1 00:00:05,165 --> 00:00:10,905 He says, "I just finished watching the video, 2 00:00:10,905 --> 00:00:14,464 "Don't Justify Yourself While Walking in Darkness.'" 3 00:00:14,464 --> 00:00:17,574 And I trust that was probably a message 4 00:00:17,574 --> 00:00:21,237 that I did from the 1 John series. 5 00:00:21,237 --> 00:00:24,176 "It came to me after I felt urges 6 00:00:24,176 --> 00:00:27,073 to preach on a bus in Toronto 7 00:00:27,073 --> 00:00:31,309 but was too afraid of men to get up and preach. 8 00:00:31,309 --> 00:00:33,234 I wondered if it would be effective. 9 00:00:33,234 --> 00:00:35,588 I know my mom tells me not to publicly 10 00:00:35,588 --> 00:00:38,435 preach to the general public of strangers 11 00:00:38,435 --> 00:00:41,337 since it's likely to be counter-productive. 12 00:00:41,337 --> 00:00:45,829 Yet, I felt the urge so strongly 13 00:00:45,829 --> 00:00:47,405 and this video came up 14 00:00:47,405 --> 00:00:49,503 when I was justifying myself 15 00:00:49,503 --> 00:00:51,634 for not preaching. 16 00:00:51,634 --> 00:00:53,641 So I'm wondering what I should do. 17 00:00:53,641 --> 00:00:57,439 Should I disregard my mother's words and bus preach? 18 00:00:57,439 --> 00:01:00,441 Should I find a way to preach that's not on a bus 19 00:01:00,441 --> 00:01:04,558 even though that wasn't my urge?" 20 00:01:04,558 --> 00:01:06,682 Now, if that was all there was, 21 00:01:06,682 --> 00:01:09,101 maybe James wouldn't have even sent it to me. 22 00:01:09,101 --> 00:01:10,514 And if that's all there was, 23 00:01:10,514 --> 00:01:15,711 (incomplete thought). 24 00:01:15,711 --> 00:01:17,248 I only get a fraction 25 00:01:17,248 --> 00:01:18,895 and I can't get to all of them. 26 00:01:18,895 --> 00:01:22,298 But it's this next thing that he says, 27 00:01:22,298 --> 00:01:26,054 "I feel like I've shipwrecked my faith 28 00:01:26,054 --> 00:01:29,931 through this and other recent events. 29 00:01:29,931 --> 00:01:32,582 I haven't been weeping and wailing 30 00:01:32,582 --> 00:01:35,835 and crying out to God, 31 00:01:35,835 --> 00:01:38,781 but just now after your video. 32 00:01:38,781 --> 00:01:41,257 It was a quiet and small cry of me 33 00:01:41,257 --> 00:01:44,339 not wanting to be distant and condemned, 34 00:01:44,339 --> 00:01:46,739 and to not want to obey God in the future 35 00:01:46,739 --> 00:01:48,675 when I have the chance to pursue Him 36 00:01:48,675 --> 00:01:51,568 and be in service to Him." 37 00:01:51,568 --> 00:01:55,417 I just got to thinking... 38 00:01:55,417 --> 00:01:57,557 I think this kind of thing happens 39 00:01:57,557 --> 00:02:00,364 on a regular basis. 40 00:02:00,364 --> 00:02:02,805 Somebody's going along through life. 41 00:02:02,805 --> 00:02:05,365 You may be a Christian. You may not be a Christian. 42 00:02:05,365 --> 00:02:06,945 You may think you're a Christian. 43 00:02:06,945 --> 00:02:11,879 You may be somebody that's just not certain. 44 00:02:11,879 --> 00:02:17,401 But what happens is you get this 45 00:02:17,401 --> 00:02:19,934 almost like a flash of lightning 46 00:02:19,934 --> 00:02:21,411 across your conscience 47 00:02:21,411 --> 00:02:23,910 that you need to do something. 48 00:02:23,910 --> 00:02:25,539 And then you don't do it 49 00:02:25,539 --> 00:02:27,191 and then like an equal flash 50 00:02:27,191 --> 00:02:29,075 of lightning across your conscience: 51 00:02:29,075 --> 00:02:33,358 you're condemned. 52 00:02:33,358 --> 00:02:40,142 That, I believe, is typically the way 53 00:02:40,142 --> 00:02:42,912 the devil operates. 54 00:02:42,912 --> 00:02:46,973 And I fear that this happens on a regular basis 55 00:02:46,973 --> 00:02:51,429 and people take it for being the Lord. 56 00:02:51,429 --> 00:02:58,190 And what it is is you're walking along through life 57 00:02:58,190 --> 00:03:02,436 and suddenly it's like this really hard thing, 58 00:03:02,436 --> 00:03:05,381 this really uncomfortable thing - 59 00:03:05,381 --> 00:03:09,037 sometimes it's just a matter of something 60 00:03:09,037 --> 00:03:11,823 that would be convenient in your life 61 00:03:11,823 --> 00:03:15,783 or something that you're just about ready to do 62 00:03:15,783 --> 00:03:19,015 and it's almost like a flash: bang! 63 00:03:19,015 --> 00:03:21,743 Maybe more like thunder than lightning 64 00:03:21,743 --> 00:03:23,368 across the conscience. 65 00:03:23,368 --> 00:03:28,557 Just bang! Don't do that! 66 00:03:28,557 --> 00:03:30,491 And it's the kind of thing where 67 00:03:30,491 --> 00:03:34,058 either you disregard it 68 00:03:34,058 --> 00:03:36,436 and then the next boom of thunder 69 00:03:36,436 --> 00:03:39,062 is, well, you've made shipwreck. 70 00:03:39,062 --> 00:03:41,270 Now God doesn't want anything to do with you. 71 00:03:41,270 --> 00:03:43,669 Now you can't approach the Lord. 72 00:03:43,669 --> 00:03:46,761 It's all over. 73 00:03:46,761 --> 00:03:48,533 And I think that happens a lot. 74 00:03:48,533 --> 00:03:52,154 I think it's one of the strategies of the devil 75 00:03:52,154 --> 00:03:53,633 and I want to talk about this 76 00:03:53,633 --> 00:03:57,104 because I think it is very prevalent. 77 00:03:57,104 --> 00:04:01,229 I think it's prevalent. 78 00:04:01,229 --> 00:04:04,101 Look, that's not to say 79 00:04:04,101 --> 00:04:11,539 that as Christians, obedience is not part 80 00:04:11,539 --> 00:04:14,373 of what it is to be a Christian. 81 00:04:14,373 --> 00:04:21,068 To be a Christian is to submit to Christ as Lord. 82 00:04:21,068 --> 00:04:23,609 But the thing is this, 83 00:04:23,609 --> 00:04:26,202 when God wants us to do something, 84 00:04:26,202 --> 00:04:28,242 do you know what I have found? 85 00:04:28,242 --> 00:04:30,006 I have found He deals with us 86 00:04:30,006 --> 00:04:33,295 far more like He dealt with Jonah, 87 00:04:33,295 --> 00:04:39,124 where there's this call, there's this pressure. 