Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Going . . . Not Knowing │ Msg 2_22 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Going . . . Not Knowing │ Msg 2_22 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: It was the Apostle Paul who wrote, whatever was written
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  Speaker 1: in earlier times was written for our learning, that we
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  Speaker 1: through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Interestingly,
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  Speaker 1: in that verse in Romans 15, 4, instruction brings hope.
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  Speaker 1: And for that reason, we are committed here at Stonebriar
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  Speaker 1: Community Church to biblical instruction You really would not benefit
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  Speaker 1: from just learning my opinion or even discovering my convictions.
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  Speaker 1: That does not bring hope. What brings hope is the
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  Speaker 1: teaching of the Word of God. For that reason, we
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  Speaker 1: urge all who come to be sure and bring a Bible.
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  Speaker 1: And as you do, always get a worship folder and
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  Speaker 1: find in it an outline And sometime, as in the
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  Speaker 1: case of this morning, you will find a chart on
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  Speaker 1: the opposite side of the outline which covers this subject
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  Speaker 1: we're dealing with. And again, we're not simply satisfying idle
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  Speaker 1: curiosity on Abraham. Anybody can do that. You could take
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  Speaker 1: a course at any seminary and learn about Abraham. Our
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  Speaker 1: hope is to find instruction from his life so that
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  Speaker 1: we have hope to continue on our lives. And for
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  Speaker 1: that reason, we do our best to keep the life
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  Speaker 1: of Abraham up to date and in touch with our
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  Speaker 1: world as we live it. Today, we're looking at two
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  Speaker 1: different sections, one in the Old Testament, Genesis 12. And
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  Speaker 1: if you've not already noticed, we're skipping over to the
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  Speaker 1: 11th chapter of Hebrews And we're looking at three verses there.
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  Speaker 1: So I'll read for you the Hebrews 11, verses 8
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  Speaker 1: through 10, section first. And then we'll look together at
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  Speaker 1: Genesis 12, verse 1. May we stand together for the
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  Speaker 1: reading of this section of the Word of God. Hebrews 11, 8.
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  Speaker 1: By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed. By going
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  Speaker 1: out to a place which he was to receive for
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  Speaker 1: an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he
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  Speaker 1: was going. By faith he lived as an alien in
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  Speaker 1: the land of promise. As in a foreign land dwelling
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  Speaker 1: in tents with Isaac and Jacob. Fellow heirs of the
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  Speaker 1: same promise. For he was looking for the city which
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  Speaker 1: has foundations. Whose architect. and builder is God. And then
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  Speaker 1: the section in Genesis chapter 12, let me read verses
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  Speaker 1: 1 and then 4 through 6. 12, 1. Now the
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  Speaker 1: Lord said to Abram, go forth from your country and
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  Speaker 1: from your relatives and from your father's house to the
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  Speaker 1: land which I will show you. Verse 4. So Abram
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  Speaker 1: went forth as the Lord had spoken to him, and
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  Speaker 1: Lot went with him. Now Abram was 75 years old
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  Speaker 1: when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai, his wife,
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  Speaker 1: and Lot, his nephew, and all their possessions which they
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  Speaker 1: had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran.
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  Speaker 1: And they set out for the land of Canaan. Thus
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  Speaker 1: they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through
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  Speaker 1: the land as far as the site of Shechem to
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  Speaker 1: the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in
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  Speaker 1: the land. May the Lord make us aware of this
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  Speaker 1: ancient life and especially the relevance of it as we
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  Speaker 1: are living our lives today. You may be seated. In
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  Speaker 1: the Word of God, God speaks to us. In prayer,
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  Speaker 1: we speak to God. My prayer, which will be heard today,
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  Speaker 1: may not be the most important prayer uttered in this room,
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  Speaker 1: it may be yours. As you silently within your own
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  Speaker 1: heart bring a particular need, perhaps prayer for someone you
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  Speaker 1: care very much about, perhaps prayer regarding a situation you
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  Speaker 1: personally are wrestling with, be sure that you do more
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  Speaker 1: than simply listen as I pray. But you pray with
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  Speaker 1: me as we go before our God. Dear Father, we
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  Speaker 1: acknowledge that you are still leading people to places where
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  Speaker 1: when they leave, they're not sure where they're going or
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  Speaker 1: the details of it. And that's as you have designed it.
