely

applies to us. What is it that you feel when

you lose the job? You feel a certain taste of

death. What is it you feel when your relationship

is struggling and you think, well, they don't

love me anymore? Clearly that's so... And now

I'm broken about that. I don't know what to do

about that. It's the end of a dream. You feel

a taste of death. What is it that you're doing

when you're saying to yourself, man, I planned

it all out. I knew this was going to work. I

had the money laid aside. I had the time set

out. I put myself in the right place. I organized

it. I told everyone. And now the dream is gone.

It's gone. It failed. It's a taste of death.

It's all a taste of death. So you have a choice.

It could be a taste of your death, the eternity

that you have spent separated with God, or a

taste of His death, and not spend an eternity

separated from God. We who live are constantly

being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake,

that the life of Jesus also may be manifested

in our mortal flesh. This is why we can say we

have rejoicing and great joy when there are tribulations

and trials. James 1. Because as you experience

the tribulations and trials of this life, you're

getting a taste of the death of Jesus, who, by

the way, also had a resurrection. And if you

can get just a taste of His death, you can get

a feast of His resurrection. And one more verse,

12. So death works in us, but life in you. Now

this is Paul writing to... the Corinthians and

the Corinthian church. And he's saying, death

is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

And so he wasn't saying that they would not experience

these difficulties if they were practicing the

ministry of reconciliation. Surely they consumed

that verse. They digested it. They pulled it

apart. They tried to figure out, well, if life

is working in Paul, Or if death is working in

Paul, shouldn't death be working in us too? And

they began to look for where they were different

from Paul as he followed Jesus. And Paul said,

as I follow Jesus, follow me. If you've been

transformed in Jesus' image, even in the least,

if you've been saved and born again, then you

need to understand that there is an insidious

plan afoot. Everyone that's on the side of evil,

And I can be very general about that because

the Bible says, be not overcome by evil, but

overcome evil with good. It's a key verse of

the Life Station. The Bible says, pray this way.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from

the evil. It's singular evil. And some want to

say it's masculine, but the truth is it's neuter.

So they say, it's evil means Satan, right? He's

just talking about deliver us from Satan. Satan

is just one being. He's not omnipresent. He's

not omniscient. He's just one being. He has complete

weaknesses. He may be stronger than you because

he knows the scripture better or whatever, but

he's not stronger than God in you. He that is

in you is greater than he that is in the world,

which means he's stronger than Satan. I'm not

talking about that. I'm talking about the evil.

Evil, which includes Satan. It includes demons.

It includes evil spirits. It includes all people

who are working on the side of evil. And let's

get right down to it. It includes your flesh.

The you that doesn't honor God with your choices.

So who is it that's plotting against you? Who

is it that has tried to encroach upon you from

every angle? It's everyone on the side of evil,

including... The you that doesn't recognize God

in first place. Now that's really a problem because

so many people say they have such a struggle

of recognizing God in first place, even Christians.

I have such a struggle of letting God be in charge.

I submit to you, if you're not letting God be

in charge, then you are against you and you have

no greater enemy than you against you unless

it's God against you. And God is against, listen

closely, God is against the you that's against

you. Did you catch that? God is against the you

that's against you. So if you're against yourself,

then God is against you. But He's against the

you that's against you. So which you are you

for? If God is against the you that's against

you, you need to be for the you that's against

the you that's against you. And how do you win

that fight? Put God first. Jesus Christ earned

our salvation. Jesus Christ made us able to be

born again. Jesus Christ also created all things,

was present at the creation, also causes all

things to consist. And it was God that orchestrated

the boundaries of our living that we might be

at this place where in our earthen vessels we

might cry out for something greater. You just

cannot, you just are not able to transcend the

boundaries of that which you were created as.

Can you be better? Sure. Can you do more? Sure.

Can you grow? Can you have education? Invest

and plan for a bigger future? Sure, you can do

all of those things. But all the resources that

are at your disposal, that are not specifically

from God, gifted to you by God, recognized as

from God, and your use of them is not authored

by God, all the rest of the resources that you

try, they're all subject to your earthen vessel

limitations. How smart are you? Smart as your

brain will work. How strong are you? Strong as

your muscles will go. If you worked out a lot

when you were young, you probably have bigger

muscles than the rest of us. Take some human

growth hormone. Get even bigger muscles. Is it

good for you? No, probably not, but you can do

it. Right? You can stretch the boundaries of

your earthen vessel, but you can never reach

with it into the spiritual realm. You can never

reach eternal life. The fact is that self -definition

creates space. Remember that margin that I talked

about? You have to know who you are. You have

to set some rules for yourself and these rules

must be in line with God. If you are a child

of God, then you should act like a child of God.