88 00:04:39,124 --> 00:04:41,686 And we can even run pretty far, 89 00:04:41,686 --> 00:04:45,837 but the thing is, he's going to move us back. 90 00:04:45,837 --> 00:04:47,190 He's going to move us back. 91 00:04:47,190 --> 00:04:49,710 Yes, it may be through things in the conscience, 92 00:04:49,710 --> 00:04:52,225 but we become convinced 93 00:04:52,225 --> 00:04:57,371 to where we can hear the Lord's voice in it. 94 00:04:57,371 --> 00:05:00,426 I'm afraid of things like this. 95 00:05:00,426 --> 00:05:05,414 And when I hear that, 96 00:05:05,414 --> 00:05:09,096 I think if I remember right, 97 00:05:09,096 --> 00:05:14,075 Mason Vann may have bought this book for me. 98 00:05:14,075 --> 00:05:16,560 Or he told me about it. 99 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,807 But I want you to hear something. 100 00:05:19,807 --> 00:05:22,547 This is one of the most helpful books that I have found. 101 00:05:22,547 --> 00:05:25,135 It's called "Towards Spiritual Maturity," 102 00:05:25,135 --> 00:05:27,786 by William Still. 103 00:05:27,786 --> 00:05:31,549 I think maybe you even pronounce it "steel." 104 00:05:31,549 --> 00:05:33,548 Not positive there. 105 00:05:33,548 --> 00:05:36,258 But one of the most helpful, 106 00:05:36,258 --> 00:05:41,871 descriptive books on just such occurrences. 107 00:05:41,871 --> 00:05:44,417 Listen to what he says: 108 00:05:44,417 --> 00:05:47,634 "We need to be forewarned of Satan's attacks 109 00:05:47,634 --> 00:05:49,692 when we enter the training school 110 00:05:49,692 --> 00:05:51,833 for spiritual warfare. 111 00:05:51,833 --> 00:05:55,293 For they usually come suddenly 112 00:05:55,293 --> 00:05:58,132 and from the least expected quarter. 113 00:05:58,132 --> 00:06:00,411 It may be an inward attack 114 00:06:00,411 --> 00:06:02,238 or it may come from without 115 00:06:02,238 --> 00:06:03,851 as a bolt from the blue 116 00:06:03,851 --> 00:06:07,353 to demoralize us before we know where we are. 117 00:06:07,353 --> 00:06:09,006 It's a real enemy we're fighting 118 00:06:09,006 --> 00:06:11,144 who will stop at nothing to knock us 119 00:06:11,144 --> 00:06:15,665 out of the fight before we're in it." 120 00:06:15,665 --> 00:06:21,181 So, now, this man is writing from his own experience. 121 00:06:21,181 --> 00:06:25,475 He went through situations 122 00:06:25,475 --> 00:06:30,881 where he's encountered 123 00:06:30,881 --> 00:06:34,231 just such similar events 124 00:06:34,231 --> 00:06:46,041 to what this guy has experienced. 125 00:06:46,041 --> 00:06:48,781 (incomplete thought) 126 00:06:48,781 --> 00:06:52,069 He says, "the attack upon our personal 127 00:06:52,069 --> 00:06:54,285 moral integrity is a serious one, 128 00:06:54,285 --> 00:06:56,749 and the devil successfully repulsed, 129 00:06:56,749 --> 00:06:58,846 may now retire to devise new 130 00:06:58,846 --> 00:07:01,176 and more cunning tactics against us. 131 00:07:01,176 --> 00:07:04,466 If he cannot shake our moral convictions 132 00:07:04,466 --> 00:07:07,027 or undermine our moral character, 133 00:07:07,027 --> 00:07:10,047 he has other weapons in his diabolical armory 134 00:07:10,047 --> 00:07:12,475 and will doubtless try more powerful means 135 00:07:12,475 --> 00:07:15,503 to move us in the hope that he may shatter 136 00:07:15,503 --> 00:07:17,256 our peace of mind." 137 00:07:17,256 --> 00:07:18,559 And that's what happens. 138 00:07:18,559 --> 00:07:20,235 That's what happens when you get 139 00:07:20,235 --> 00:07:21,847 this kind of situation 140 00:07:21,847 --> 00:07:25,181 is it entirely takes you out 141 00:07:25,181 --> 00:07:29,201 of peace with the Lord and rest. 142 00:07:29,201 --> 00:07:30,984 That's what he wants. 143 00:07:30,984 --> 00:07:34,367 And he says, 144 00:07:34,367 --> 00:07:36,365 "he may now assail us with a sense 145 00:07:36,365 --> 00:07:38,699 of restless foreboding 146 00:07:38,699 --> 00:07:40,445 and with irrational fears 147 00:07:40,445 --> 00:07:43,424 until we seriously doubt God ourselves 148 00:07:43,424 --> 00:07:45,804 and in fact everything that is good. 149 00:07:45,804 --> 00:07:47,503 All joy goes out of life. 150 00:07:47,503 --> 00:07:49,094 Nothing seems to matter. 151 00:07:49,094 --> 00:07:51,170 A vague, gnawing, cynical dread 152 00:07:51,170 --> 00:07:54,453 underlies all we formerly thought secure. 153 00:07:54,453 --> 00:07:56,202 The whole world begins to heave, 154 00:07:56,202 --> 00:07:57,237 turn like an ocean, 155 00:07:57,237 --> 00:07:59,927 giant plunging to its doom. 156 00:07:59,927 --> 00:08:02,387 These are not ordinary feelings of unhappiness. 157 00:08:02,387 --> 00:08:06,756 Indeed, they can be so enveloping and total 158 00:08:06,756 --> 00:08:08,946 that it's hard to believe they're real, 159 00:08:08,946 --> 00:08:10,818 but they're only too real. 160 00:08:10,818 --> 00:08:12,377 Yet they seem so unlikely 161 00:08:12,377 --> 00:08:14,573 that it's impossible to talk about them." 162 00:08:14,573 --> 00:08:16,416 Because people would not understand. 163 00:08:16,416 --> 00:08:18,453 And sometimes people don't understand 164 00:08:18,453 --> 00:08:21,545 if they haven't actually experienced this. 165 00:08:21,545 --> 00:08:24,721 "Not many understand, although many suffer. 166 00:08:24,721 --> 00:08:27,087 But God who permits them understands, 167 00:08:27,087 --> 00:08:30,037 and He has a word - several words for them. 168 00:08:30,037 --> 00:08:32,503 Here is one who's bedrock dependability 169 00:08:32,503 --> 00:08:34,171 has been proved for ages 170 00:08:34,171 --> 00:08:35,987 by those in dire need. 171 00:08:35,987 --> 00:08:38,531 'You will keep him in perfect peace 172 00:08:38,531 --> 00:08:42,814 whose mind is stayed on Thee.'" 173 00:08:42,814 --> 00:08:45,797 That's a good one. 174 00:08:45,797 --> 00:08:48,308 Here's another word from Paul. 175 00:08:48,308 --> 00:08:50,755 "Do not be anxious about anything, 176 00:08:50,755 --> 00:08:53,145 but in everything by prayer and supplication 177 00:08:53,145 --> 00:08:55,680 with thanksgiving make your requests be known to God 178 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:58,367 and the peace of God which transcends all understanding 179 00:08:58,367 --> 00:09:02,707 will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 180 00:09:02,707 --> 00:09:03,888 And again, 181 00:09:03,888 --> 00:09:06,005 "And over all these virtues, put on love, 182 00:09:06,005 --> 00:09:08,464 which binds them all together in perfect unity. 