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  Speaker 1: For you are a God of surprises. You're never surprised
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  Speaker 1: at anything. You know the end from the beginning. You
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  Speaker 1: knew it before there was ever matter. Or the planets.
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  Speaker 1: Or the universe. And the galaxies that number into the millions. You,
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  Speaker 1: oh Lord, know it all. You know our thoughts before
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  Speaker 1: we think them. You know our words before we speak them.
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  Speaker 1: You know our heartaches before we suffer them. You know
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  Speaker 1: our dreams before we have them. You, O Lord, are
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  Speaker 1: intimately acquainted with all our ways. There is nothing that
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  Speaker 1: occurs that causes you to be caught up short. And
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  Speaker 1: so as our lives are unfolding and as we are
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  Speaker 1: living them from one day to the next, not knowing
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  Speaker 1: what a day will bring forth, you are carrying out
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  Speaker 1: your sovereign plan. In light of this, I pray that
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  Speaker 1: you will guard us from fear. Take away all temptation
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  Speaker 1: to panic. Remove the wrestling and the anxiety connected with
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  Speaker 1: trials that often enter our lives and sometimes stay. Remind
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  Speaker 1: us that even there, you are acquainted with all our ways.
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  Speaker 1: The psalmist has said, you will show us the path
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  Speaker 1: of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At
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  Speaker 1: your right hand, ah, there are pleasures of forevermore. This
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  Speaker 1: time of worship is one of those pleasures, and we
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  Speaker 1: bask in the goodness of your favor, giving us a
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  Speaker 1: room that's comfortable, places to sit, Where it's quiet, removed
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  Speaker 1: from the constant movement and activities and noise and demands
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  Speaker 1: of a world that is running its course outside these walls.
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  Speaker 1: May we today hear from you. And may it be
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  Speaker 1: so clear even the youngest child in this room will
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  Speaker 1: understand it. In the process, our Father, I pray that
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  Speaker 1: you will deepen our respect for you, our confidence in you,
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  Speaker 1: our reliance on you. May we learn from a man
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  Speaker 1: who lived by faith to live by faith, even though
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  Speaker 1: we were reared to walk by sight and were surrounded
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  Speaker 1: by the majority who always do that. Show us today
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  Speaker 1: in the simplicity of an ancient time how what was
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  Speaker 1: written then has been written for our instruction. Use these
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  Speaker 1: words as they are recorded and sent around the world
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  Speaker 1: to comfort and to strengthen those, especially those who have
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  Speaker 1: lost their way. Meet the deepest needs of all Those
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  Speaker 1: who were sick, those who were in the midst of war,
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  Speaker 1: those who are dealing with terrorists, those who are helping
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  Speaker 1: people laid aside, those who are guarding our streets and
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  Speaker 1: our neighborhoods. For all of these and thousands of others
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  Speaker 1: we pray today. And now, our Father, we pray these
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  Speaker 1: gifts will be used as we give them for the
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  Speaker 1: right purposes. May they be handled with utmost integrity. And
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  Speaker 1: may eternal benefit come because of our investment. In the
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  Speaker 1: name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord, we pray. Everyone said, Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Should you be living where you are now living? Should
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  Speaker 1: you be doing in your work what you are now
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  Speaker 1: doing in your work? Are you exactly where God would
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  Speaker 1: have you be? And are you doing what God would
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  Speaker 1: have you do? You know, just asking those simple questions
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  Speaker 1: shake some of you up. Unless you're the pioneer type,
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  Speaker 1: but most of us are settlers. Pioneers have adventure tied
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  Speaker 1: to their hip. They love the enthusiasm and excitement of
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  Speaker 1: the unknown. They love exploring. They love going in an
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  Speaker 1: area where they've never been before. They welcome change and
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  Speaker 1: they enjoy adjusting to a whole new set of circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: If you're a pioneer, you welcome change. If you're a settler,
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  Speaker 1: it kind of gives you the willies, makes you uneasy.