This includes rules, convictions, your best understanding

of who God desires you to be. See this illustrated

beautifully by the Israelites as they came into

the promised land, surrounded by other people

and their gods. And by the way, who put the other

people there? God did. Who put the other gods

there? You want to say it wasn't God. But I want

you to be real careful about that. Because there

was a son who sinned against his father. And

one of his sons was cursed. And you know what

he was cursed to be? He was cursed to be the

progenitor, the creator, the beginner, the father

of the people who would always live around Israel,

the descendants of the righteous, faithful followers

of God, would always live around them, always

be a distraction, always be a temptation, always

be worshiping false gods. Now, who created the

false gods? Well, God authored the curse that

originated the people. that would worship the

false gods. And if God authored the curse before

the people created the false gods, but He said,

you will do this, you will always be there around

Israel, be a temptation and a distraction, then

I will submit to you, God authored the false

gods. He also authored the rain. Not before Noah's

day, but He created the rain. Which means He

created the flood. God created a lot of the things

in the world that we perceive as bad when they

come against us. God gave every human being the

ability to create and destroy with their mouths.

And so when someone says something to you and

it cuts you so deep that you can't hardly stand

it, you feel like you're just going to bleed

inside, it was God that gave them that kind of

power. And God can free you from it. He can take

you away from your fears. He can take you away

from your destructive tendencies that sides with

them and says, yeah, I really am a bad person,

or yeah, I really deserve that. He can take you

away from all of that. By making you born again.

But the bottom line is. It was God that set that

all up. And the Israelites needed self -definition.

So God gave them a set of rules. And a mission

to do. They were supposed to lead all the world

back to God. And warnings about the consequences.

Should they fail. And they did. And so they got

the consequences. Big surprise. Because God always

keeps his promises. When the plot of the enemy

has invaded all that we are, media, family. So

we've got parents who are trying to make up rules

about how their kids should survive and live

and what they should have to do and what they

shouldn't have to do and what happens if they

don't do what they're supposed to do. And none

of it's godly or biblical. None of it's laid

out by the Lord. So we have all these rules.

People have laid out rules, but we don't know

what Scripture says anymore as a nation, as a

people, as families. We're making all this stuff

up because the world, the plot of the enemy has

invaded and the child feels perplexed, cornered,

they don't know what to do, they don't know how

to be healthy, and their self -esteem is crushed

and they grow up to be the same kind of parent.

Because this plot has invaded our media, it has

invaded our families, it's in others' actions,

it's in our own time management and the way we've

been programmed to manage our time. That really

all of your time management is about making enough

room so you can have a little entertainment and

fun, right? That's what it's all about. We work

so we can pay our bills so we can go out. We

work so we pay our bills so we can go on a trip.

We work so we pay our bills so we can live large.

That is not the standard that God set. That is

not what time management is for. It's even invaded

our own choices. Clearly, it's going to take

more than simple efforts to overcome this plot.

That has literally been hatched by, unleashed

by, and inhabits everyone and everything that

surrounds us. Notice that the mission is the

way out. The rules that God sets are how you

survive. It's the definition of faithfulness.

It's what you've got when you've got nothing

else. That's the rules. But the mission is the

way out. You follow? So we say, I'm going to...

Not lie, not steal, not whatever. All of that

will be nothing more than another affliction

because the world does that. So they will steal

from you, but you can't steal from them. And

you can't hate them back or get vengeance against

them for stealing from you. So you will be disciplining

yourself to be the right kind of a person and

you will be found faithful being who you're supposed

to be in Christ. But the mission is the way out

of that place. The way out is to figure out what

it is based on that that I'm supposed to be doing.

Where do we start at? The ministry of reconciliation.

You know why we're suffering for not enough people

to depend on? You know why you're suffering for

not enough resources in the kingdom of God? We're

suffering for those things because the resources

are in the harvest. God's people are not evangelistic.