183 00:09:08,464 --> 00:09:12,547 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." 184 00:09:12,547 --> 00:09:16,865 And anyways, he goes on to say this: 185 00:09:16,865 --> 00:09:21,685 "God is not going to let us (not His children) 186 00:09:21,685 --> 00:09:23,860 be overwhelmed by the devil. 187 00:09:23,860 --> 00:09:25,759 It's well to remember that when we are 188 00:09:25,759 --> 00:09:28,317 tried and tempted to resign ourselves 189 00:09:28,317 --> 00:09:32,221 to the darkness of defeat, 190 00:09:32,221 --> 00:09:41,954 the enemy also may be almost played out." 191 00:09:41,954 --> 00:09:45,764 Now I want you to follow that truth. 192 00:09:45,764 --> 00:09:48,872 Hear what he's saying. 193 00:09:48,872 --> 00:09:51,738 Sometimes when you feel like you can't take it anymore, 194 00:09:51,738 --> 00:09:54,873 whatever kind of battle you're in with the devil, 195 00:09:54,873 --> 00:09:57,856 you need to recognize 196 00:09:57,856 --> 00:10:01,665 he may have expended himself to the point 197 00:10:01,665 --> 00:10:04,752 where he almost is ready to flee 198 00:10:04,752 --> 00:10:06,680 and give up. 199 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:11,167 Because God's holding you up. 200 00:10:11,167 --> 00:10:13,343 And God's not holding him up. 201 00:10:13,343 --> 00:10:15,722 He's only working in his raw power - 202 00:10:15,722 --> 00:10:18,050 whatever he's got natively. 203 00:10:18,050 --> 00:10:22,120 You're being supported by the living God Himself. 204 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,049 He will make certain 205 00:10:25,049 --> 00:10:27,775 that you are able to outlast the devil. 206 00:10:27,775 --> 00:10:31,590 And just when you think you may not be able to go any longer, 207 00:10:31,590 --> 00:10:33,508 the devil may be right on the verge 208 00:10:33,508 --> 00:10:35,453 of himself giving up. 209 00:10:35,453 --> 00:10:37,911 That's a very encouraging thought. 210 00:10:37,911 --> 00:10:43,159 I put brackets and "yes!" 211 00:10:43,159 --> 00:10:44,951 "He must and will because 212 00:10:44,951 --> 00:10:47,403 we're trusting in Him who has vanquished 213 00:10:47,403 --> 00:10:49,193 the devil once and for all. 214 00:10:49,193 --> 00:10:50,986 Jesus' own heart rending cry 215 00:10:50,986 --> 00:10:53,060 was just before the end. 216 00:10:53,060 --> 00:10:55,677 What devilish pressure was laid upon Him 217 00:10:55,677 --> 00:10:56,985 we do not know, 218 00:10:56,985 --> 00:10:58,848 but it was for the joy set before Him 219 00:10:58,848 --> 00:11:02,250 that He endured what He endured. 220 00:11:02,250 --> 00:11:04,920 You remember, the devil is not invincible. 221 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,035 He's more easily shaken by those in Christ 222 00:11:08,035 --> 00:11:11,612 than we realize." 223 00:11:11,612 --> 00:11:15,495 But he goes on to talk about the fiery darts. 224 00:11:15,495 --> 00:11:17,024 He says, "What does the imagery 225 00:11:17,024 --> 00:11:21,256 of the fire-tipped dart represent in experience? 226 00:11:21,256 --> 00:11:23,568 A series of sudden, 227 00:11:23,568 --> 00:11:26,031 totally unexpected attacks, 228 00:11:26,031 --> 00:11:29,542 usually very different from one another, 229 00:11:29,542 --> 00:11:33,436 aimed at shaking our faith in God. 230 00:11:33,436 --> 00:11:37,754 Aimed at making us shake at the revealed Word 231 00:11:37,754 --> 00:11:39,257 and His will to His children 232 00:11:39,257 --> 00:11:43,600 in our judgment, obedience, and sincerity." 233 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:49,911 He goes on to describe some of these things. Listen. 234 00:11:49,911 --> 00:11:54,500 "Here's a story of a tried and trusted servant of God." 235 00:11:54,500 --> 00:11:57,358 He says, "A young man intent on serving God 236 00:11:57,358 --> 00:12:01,277 had begun to prepare for Christian service. 237 00:12:01,277 --> 00:12:02,844 He had a happy nature 238 00:12:02,844 --> 00:12:05,096 with a normally healthy outlook on life. 239 00:12:05,096 --> 00:12:07,255 He'd become increasingly obsessed 240 00:12:07,255 --> 00:12:09,788 with the morbid suspicion 241 00:12:09,788 --> 00:12:11,935 that to be too happy was sinful. 242 00:12:11,935 --> 00:12:13,699 One day, he saw something he wanted 243 00:12:13,699 --> 00:12:16,279 in a shop window 244 00:12:16,279 --> 00:12:18,165 and he went in to buy it. 245 00:12:18,165 --> 00:12:19,997 The shop keeper appeared 246 00:12:19,997 --> 00:12:23,638 and instantly the inward tyrant hissed, 247 00:12:23,638 --> 00:12:26,798 'You cannot have it! It's sin!' 248 00:12:26,798 --> 00:12:31,506 Dumbfounded at the violence of the warning, 249 00:12:31,506 --> 00:12:33,910 at the shock to his conscience, 250 00:12:33,910 --> 00:12:37,199 this young man fled from the shop 251 00:12:37,199 --> 00:12:41,915 leaving the astonished shop keeper gaping." 252 00:12:41,915 --> 00:12:44,068 It's that kind of situation. 253 00:12:44,068 --> 00:12:48,102 Suddenly, bang! You can't have it. 254 00:12:48,102 --> 00:12:49,845 Another part of the story 255 00:12:49,845 --> 00:12:53,730 concerns a university grant - same young man. 256 00:12:53,730 --> 00:12:56,605 He was faced with getting a grant 257 00:12:56,605 --> 00:12:57,852 for going to college. 258 00:12:57,852 --> 00:13:00,527 "Financial assistance was not easy to come by then 259 00:13:00,527 --> 00:13:01,839 and the young man's parents 260 00:13:01,839 --> 00:13:04,165 were not able to finance his education, 261 00:13:04,165 --> 00:13:06,755 but he was assured he would receive a grant 262 00:13:06,755 --> 00:13:08,865 and was about to sign the application form 263 00:13:08,865 --> 00:13:12,220 when the sinister voice spat out, 264 00:13:12,220 --> 00:13:14,654 'You cannot do it. It's sin.' 265 00:13:14,654 --> 00:13:16,344 Several years of financial aid 266 00:13:16,344 --> 00:13:18,595 were thereby unsigned away 267 00:13:18,595 --> 00:13:20,979 leading to years of hardship. 