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  Speaker 1: Most people are creatures of habit. You say, well, I
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  Speaker 1: don't know about that, Chuck. I'm not sure that's true
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  Speaker 1: of me. Well, do you like the same food? You
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  Speaker 1: usually go to the same restaurant. When's the last time
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  Speaker 1: you said, let's just go there, just to try it out?
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  Speaker 1: Some of you are looking at me like, what's wrong
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  Speaker 1: with you? You like living in the same home. You
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  Speaker 1: enjoy the same neighbors. You even have the same car,
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  Speaker 1: if not the same. You've got one just like the
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  Speaker 1: one you had before. People tend to buy brands. Cynthia's
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  Speaker 1: family was raised with Fords. When I started dating her,
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  Speaker 1: I thought, Fords, oh brother. Because our family was raised
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  Speaker 1: with Chevys. Except on one occasion, my father decided to
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  Speaker 1: be a pioneer. And so we needed another car, we
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  Speaker 1: didn't have enough money for a new one, so he
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  Speaker 1: went out and bought one that was used, a green
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  Speaker 1: Hudson Hornet. My mother, who was waiting on the back
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  Speaker 1: porch when he drove in, to park it at our
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  Speaker 1: little carport out back, stood there with her apron around
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  Speaker 1: her waist. And I remember her very words, most of
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  Speaker 1: which I'm able to share with you today. Earl, Earl,
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  Speaker 1: what is that? He said, honey, it's a hornet. She said,
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  Speaker 1: it looks like a roach. I'm not riding in a
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  Speaker 1: car that looks like a roach and is named after
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  Speaker 1: an insect. But she did. We got used to it.
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  Speaker 1: But she rather often said, I sure miss the old Chevy. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: we like driving to work the same way. Have you noticed?
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  Speaker 1: When's the last time you said, I'm just going to
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  Speaker 1: try a whole creative route? I think I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: not take the tollway. I'm going to go off to
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  Speaker 1: the surface roads and see what this area looks. Are
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  Speaker 1: you kidding me? You think, how quick can I get there?
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  Speaker 1: What's worked for me before? You even like the same
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  Speaker 1: kind of clothing. I know. I look at you every Sunday.
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  Speaker 1: You like the same schedule day after day. You don't
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  Speaker 1: like stuff thrown in that messes up your schedule. We
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  Speaker 1: like personal things. You notice you get dressed the same way?
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  Speaker 1: Try putting your other leg in your pants on first tomorrow.
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  Speaker 1: You'll be so confused you won't know what shoe to
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  Speaker 1: pick up, to put on what foot. We even put
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  Speaker 1: the same shoe on the same foot regularly every day.
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  Speaker 1: We like what we eat for breakfast. We don't change that.
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  Speaker 1: We like going to the same grocery store. Why? We
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  Speaker 1: even like sitting in the same seat at church. There
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  Speaker 1: you are. Some of you wonder how I knew you
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  Speaker 1: weren't here last Sunday. Your seat was empty. My mom
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  Speaker 1: and dad always sat in the same seat at the
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  Speaker 1: same church year after year. I remember as a little
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  Speaker 1: kid walking in the back door with them, my mom
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  Speaker 1: was holding my hand, and they stopped. They looked down.
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  Speaker 1: There were visitors there that day sitting in their seat.
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  Speaker 1: And my mother said to my dad, Earl, what do
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  Speaker 1: you think we ought to do? There were 2,000 other
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  Speaker 1: seats you could choose from, not those two. And he said, well, Lovell,
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  Speaker 1: I think we ought to go home. And we turned around,
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  Speaker 1: and we went home. Why? Because my mom and dad
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  Speaker 1: were settlers. They weren't pioneers. We don't like unexpected moves.