We're not winning people to Christ. Why? Because

we're on station keeping. Because we see we're

under assault. It's coming from every physical

angle that we can see. In our money, in our time,

in our praises are lacking, or our insults are

coming, or our resources are short, or our food's

not good, or our health's not... In every physical

way that we can see, we are assailed, we are

surrounded. And we're perplexed at how that can

be. And our dreams are being crushed because

they were physical. But the mission is the way

out because it's spiritual. It comes with death

overcome so that even if you should actually

really get to the end and somebody puts a gun

to your head or really get to the end and you're

tied to a stake and the wood is lit or really

get to the end and you're crucified, there's

still a way out because death is overcome. We

serve a risen Savior. It comes with dying, dying

to self as long as we are in the flesh. Our flesh

must die and our spirit must be embraced and

strong in Christ. Dying at the hands of evil,

but only our bodies can ever die anyway. Dying

as testimony to His power due to His empowering

us to transcend our limitations. And we can truly

say, as that 80's song used to say, nothing going

to break in my stride. Because the mission is

the way out of the spot. You ask yourself, what

do I do when I feel cornered? What do I do when

I feel like I have nothing? You pour yourself

into the mission of God. Don't you want to be

like Stephen who just said to them when they

accosted him on the temple, he just said, well,

this is our history as a nation. It ends with

you killing Jesus on the cross. And they stoned

him to death. And when they stoned him to death

with nowhere to run and no life left in his limbs

and he had nothing left, he looked up and saw

Jesus in heaven. When you really have nowhere,

nothing left, don't you want to look up and see

Jesus in heaven and then leave this life and

go immediately to be by His side? The ultimate

victory of the plot would be to get you to play

along with the plot. That's what it's all about.

The world is all about that. To get you to fall

into sin, to find some way, to veto through,

to pretend that you're a God -loving, God -sharing,

praising, Bible -reading, whatever Christian.

Just play along with that, but do it some other

way. Or, to fight specific aspects of the plot.

I don't want this to happen. I'm going to pile.

I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen. I'm

going to make sure that I don't do that or they

don't do that to me anymore. I'm going to stop

them. Whatever. I'm going to fight some aspect

of the plot. I'm not going to allow myself to

suffer or I'm not going to allow myself to spend

too much time on it. I'm going to protect my

family time at the cost of serving Jesus. Whatever.

We fight specific aspects of the plot. To completely

ignore the plot and to realize that, hey, everything

is peachy keen fine, so it doesn't matter how

bad things get for me, but everything is fine.

I'm just going to say I'm fine no matter what.

I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. Yeah, I'm dying,

but I'm fine. Yeah, I'm crushed, but I'm fine.

Yeah, I'm basically destroyed, but I'm fine.

I'm fine. And the Bible says live in the light.

It means don't ignore the plot. You have to realize

He's coming for you. You understand? Not Satan.

but His plots, His schemes. He's coming for you.

He wants you to be with the wrong people at the

wrong time so you'll do the wrong thing. He wants

you to withdraw and hold back your resources

so that they will never be His resources, God's

resources, so that you'll have some resources

and you'll be able to treasure and go, oh, at

least I'll be able to retire at my old age. And

God says, you fool. Your life will be taken from

you today. Then what will you have? The parables

of Jesus make it clear. That the foolishness

on our part would be to either A, sin, meaning

to take part in the plot, B, fight specific aspects

of the plot, to fight back against specific things

that are coming against us, rather than fighting

for the mission, which is the way out. That we

would ignore the plot and let it go on. Just

saying, we're fine no matter what, but not be

on mission. Or that we would make excuses. Excuses

are advertisements for the victory of the plot.

I can't do this because I'm not available to

do that because while I was going to, but, or

you see what had happened was, right? An excuse

is an advertisement for the victory of the plot.

You don't need excuses. What you need to do is

make all your commitments in Christ, in God.

Make your commitments in Christ, in God. You

say, I'll put God first. I'll put Christ first.

You make all of your commitments in God. Don't

make your commitments in anything that are not

in God. And then if you make your commitment

in God and you say, God, I will be there. I will

do Bible study. I will do worship. I will lead.

I will serve. I will witness. I will share. I

will do whatever. I will spend myself at your

cause. Then you spend yourself at His cause.

And die trying. And if you die, ain't no earthly

person would ever say, well, he died trying to

share Christ with that man. He sucked. He sucked.

He was a terrible Christian. No way. He couldn't

even share Christ with that guy. He died trying

to do it. No one's going to say that. And if

they do, they're not followers of the Lord Jesus

Christ. And you don't care what they say anyway.