268 00:13:20,979 --> 00:13:23,850 This form of attack came with increasing 269 00:13:23,850 --> 00:13:26,249 frequency and ferocity 270 00:13:26,249 --> 00:13:29,504 until a sane and balanced young man 271 00:13:29,504 --> 00:13:31,115 became almost demented 272 00:13:31,115 --> 00:13:33,001 not only by the unpredictableness, 273 00:13:33,001 --> 00:13:34,322 but by the horrid discovery 274 00:13:34,322 --> 00:13:36,629 that the God he had believed to be so loving 275 00:13:36,629 --> 00:13:39,105 was really a monster. 276 00:13:39,105 --> 00:13:41,593 It's all very well to say that Satan's bluff 277 00:13:41,593 --> 00:13:44,730 should have been called earlier by this young man, 278 00:13:44,730 --> 00:13:47,811 but he is a spirit and when he comes in this way, 279 00:13:47,811 --> 00:13:51,002 the young Christian - especially those with no teaching 280 00:13:51,002 --> 00:13:52,953 on the workings of evil spirits - 281 00:13:52,953 --> 00:13:54,785 the very force of the attacks 282 00:13:54,785 --> 00:13:57,829 is frighteningly impressive 283 00:13:57,829 --> 00:14:00,582 and his victims are driven to comply 284 00:14:00,582 --> 00:14:04,089 in sheer terror lest they be found 285 00:14:04,089 --> 00:14:07,453 to be fighting against God Himself." 286 00:14:07,453 --> 00:14:09,607 You see, that's what he's telling you. 287 00:14:09,607 --> 00:14:11,681 "If you do this, you're going against God." 288 00:14:11,681 --> 00:14:14,102 "If you don't do this, you're going against God." 289 00:14:14,102 --> 00:14:15,792 You see, this is what's happening. 290 00:14:15,792 --> 00:14:16,942 Here's a guy. 291 00:14:16,942 --> 00:14:19,851 All of a sudden, here you are on a bus 292 00:14:19,851 --> 00:14:22,332 and it can come with the same 293 00:14:22,332 --> 00:14:25,934 thunderous clap to your conscience. 294 00:14:25,934 --> 00:14:29,575 Stand up right now and preach to this bus 295 00:14:29,575 --> 00:14:32,949 or you're not a Christian, you're going to go to hell. 296 00:14:32,949 --> 00:14:35,533 Stand up right now and do this 297 00:14:35,533 --> 00:14:39,122 or Christ wants nothing to do with you. 298 00:14:39,122 --> 00:14:41,408 And then you get off and you feel guilty. 299 00:14:41,408 --> 00:14:43,563 And what you feel like 300 00:14:43,563 --> 00:14:44,857 is you've gone against God. 301 00:14:44,857 --> 00:14:51,009 You feel like you've just fought against God. 302 00:14:51,009 --> 00:14:54,031 He says, "As this form of attack 303 00:14:54,031 --> 00:14:56,485 developed increasingly in the young man's life, 304 00:14:56,485 --> 00:14:59,063 his early ministry was periodically overwhelmed 305 00:14:59,063 --> 00:15:01,181 by a pall of spiritual darkness 306 00:15:01,181 --> 00:15:04,123 completely enshrouding his soul. 307 00:15:04,123 --> 00:15:05,343 He had to preach the Word 308 00:15:05,343 --> 00:15:07,503 even while the black conviction gripped him 309 00:15:07,503 --> 00:15:09,843 that he himself was lost - 310 00:15:09,843 --> 00:15:11,279 a Christless soul." 311 00:15:11,279 --> 00:15:13,153 See, the same thing happened to him. 312 00:15:13,153 --> 00:15:14,269 The voice was there. 313 00:15:14,269 --> 00:15:16,367 This is what Satan does. 314 00:15:16,367 --> 00:15:18,929 He comes in. He says, "do it!" 315 00:15:18,929 --> 00:15:22,071 And then when you don't do it, he says, 316 00:15:22,071 --> 00:15:25,083 "You don't belong to Christ." 317 00:15:25,083 --> 00:15:29,761 He's an accuser that way. 318 00:15:29,761 --> 00:15:31,593 "Eventually, although it took years, 319 00:15:31,593 --> 00:15:33,487 the ground comparatively 320 00:15:33,487 --> 00:15:36,109 innocently conceded to the enemy 321 00:15:36,109 --> 00:15:38,820 was retaken, albeit with painful failures 322 00:15:38,820 --> 00:15:42,762 and setbacks until at last there was full deliverance." 323 00:15:42,762 --> 00:15:46,667 Obviously, it's Mr. William Still himself. 324 00:15:46,667 --> 00:15:52,088 "It is the suddenness and the unexpectedness of the attacks 325 00:15:52,088 --> 00:15:54,248 which are so alarming. 326 00:15:54,248 --> 00:15:56,404 As also, the imperious demand 327 00:15:56,404 --> 00:15:59,594 that the spirit is to be obeyed instantly 328 00:15:59,594 --> 00:16:03,125 without question and without reason." 329 00:16:03,125 --> 00:16:04,711 And that's the issue. 330 00:16:04,711 --> 00:16:08,466 No time to consider Scripture 331 00:16:08,466 --> 00:16:10,284 or what's right or what's wrong 332 00:16:10,284 --> 00:16:12,054 or what probably is God's will. 333 00:16:12,054 --> 00:16:13,795 No time to pray. 334 00:16:13,795 --> 00:16:16,200 No time to seek the Lord. 335 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:17,625 None of that. 336 00:16:17,625 --> 00:16:21,591 "It comes without reason." 337 00:16:21,591 --> 00:16:23,530 He says, "how then are we to distinguish 338 00:16:23,530 --> 00:16:26,113 between the voice of God and the voice of Satan? 339 00:16:26,113 --> 00:16:27,625 We know, of course, that God 340 00:16:27,625 --> 00:16:30,821 can give His servants swift guidance, 341 00:16:30,821 --> 00:16:32,741 but He never blitzes them. 342 00:16:32,741 --> 00:16:33,925 He has no need. 343 00:16:33,925 --> 00:16:35,472 For even when He comes suddenly, 344 00:16:35,472 --> 00:16:37,007 He is sweetly reasonable 345 00:16:37,007 --> 00:16:39,833 and identifies Himself by His loving wisdom 346 00:16:39,833 --> 00:16:41,970 and thus we recognize Him." 347 00:16:41,970 --> 00:16:43,650 Of course, this goes on 348 00:16:43,650 --> 00:16:51,336 and I want to come back to this. 349 00:16:51,336 --> 00:16:53,523 I guess the thing is, he feels like 350 00:16:53,523 --> 00:16:56,021 after this happened, he feels like 351 00:16:56,021 --> 00:16:58,065 I've made shipwreck. 352 00:16:58,065 --> 00:16:59,764 This guy went on preaching 353 00:16:59,764 --> 00:17:03,607 just thinking I'm probably lost 354 00:17:03,607 --> 00:17:09,554 because of the things that were happening. 355 00:17:09,554 --> 00:17:12,386 Here's the thing, 356 00:17:12,386 --> 00:17:14,636 we find in Scripture 357 00:17:14,636 --> 00:17:19,070 that the strategy of the devil 358 00:17:19,070 --> 00:17:24,106 is to move us away from the simplicity 359 00:17:24,106 --> 00:17:27,098 that is in Christ. 