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  Speaker 1: We certainly don't like unexpected babies, even though all of
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  Speaker 1: us have one or two. We don't like unexpected demotions
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  Speaker 1: from work. We don't like the unexpected pink slip. Of
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  Speaker 1: course not. We don't like unexpected events, good or evil.
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  Speaker 1: We like it the same way. Face it. We all
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  Speaker 1: like stuff to stay the same. The problem is God doesn't.
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  Speaker 2: Oh boy.
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  Speaker 1: So now we're faced with his favorite technique. You know
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  Speaker 1: what it is? Surprises. That's right. Some of you are
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  Speaker 1: ready to leave right now. You hear that and you think,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if I can sit through this. Because
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  Speaker 1: you don't like surprises. You got your life all fixed.
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  Speaker 1: You like where you live. You got your house paid for.
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  Speaker 1: You wish. You are enjoying your car and your family
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  Speaker 1: and You like all of that together and you may
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  Speaker 1: not be there six months from now. Then again, you
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  Speaker 1: may be there for the rest of your life. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know. Just because he likes surprises doesn't mean he
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  Speaker 1: moves every one of us every six months. But it
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  Speaker 1: means he will move some of us. You may be
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  Speaker 1: one of them. You may not be living where you
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  Speaker 1: should live. I had a man visiting our first morning
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  Speaker 1: worship service today. Stopped me right over here to the
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  Speaker 1: side and said, Chuck, we don't know each other. First
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  Speaker 1: time visitor and I'm actually on my way. He said,
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  Speaker 1: I've been struggling with a move. He said, I just
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  Speaker 1: feel I need to move back to Boston. And I said,
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  Speaker 1: are you some kind of nut? No, no. You know
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  Speaker 1: what I said to him? Are you sure of that?
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  Speaker 1: He says, you know what? Eyes kind of bubbled with tears,
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  Speaker 1: and he said, I am. I said, get going. Need
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  Speaker 1: to be there. You work this out with the Lord? Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: He says, in fact, this was the one church service
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  Speaker 1: I decided to attend to see if God had anything
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  Speaker 1: to say to me about this whole thing. Isn't that amazing?
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  Speaker 1: It's a true story. And he realized that's just like God. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: you'd rather have your comfort than live where God would
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  Speaker 1: have you live. You'd rather have things pretty well put
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  Speaker 1: together so that you can sort of anticipate what's coming
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  Speaker 1: without too many surprises. What a shame. What a tragic
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  Speaker 1: way to live. You never really know for sure if
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  Speaker 1: you're where you want to be since you've taken it
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  Speaker 1: all by sight instead of living it by faith. All
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  Speaker 1: of this provides us with the perfect segue into the
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  Speaker 1: Lord our God. Speaking of whom, let me tell you,
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  Speaker 1: there is one favorite technique, it seems to me, more
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  Speaker 1: than any other that our God loves to do, and
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  Speaker 1: that is surprises. He loves surprises because he knows what
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  Speaker 1: is best for us, not what will make us feel
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  Speaker 1: most comfortable, not what we might enjoy the most. He's
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  Speaker 1: not about our comfort or our enjoyment. He's not an
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  Speaker 1: entertaining bellboy waiting for our phone call. He is our
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  Speaker 1: sovereign God, knowing what is best, and therefore rearranging our
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  Speaker 1: lives so that we are kept wondering what he's going
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  Speaker 1: to do next. Surprises. Think of several of them with me. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: here we go. The world is evil. Things are getting
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  Speaker 1: out of control. Every thought of a man's heart is
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  Speaker 1: evil continually. Genesis 6, 5. And the Lord breaks in,
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  Speaker 1: looks for a righteous man, finds him in Noah, and
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  Speaker 1: he says, Noah, build an ark. Ark? Why? I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to bring rain. Rain? What's rain? Some of you don't
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  Speaker 1: know it, but it never rained before the flood. Noah
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  Speaker 1: had never seen rain. The earth was watered from within.