What we're going to do is we're going to celebrate

the fact that you died trying to do exactly what

you said you would do. But we're too busy. The

world will solicit all kinds of commitments from

you. We're too busy honoring the commitments

that the world has asked us for. And we say,

oh, you know, we should be nice. We have to be

gentle and kind and patient. I have to be all

those things. And through the spirits, they come

and they say, will you come and do this? And

you say, well, yeah, I'll take care of that for

you. Because that's the nice, loving, kind thing

to do. Oh, you think Satan isn't going to pull

your heartstrings and ask you for compassion?

I submit to you, if he stood before you with

a flaming sword about to drive it through your

heart, you might say, you know, you are a follower

of Jesus. You are supposed to be peaceful and

kind, compassionate. Don't you rebuke me. I don't

want to be. Please don't rebuke me. Please let

me put this sword through your heart. You know,

you really should because you love God. You really

should do that. And you would go, well, no, you're

an idiot. Get out of here. That's a flaming sword.

Don't put it through my heart. Be gone and don't

ever return. Wouldn't you or would you? Because

when the world comes knocking, they're just as

deadly an enemy. When the world comes requesting

and the world is just as deadly an enemy, when

your flesh asks you for something and it's just

as deadly an enemy, how fast are you to rebuke

those requests? You see, sometimes when we look

up and we're totally surrounded, it's because

we left things in our life. We allowed things

to come in that never should have been. And if

nothing's going to break my stride, then nobody

that can't run just as fast as me is going to

catch me. And that's where we live. That's where

our freedom is. I am free in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I can run mightily forward doing what...

When I say to you that you are safe in Christ,

when the Bible says to you that you are safe

in Christ, I want you to hear this very carefully.

When I say to you, or the Bible says to you,

or God says to you that you are safe in Christ,

When the Bible says to you that nothing can separate

you from the love of Christ, it means if you

are running with Christ, doing what Christ would

have you to do, nothing and no one can stop you

or take you out. Could you wind up bankrupt?

Sure. Could you wind up sick? Sure. Could you

wind up with broken relationships? Sure. Could

you be perplexed and not understand how you wound

up where you are? Sure. But the bottom line is,

nothing and no one can take you out because the

mission itself, go ye therefore, And make disciples

of all nations. The mission itself. You shall

be my witnesses. The mission itself. This command

I give you. Love one another. The mission itself

is the way out. And it crosses all physical barriers.

It crushes all opposition. And you run spiritually.

Not physically. But you run spiritually in victory.

Overcoming. But here is what I see. I'm coming

to my conclusion. Here's what I see. We claim

the name of Jesus because we don't want to be

lost. We claim the name of Jesus because we don't

want to go to hell. We claim the name of Jesus

because we don't want to truly suffer. But the

fact remains. We've just claimed the name of

Jesus for the benefits. And we have no way out.

There's no way out. And then when we arrive at

that moment in time where all of the world and

all of the people and ourselves and everything

is working against us and we look up and we're

perplexed and we can't understand it, we're crying

out in despair because we only accepted Jesus

because we thought He was the way out. Jesus

is the way to heaven. He is the way to live.

If Jesus is the way to heaven and He is the way

to live, He is the way, the haras, the way. He

is the method, the choices, the direction, the

pathway. He is the steps you take. What steps

did He take? He did only that which He saw the

Father doing. He went to the cross and died so

that mankind could be free. He told everyone.

He loved and served as He went. The mission is

the way out. It's the way that Jesus got to heaven.

If you're busy worried about the things of the

world, If things of the world loom large in your

eyes, you better refocus your eyes on the Savior

because you were made to relate to God. You were

made to figure out who you are. So many people

searching for themselves feel hemmed in, forced

to be something they were never meant to be.

They spend their time asking why instead of doing

something about it. They refuse to give up their

rights even though they have lost their rights

long ago. You lost your rights when you were

born into a human body. We live in an earthly

tabernacle with a taste of His death that we

might have a feast of His life. We are surrounded.

I know the text said that we're not truly trapped

in. I've told you the way out is the mission.

But elsewhere in the Bible, Hebrews 12, it says

that we are actually surrounded by a horde of

witnesses. In our church are those who have responded

to God's commands, not knowing the outcome, and

God is blessed. Once upon a time, our family

was so deep in debt and we thought we had two

houses going into foreclosure. We had a job between

us, between the two of us. We did have a job.