360 00:17:27,098 --> 00:17:29,570 He doesn't want us resting in Christ. 361 00:17:29,570 --> 00:17:31,722 He doesn't want us trusting Christ. 362 00:17:31,722 --> 00:17:33,922 He doesn't want us communing with Him, 363 00:17:33,922 --> 00:17:36,020 fellowshipping with Him, 364 00:17:36,020 --> 00:17:37,713 calling upon Him. 365 00:17:37,713 --> 00:17:39,288 He doesn't want that. 366 00:17:39,288 --> 00:17:43,527 And if he can come with these kind of barrages 367 00:17:43,527 --> 00:17:46,597 and convince us Christ wants nothing to do - 368 00:17:46,597 --> 00:17:49,889 it just so paralyzes you. 369 00:17:49,889 --> 00:17:57,169 It so sucks the joy out, 370 00:17:57,169 --> 00:18:01,424 if you don't know how properly to fight. 371 00:18:01,424 --> 00:18:03,184 But one of the things that we need 372 00:18:03,184 --> 00:18:05,661 to really ask ourselves 373 00:18:05,661 --> 00:18:10,085 is what is God like? 374 00:18:10,085 --> 00:18:12,408 I mean, what is God like when He comes? 375 00:18:12,408 --> 00:18:15,044 Do we really have a God 376 00:18:15,044 --> 00:18:20,434 who even if He wanted you to preach on the bus, 377 00:18:20,434 --> 00:18:23,571 do we have a God who's in the business 378 00:18:23,571 --> 00:18:26,093 if I got up and I walked off the bus 379 00:18:26,093 --> 00:18:27,404 and I didn't preach, 380 00:18:27,404 --> 00:18:29,744 who would abandon us, leave us, 381 00:18:29,744 --> 00:18:33,123 forsake us, damn us? 382 00:18:33,123 --> 00:18:36,422 Have nothing to do with us after getting up 383 00:18:36,422 --> 00:18:39,142 and walking off the bus one time? 384 00:18:39,142 --> 00:18:41,168 And as I mentioned before, 385 00:18:41,168 --> 00:18:44,473 isn't Jonah the perfect example 386 00:18:44,473 --> 00:18:46,213 of the kind of God that we have? 387 00:18:46,213 --> 00:18:50,487 In fact, I want us to think for a moment. 388 00:18:50,487 --> 00:18:55,256 When we hear God being described 389 00:18:55,256 --> 00:18:58,250 in the Old Testament, 390 00:18:58,250 --> 00:19:01,665 think - think. 391 00:19:01,665 --> 00:19:05,197 Moses said, "Show me Your glory." 392 00:19:05,197 --> 00:19:09,059 And do you remember what God did? 393 00:19:09,059 --> 00:19:12,773 When His glory passes by, 394 00:19:12,773 --> 00:19:14,162 He speaks. 395 00:19:14,162 --> 00:19:15,679 And what does He do? 396 00:19:15,679 --> 00:19:18,039 He proclaims His character. 397 00:19:18,039 --> 00:19:20,653 And what is His character? 398 00:19:20,653 --> 00:19:24,591 What is one of the oft repeated 399 00:19:24,591 --> 00:19:27,308 characteristics of God then 400 00:19:27,308 --> 00:19:30,935 and periodically throughout the Old Testament? 401 00:19:30,935 --> 00:19:38,154 That God is slow to anger. 402 00:19:38,154 --> 00:19:41,545 He's slow to anger. 403 00:19:41,545 --> 00:19:44,923 Do you think that if God really wants us 404 00:19:44,923 --> 00:19:49,201 to become a preacher on buses 405 00:19:49,201 --> 00:19:52,202 that He's going to be done with us 406 00:19:52,202 --> 00:19:54,139 and angry with us? 407 00:19:54,139 --> 00:19:56,536 Be rid of us and damn us to hell? 408 00:19:56,536 --> 00:20:03,236 And cause us to shipwreck on the rocks 409 00:20:03,236 --> 00:20:06,070 after one time? 410 00:20:06,070 --> 00:20:07,961 Is that the way the Lord works 411 00:20:07,961 --> 00:20:10,152 if He's calling us to that kind of ministry? 412 00:20:10,152 --> 00:20:12,783 I've watched men that are called into the ministry. 413 00:20:12,783 --> 00:20:15,306 I've never seen God blitz them with thoughts 414 00:20:15,306 --> 00:20:17,347 that in a moment they simply had to get up 415 00:20:17,347 --> 00:20:18,766 and run to the pulpit. 416 00:20:18,766 --> 00:20:20,825 I've never seen that happen. Ever. 417 00:20:20,825 --> 00:20:23,532 In fact, I would be absolutely convinced 418 00:20:23,532 --> 00:20:26,660 that that was no way of the Lord 419 00:20:26,660 --> 00:20:30,838 that that should happen. 420 00:20:30,838 --> 00:20:36,685 Somebody open up and read Jonah 4:2. 421 00:20:36,685 --> 00:20:40,235 Because this isn't about Jonah, 422 00:20:40,235 --> 00:20:45,092 this is what Jonah knew to be true of God 423 00:20:45,092 --> 00:20:50,158 when he was considering Nineveh. 424 00:20:50,158 --> 00:20:51,919 This is the kind of God we have. 425 00:20:51,919 --> 00:20:54,279 And Jonah knew the kind of God we have, 426 00:20:54,279 --> 00:20:56,153 not only from his own experience, 427 00:20:56,153 --> 00:20:58,719 but because he knew the character 428 00:20:58,719 --> 00:21:00,117 of the God of Israel. 429 00:21:00,117 --> 00:21:04,509 And what does he say in Jonah 4:2? 430 00:21:04,509 --> 00:21:06,289 "And he prayed to the Lord and said, 431 00:21:06,289 --> 00:21:08,524 'Oh Lord, is not this what I said 432 00:21:08,524 --> 00:21:10,560 when I was yet in my country? 433 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,502 That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, 434 00:21:13,502 --> 00:21:16,800 for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, 435 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,632 slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love 436 00:21:19,632 --> 00:21:22,298 and relenting from disaster.'" 437 00:21:22,298 --> 00:21:24,893 Tim: After all the wickedness 438 00:21:24,893 --> 00:21:27,273 that Nineveh did - 439 00:21:27,273 --> 00:21:31,140 you can do research on ancient Nineveh 440 00:21:31,140 --> 00:21:33,026 and find out their crimes, 441 00:21:33,026 --> 00:21:34,385 their wickedness, 442 00:21:34,385 --> 00:21:35,646 their sin. 443 00:21:35,646 --> 00:21:37,641 They filleted people alive. 444 00:21:37,641 --> 00:21:41,364 They did horrible things. 445 00:21:41,364 --> 00:21:44,236 I mean, they had ways of peeling the skin off people 446 00:21:44,236 --> 00:21:47,293 as slowly as possible 447 00:21:47,293 --> 00:21:51,091 without actually killing people. 448 00:21:51,091 --> 00:21:53,633 They were brutal. 449 00:21:53,633 --> 00:21:55,247 And here's Jonah. 450 00:21:55,247 --> 00:21:56,979 And this is even before Jonah 451 00:21:56,979 --> 00:21:59,226 gets thrown in the water, 452 00:21:59,226 --> 00:22:01,134 taken by the fish, 453 00:22:01,134 --> 00:22:02,564 spit out on the land. 454 00:22:02,564 --> 00:22:05,172 You see, he's saying, I knew it 455 00:22:05,172 --> 00:22:07,748 when I was all the way back there at home 456 00:22:07,748 --> 00:22:09,956 before I tried to flee. 457 00:22:09,956 --> 00:22:15,388 God, the reason I ran in the first place 458 00:22:15,388 --> 00:22:18,282 was because I knew the kind of God You were, 459 00:22:18,282 --> 00:22:20,825 and You sending me over there to Nineveh, 460 00:22:20,825 --> 00:22:23,304 I just knew it! 461 00:22:23,304 --> 00:22:26,461 You were sending me to proclaim judgment, 462 00:22:26,461 --> 00:22:28,753 but I knew that You would be soft 463 00:22:28,753 --> 00:22:29,976 towards them in the end 464 00:22:29,976 --> 00:22:31,473 because You're the kind of God 465 00:22:31,473 --> 00:22:34,417 that is so slow to anger 466 00:22:34,417 --> 00:22:36,128 and You are full of mercy. 467 00:22:36,128 --> 00:22:38,524 I knew it! 468 00:22:38,524 --> 00:22:40,250 And see, here it is! 469 00:22:40,250 --> 00:22:42,077 You spared them! 470 00:22:42,077 --> 00:22:44,271 Now, we laugh, 471 00:22:44,271 --> 00:22:46,838 but that is glorious! 472 00:22:46,838 --> 00:22:50,043 That's the kind of God we have. 473 00:22:50,043 --> 00:22:51,636 You see, you look at a guy 474 00:22:51,636 --> 00:22:53,202 that as we walks off the bus, 475 00:22:53,202 --> 00:22:56,483 and his conscience is feeling condemned - 476 00:22:56,483 --> 00:22:58,260 see, that's what he needs to hear. 477 00:22:58,260 --> 00:23:00,886 The devil's right there to tell him that God isn't like that at all; 478 00:23:00,886 --> 00:23:02,314 that God is the kind of God that will 479 00:23:02,314 --> 00:23:04,209 blast you into oblivion because you didn't 480 00:23:04,209 --> 00:23:06,013 get up and preach when this blitz 481 00:23:06,013 --> 00:23:07,974 came across your conscience, 482 00:23:07,974 --> 00:23:10,692 but that's not the kind of God we have. 483 00:23:10,692 --> 00:23:13,771 In fact, the kind of God that we have, 484 00:23:13,771 --> 00:23:17,149 when you get to the end of Romans 10 - 485 00:23:17,149 --> 00:23:19,015 somebody open up to Romans 10, 486 00:23:19,015 --> 00:23:24,908 and I want you to read Romans 10:21. 487 00:23:24,908 --> 00:23:26,758 Because this is what the New Testament 488 00:23:26,758 --> 00:23:28,675 sees to be true. 489 00:23:28,675 --> 00:23:32,555 The Apostle Paul. 490 00:23:32,555 --> 00:23:35,279 Romans 10:21, 491 00:23:35,279 --> 00:23:37,649 "But concerning Israel He says, 492 00:23:37,649 --> 00:23:40,664 'All day long I have held out My hands 493 00:23:40,664 --> 00:23:46,258 to a disobedient and obstinate people.'" 494 00:23:46,258 --> 00:23:49,218 You know what I've been reading? 495 00:23:49,218 --> 00:23:54,044 In high speed fashion, 496 00:23:54,044 --> 00:23:58,889 I have read Isaiah, Jeremiah, 497 00:23:58,889 --> 00:24:01,168 Lamentations, 498 00:24:01,168 --> 00:24:10,637 and I'm now a fair ways through Exodus. 499 00:24:10,637 --> 00:24:13,025 (incomplete thought) 500 00:24:13,025 --> 00:24:15,825 See, what's interesting about those books 501 00:24:15,825 --> 00:24:18,496 is those are the books 502 00:24:18,496 --> 00:24:27,128 that are leading up to the captivity, 503 00:24:27,128 --> 00:24:31,974 the Babylonian exile. 504 00:24:31,974 --> 00:24:36,196 What's so unusual about that? 505 00:24:36,196 --> 00:24:39,460 I'll tell you. Just this. 506 00:24:39,460 --> 00:24:42,337 When the people were brought out of Egypt, 507 00:24:42,337 --> 00:24:43,975 they were stiff-necked. 508 00:24:43,975 --> 00:24:45,639 They rebelled. 509 00:24:45,639 --> 00:24:49,224 A whole generation died in the wilderness. 510 00:24:49,224 --> 00:24:53,631 They got brought into the country, 511 00:24:53,631 --> 00:24:56,071 into the land of Canaan, 512 00:24:56,071 --> 00:24:59,005 and as soon as Joshua 513 00:24:59,005 --> 00:25:01,266 and those of his generation were gone 514 00:25:01,266 --> 00:25:03,049 and the time of the judges came in, 515 00:25:03,049 --> 00:25:06,172 everybody was doing what was right in their own eyes. 516 00:25:06,172 --> 00:25:11,042 They went and made Saul king, 517 00:25:11,042 --> 00:25:15,034 and they rejected God. 518 00:25:15,034 --> 00:25:18,849 They rejected the prophets 519 00:25:18,849 --> 00:25:22,687 again and again and again. 520 00:25:22,687 --> 00:25:24,575 They went after foreign gods. 521 00:25:24,575 --> 00:25:26,155 They went after the Baals. 522 00:25:26,155 --> 00:25:31,793 They went after the Ashtoreths, 523 00:25:31,793 --> 00:25:37,500 they went after the gods of all the different countries. 524 00:25:37,500 --> 00:25:40,029 What is interesting is when you get 525 00:25:40,029 --> 00:25:46,100 all the way down to right up to the captivity, 526 00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:52,740 when God has extended His long-suffering to them, 527 00:25:52,740 --> 00:25:56,495 do you know He was still saying - 528 00:25:56,495 --> 00:26:01,583 Jeremiah was there 529 00:26:01,583 --> 00:26:08,991 when Zedekiah's sons were slaughtered before him. 530 00:26:08,991 --> 00:26:11,018 His eyes were put out. 531 00:26:11,018 --> 00:26:15,056 He was put in chains and led off to Babylon. 532 00:26:15,056 --> 00:26:17,786 And the whole city was burned. 533 00:26:17,786 --> 00:26:20,647 He was there. He was there 534 00:26:20,647 --> 00:26:26,266 when the last group went into captivity. 535 00:26:26,266 --> 00:26:32,703 And somebody open your Bible to Jeremiah 18. 536 00:26:32,703 --> 00:26:34,348 Jeremiah 18:8 537 00:26:34,348 --> 00:26:38,771 This is a text that stands out to me 538 00:26:38,771 --> 00:26:40,415 on a regular basis. 539 00:26:40,415 --> 00:26:43,365 Jeremiah 18:8. 