$300 a week unemployment, which sounds like a

lot of money, but it isn't when you've got two

houses going into foreclosure and $30 ,000, soon

to be $90 ,000 worth of credit card debt. And

we responded to the call of God and God eliminated

all of those problems and has taken care of us

ever since. Not that we haven't had other problems.

We always get more problems. There's always more

problems. He's provided us with a home, a career

for my wife. Sherry's job requires a master's

degree. She hasn't had a day of college. God

set that up. It doesn't happen otherwise. We're

surrounded by a church full of people who love

me and love my wife. And by the grace of God,

you accept me as your pastor, most of you. And

God chooses to speak through me on a Sunday morning,

even though I know for a fact that I have no

public speaker. And I am scared literally every

time I step up to share the word, whether it's

at the life station or here, it doesn't matter,

that if I blow it, I will lead somebody to hell

rather than to heaven. And yet I do what God

has intended for me to do. I mean, I guess I

do. There are those here who choose to serve

God with their whole heart, even though some

days they don't feel like it. They do not respond

with emotion, they respond with eyes of faith.

They faithfully give back of that which God has

blessed them with, time, money, other resources,

whatever they can get their hands on, frankly.

They believe God for what He has said. They,

like I'm trying to be, are just simple enough

to believe. The plain language of Scripture that

God has provided, God will provide, and God will

always provide. The question is, surrounded by

such a great cloud of witnesses, will we personally

respond and use the mission that God has given

us as our way out? Where do you stand today?

Have you lived as if you are a victim? Are your

eyes on the opposition or are they on the road

ahead? Are you prepared to live as the victor

that God has made you? No matter what the cost?

Even if victory doesn't look like victory in

your finances, even if victory doesn't look like

victory in your marriage, even if victory doesn't

look like victory in your health, even if victory

looks like death or suffering, trial after trial

after trial, are you prepared to be victorious

even if victory isn't what you would make it?

Maybe it's just too simple. Is it that we see

the encroaching hordes and simply cannot believe

that simple and faithful obedience and trusting

Him will be enough? When they're screaming in

your face. When they're waving their weapons.

When they're taking your stuff. When they're

looking down on you or talking about you behind

your back. You thought they were your friend.

You thought that was your family. When they were

doing everything in their power to bring you

low, those that you thought were responsible

to lift you up, that doesn't look like victory

by worldly standards. But if you are on the mission

of Jesus, it is exactly that. And I stop at the

red light. Perplexed. Baffled. How I had become

my own enemy. Just trying to do what God wanted

me to do and I had become my own enemy. The thoughts

in my head were of how weak and how stupid I

must be to be completely wrong and to give up

my night's sleep and to spend 20, 30 hours preparing

a sermon that takes a half an hour to preach.

The other things I said weren't really true,

but I'm going to say them anyway. To people who

don't really listen, who won't really live for

Christ, who won't really be unleashed, who will

never find the path of victory. You see how the

enemy works? Like dominoes, they fall. Suddenly

I was surrounded. Suddenly I was almost destroyed.

Suddenly I almost turned right. But then suddenly,

I drove a block with my right turn signal on,

and then a few more feet, and when I turned left

on star, I think it went off. God is asking you

for one thing, that you be found faithful, and

the more you endure, the more you overcome, the

more difficulty you face, the harder it is, the

more you can identify the enemies who are against

you, and still, Go forward in the mission of

Christ. The more likely you are to be found faithful.

Don't give up. Don't give in. You want to fight?

Let's fight. I want you to start thinking about

the demons and evil spirits that are affecting

you and others around you. I want you to start

thinking about the temptations that literally

everyone faces. No one is immune. Stop thinking

that they are better off than you. You cannot

measure success in this life by the standards

that the world sets. It doesn't matter if they're

Christian people doing the best they can to teach

people the best they know how about money. You

cannot measure success in this life in the way

you handle your money. You cannot measure success

in this life in the successes of others. You

can only measure success in this life About whether

you are completely and totally committed to the

mission of God. Because when all else fails,

it is the way out. And I submit to you, Jesus

knew it. He didn't find it. He just stayed on

it. And he left. And he left us here with the

comforter of the Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit

coming into us as long as we're saved. With the

mission. of teaching the remission of sins, the

washing away of sins, the regeneration that happens

when you ask for forgiveness from God through

Jesus Christ, with the ability to be born again,

again and again, and to face the same challenges

as He faced with the same way out. If you have

not accepted Jesus Christ this way, I'm asking

you today to stop playing games.