540 00:26:43,365 --> 00:26:46,979 Somebody read that when you find it. 541 00:26:46,979 --> 00:26:49,071 Jeremiah 18:8, 542 00:26:49,071 --> 00:26:52,065 "and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, 543 00:26:52,065 --> 00:26:53,827 turns from its evil, 544 00:26:53,827 --> 00:26:56,915 I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it." 545 00:26:56,915 --> 00:26:59,613 Tim: There it is. Right at the end. 546 00:26:59,613 --> 00:27:01,754 They're being told 547 00:27:01,754 --> 00:27:04,546 Jeremiah is speaking to the king 548 00:27:04,546 --> 00:27:06,183 right up at the end. 549 00:27:06,183 --> 00:27:09,367 (incomplete thought) 550 00:27:09,367 --> 00:27:15,070 They're told if you will even now repent, 551 00:27:15,070 --> 00:27:19,243 the city won't be burned. 552 00:27:19,243 --> 00:27:24,379 All this evil that God has prophesied will happen to you 553 00:27:24,379 --> 00:27:25,749 won't happen. 554 00:27:25,749 --> 00:27:29,836 And as I came home this afternoon, 555 00:27:29,836 --> 00:27:31,597 I was thinking about this message, 556 00:27:31,597 --> 00:27:35,034 and the two words came into my mind: 557 00:27:35,034 --> 00:27:38,807 even now. 558 00:27:38,807 --> 00:27:41,589 And I thought, yeah, where is that? 559 00:27:41,589 --> 00:27:44,617 I need to run to my Bible Works and find out where is that. 560 00:27:44,617 --> 00:27:46,230 Look at these two texts. 561 00:27:46,230 --> 00:27:48,370 Somebody look at Ezra 10:2 562 00:27:48,370 --> 00:27:53,366 and somebody else Joel 2:12. 563 00:27:53,366 --> 00:27:59,736 Those two words: even now. 564 00:27:59,736 --> 00:28:00,955 What does that mean? 565 00:28:00,955 --> 00:28:02,605 What does that communicate? 566 00:28:02,605 --> 00:28:07,389 After everything that you have done, 567 00:28:07,389 --> 00:28:10,477 even now if you will turn to the Lord, 568 00:28:10,477 --> 00:28:12,157 He will have mercy on you. 569 00:28:12,157 --> 00:28:14,243 That's the kind of God we have. 570 00:28:14,243 --> 00:28:16,019 Even now. 571 00:28:16,019 --> 00:28:18,662 Look at those two texts. 572 00:28:18,662 --> 00:28:20,489 Now think about this. 573 00:28:20,489 --> 00:28:24,163 After everything that Israel did, 574 00:28:24,163 --> 00:28:27,587 after despising the prophets, 575 00:28:27,587 --> 00:28:30,946 after going off into Babylonian captivity, 576 00:28:30,946 --> 00:28:35,523 and then they came back, 577 00:28:35,523 --> 00:28:46,599 and they started taking advantage of the poor again. 578 00:28:46,599 --> 00:28:51,832 They started taking people into slavery. 579 00:28:51,832 --> 00:28:53,893 And you know what else they did? 580 00:28:53,893 --> 00:28:56,532 They started taking foreign wives. 581 00:28:56,532 --> 00:28:58,337 You remember that? 582 00:28:58,337 --> 00:29:01,125 But look at this. 583 00:29:01,125 --> 00:29:03,813 Somebody have Ezra 10:2? 584 00:29:03,813 --> 00:29:07,555 What does it say? 585 00:29:07,555 --> 00:29:11,704 (from the room) I have NIV version. 586 00:29:11,704 --> 00:29:15,683 "Then Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, 587 00:29:15,683 --> 00:29:19,602 one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra: 588 00:29:19,602 --> 00:29:21,859 'We have been unfaithful to our God 589 00:29:21,859 --> 00:29:23,356 by marrying foreign women 590 00:29:23,356 --> 00:29:25,931 from the peoples around us, 591 00:29:25,931 --> 00:29:31,271 but in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel.'" 592 00:29:31,271 --> 00:29:33,411 Tim: Right, anybody have the ESV? 593 00:29:33,411 --> 00:29:36,503 "...But even now, there is hope for Israel 594 00:29:36,503 --> 00:29:38,387 in spite of this." 595 00:29:38,387 --> 00:29:40,322 See, that was it - "even now." 596 00:29:40,322 --> 00:29:44,146 What does it say in the KJV? 597 00:29:44,146 --> 00:29:45,775 Even now? 598 00:29:45,775 --> 00:29:47,852 Yet now. 599 00:29:47,852 --> 00:29:53,632 See, that, to me - we're talking centuries of rebellion. 600 00:29:53,632 --> 00:29:55,693 Centuries of rebellion 601 00:29:55,693 --> 00:29:57,903 that have been so aggravated 602 00:29:57,903 --> 00:30:00,633 that God actually sent Gentiles 603 00:30:00,633 --> 00:30:04,181 to tear the temple down to the ground, 604 00:30:04,181 --> 00:30:06,193 to drop the walls of Jerusalem, 605 00:30:06,193 --> 00:30:07,502 burn the houses. 606 00:30:07,502 --> 00:30:09,434 They took the bones of the kings 607 00:30:09,434 --> 00:30:13,178 and they scattered them. 608 00:30:13,178 --> 00:30:15,683 They killed he said how many of them? 609 00:30:15,683 --> 00:30:18,178 Only just a few, only a remnant 610 00:30:18,178 --> 00:30:20,635 actually lived. 611 00:30:20,635 --> 00:30:22,792 The vast majority were killed with the sword. 612 00:30:22,792 --> 00:30:24,439 They were killed with pestilence 613 00:30:24,439 --> 00:30:27,768 and they were killed with famine. 614 00:30:27,768 --> 00:30:32,042 And after all of that, then they come back 615 00:30:32,042 --> 00:30:36,206 and they run back to disobeying God. 616 00:30:36,206 --> 00:30:38,712 And it's like you would think 617 00:30:38,712 --> 00:30:40,268 that's it. 618 00:30:40,268 --> 00:30:41,672 It's all over. 619 00:30:41,672 --> 00:30:47,385 And it's like God is so long-suffering... 620 00:30:47,385 --> 00:30:49,722 what we don't want to do 621 00:30:49,722 --> 00:30:53,415 is take that for granted. 622 00:30:53,415 --> 00:30:55,195 That, well, He's so long-suffering 623 00:30:55,195 --> 00:30:58,695 that in the end, He won't actually 624 00:30:58,695 --> 00:31:01,005 pour out His wrath, 625 00:31:01,005 --> 00:31:03,048 because we see that He does. 626 00:31:03,048 --> 00:31:08,865 There is a point at which He runs out of patience. 627 00:31:08,865 --> 00:31:12,338 But amazing! Joel - read Joel. 628 00:31:12,338 --> 00:31:15,222 "Yet even now declares the Lord, 629 00:31:15,222 --> 00:31:17,112 return to Me with all your heart, 630 00:31:17,112 --> 00:31:18,701 with fasting, with weeping, 631 00:31:18,701 --> 00:31:20,285 and with mourning, 632 00:31:20,285 --> 00:31:21,713 and rend your hearts 633 00:31:21,713 --> 00:31:23,374 and not your garments. 634 00:31:23,374 --> 00:31:25,051 Return to the Lord your God, 635 00:31:25,051 --> 00:31:27,146 for He is gracious and merciful, 636 00:31:27,146 --> 00:31:28,610 slow to anger 637 00:31:28,610 --> 00:31:31,259 and abounding in steadfast love, 638 00:31:31,259 --> 00:31:33,007 and He relents over disaster." 639 00:31:33,007 --> 00:31:34,150 Tim: Even now. 640 00:31:34,150 --> 00:31:37,111 I would have a young man like this remember those two words. 641 00:31:37,111 --> 00:31:38,708 Even now. 642 00:31:38,708 --> 00:31:44,289 I mean, the God he's got conjured up in his mind - 643 00:31:44,289 --> 00:31:46,380 remember what he said as a young man? 644 00:31:46,380 --> 00:31:50,609 He said what was happening to him 645 00:31:50,609 --> 00:31:53,611 was the god he thought was God 646 00:31:53,611 --> 00:31:56,898 suddenly he began to see was a monster. 647 00:31:56,898 --> 00:31:58,785 But He's not a monster. 648 00:31:58,785 --> 00:32:04,056 He's the God who says, "but even now..." 649 00:32:04,056 --> 00:32:05,980 If you start thinking God's a monster, 650 00:32:05,980 --> 00:32:09,209 be sure of this, you're not seeing God right. 651 00:32:09,209 --> 00:32:13,380 And the devil is right there. 652 00:32:13,380 --> 00:32:14,332 Yes? 653 00:32:14,332 --> 00:32:17,392 (from the room) I think of Romans 2:4 654 00:32:17,392 --> 00:32:19,925 that says God's kindness is meant 655 00:32:19,925 --> 00:32:22,669 to lead you to repentance. 656 00:32:22,669 --> 00:32:25,173 You can kind of see that in v. 12 here. 657 00:32:25,173 --> 00:32:30,435 "Return to Me with all your heart..." 658 00:32:30,435 --> 00:32:36,375 Tim: Our God is sweetly persistent. 659 00:32:36,375 --> 00:32:38,435 And what I mean by that 660 00:32:38,435 --> 00:32:42,539 is generally, He doesn't come like a blitz. 661 00:32:42,539 --> 00:32:46,089 There's a suggestion and sometimes it's subtle. 662 00:32:46,089 --> 00:32:48,200 And then it tends to increase 663 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:49,966 and it tends to increase. 664 00:32:49,966 --> 00:32:53,860 And we begin to ponder Scripture 665 00:32:53,860 --> 00:32:55,589 and it's like we're in Scripture 666 00:32:55,589 --> 00:32:58,550 and He speaks again in the Scripture. 667 00:32:58,550 --> 00:33:00,551 And then maybe one of the brethren 668 00:33:00,551 --> 00:33:01,954 is used to say something. 669 00:33:01,954 --> 00:33:05,684 And it's like a case is being built, 670 00:33:05,684 --> 00:33:07,277 but He's using God's people, 671 00:33:07,277 --> 00:33:08,935 He's using God's Word, 672 00:33:08,935 --> 00:33:12,228 you're in prayer and He comes 673 00:33:12,228 --> 00:33:15,277 and He's convincing you 674 00:33:15,277 --> 00:33:18,491 to the point where you get to the place 675 00:33:18,491 --> 00:33:22,731 where you recognize: I know this voice. 676 00:33:22,731 --> 00:33:26,125 This is the Lord's voice. 677 00:33:26,125 --> 00:33:28,139 That's the way He deals with people. 678 00:33:28,139 --> 00:33:32,156 So we need to beware 679 00:33:32,156 --> 00:33:35,243 when this kind of thing happens 680 00:33:35,243 --> 00:33:38,291 that being on a bus 681 00:33:38,291 --> 00:33:41,525 and thinking you were told by God 682 00:33:41,525 --> 00:33:44,246 that you needed to stand up and preach 683 00:33:44,246 --> 00:33:47,539 right in the midst of the Greyhound or the city bus 684 00:33:47,539 --> 00:33:49,583 and you don't do that and you get off 685 00:33:49,583 --> 00:33:53,203 that you've made shipwreck of the faith. 686 00:33:53,203 --> 00:34:03,519 That has devilish overtones to it. 687 00:34:03,519 --> 00:34:07,595 Yeah, we do need to recongize, 688 00:34:07,595 --> 00:34:12,805 remember what Jonah knew. 689 00:34:12,805 --> 00:34:16,002 Our expectation should be this. 690 00:34:16,002 --> 00:34:18,575 We knew somebody was going to get saved. 691 00:34:18,575 --> 00:34:20,629 We knew somebody was going to be forgiven. 692 00:34:20,629 --> 00:34:23,297 We knew people were going to be shown mercy. 693 00:34:23,297 --> 00:34:26,127 Because that's the kind of God we have. 694 00:34:26,127 --> 00:34:28,570 Listen, we have the kind of God 695 00:34:28,570 --> 00:34:30,991 that didn't even spare His own Son, 696 00:34:30,991 --> 00:34:34,313 but gave Him up to rescue sinners. 697 00:34:34,313 --> 00:34:36,080 That's the kind of God we have. 698 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,436 If we have that kind of God and He gave His Son, 699 00:34:38,436 --> 00:34:42,299 do you think He's going to exercise a little bit of patience towards us? 700 00:34:42,299 --> 00:34:44,195 Be certain of it. 701 00:34:44,195 --> 00:34:46,458 And I'll guarantee you this, 702 00:34:46,458 --> 00:34:50,760 if God wants you preaching on the bus, 703 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:56,335 don't think, oh, well, I resisted that urge one time 704 00:34:56,335 --> 00:34:58,681 and now He's going to dash you against 705 00:34:58,681 --> 00:35:00,384 the rocks of damnation. 706 00:35:00,384 --> 00:35:01,825 I guarantee you this, 707 00:35:01,825 --> 00:35:04,173 if God wants you preaching on a bus, 708 00:35:04,173 --> 00:35:08,757 He's going to get you to preach on that bus. 709 00:35:08,757 --> 00:35:10,464 You will come to the place 710 00:35:10,464 --> 00:35:14,426 where you will need to. 711 00:35:14,426 --> 00:35:18,297 Remember Jeremiah. 712 00:35:18,297 --> 00:35:20,445 There were times when he got to the place 713 00:35:20,445 --> 00:35:23,941 where it's like I'm not going to speak anymore. 714 00:35:23,941 --> 00:35:25,946 Then he said I've got to. 715 00:35:25,946 --> 00:35:30,279 Why? Because it was a burning inside of him. 716 00:35:30,279 --> 00:35:32,801 It was a pressure inside of him. 717 00:35:32,801 --> 00:35:34,328 It was like a pressure cooker 718 00:35:34,328 --> 00:35:36,038 and he couldn't help himself. 719 00:35:36,038 --> 00:35:39,378 It wasn't this wild flash of conviction 720 00:35:39,378 --> 00:35:40,801 on his conscience. 721 00:35:40,801 --> 00:35:44,661 It was a burning in his bones. 722 00:35:44,661 --> 00:35:48,513 It was a necessity. 723 00:35:48,513 --> 00:35:53,371 Like a woe is me if I don't proclaim 724 00:35:53,371 --> 00:35:58,355 the Gospel or these judgments. 725 00:35:58,355 --> 00:36:02,576 Okay, anything else on that one? 726 00:36:02,576 --> 00:36:04,390 Let's go to the next one.