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  Speaker 1: In the pre-deluvial civilization, no rain fell from heaven. This
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  Speaker 1: was a setting that was unlike anything you and I've
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  Speaker 1: ever known. And the Lord said, I'm going to flood
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  Speaker 1: the earth, all the earth completely. That's a surprise. So
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  Speaker 1: surprising that no matter how long it took Noah to
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  Speaker 1: build the ark, no matter how many times he must
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  Speaker 1: have told the neighbors, I'm telling you, destruction and doom
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  Speaker 1: are coming if you don't get on this ark with us.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't get on. They're not interested in that. They
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  Speaker 1: got stuff. They got life made. Then a flood came.
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  Speaker 1: When Moses led the people of the Hebrews out of Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: they came ultimately under Joshua's leadership to a place called Jericho.
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  Speaker 1: Tough place. Those Canaanites are like junkyard dogs. And here
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  Speaker 1: are these Hebrews who have been nomads for 40 years
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  Speaker 1: and they've been laying bricks before then. They're not fighters.
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  Speaker 1: And they come upon this huge wall. What are they
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  Speaker 1: going to do? They couldn't scale it. They couldn't break
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  Speaker 1: through it. What are they going to do? And the
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  Speaker 1: Lord says, I've got a plan. Okay, listen to me.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to march around the wall one time
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  Speaker 1: a day for six days. Okay, march around the wall
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  Speaker 1: one time each for six days. And the seventh day,
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  Speaker 1: I want you to walk around it seven times. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: walk around it seven times. Then I want you to scream.
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  Speaker 1: You're kidding. You're kidding. Nope. Blow the trumpets and stand back. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because the walls are going to fall. Can you imagine
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  Speaker 1: guys in the back ranks that got worried about that?
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  Speaker 1: You know, Joshua says we're supposed to march around this
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  Speaker 1: thing and march around seven times and we get there,
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  Speaker 1: it's going to fall down. What? That's no surprise. God
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  Speaker 1: loves doing what you and I could never predict. How
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  Speaker 1: about when they were choosing kings and they were selecting
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  Speaker 1: them that were tall, dark, and handsome. One of them
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  Speaker 1: was named Saul. All the nations had kings and the
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  Speaker 1: Lord says, I'm fed up with tall, dark, and handsome.
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  Speaker 1: So he goes out in the field and he finds
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  Speaker 1: a 16, 17 year old boy keeping his father's sheep
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  Speaker 1: and he says, here, come here. You got the job.
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  Speaker 1: He became the greatest king in the history of the
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  Speaker 1: Hebrews named David. What a surprise. Who would have ever expected,
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  Speaker 1: not even his own father Thought of bringing David in
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  Speaker 1: for Samuel to look at him. Oh, I've got one
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  Speaker 1: more son. He's out in the field. Brings him in.
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  Speaker 1: Next thing David knows, he's got warm oil running down
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  Speaker 1: the back of his neck. And he hears words like, King.
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  Speaker 1: Total surprise. How about Jonah? How's that? Lord said, go
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  Speaker 1: to Nineveh, preach, and I'm going to deal with them.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah goes, oh, no, you're kidding me. So he takes
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  Speaker 1: off in the opposite direction. You know what happened? There's
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  Speaker 1: a great fish that comes and swallows Jonah. It's such
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  Speaker 1: a surprise, cynics laugh at the book of Jonah. I
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  Speaker 1: don't care whether they laugh at it or not. I'd
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  Speaker 1: believe it if Jonah swallowed the great fish, if God
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  Speaker 1: says it that way. But the great fish swallows Jonah
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  Speaker 1: and performs the first amphibious landing in the history of time,
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  Speaker 1: right there at Nineveh. Why? Because Jonah wouldn't go any
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  Speaker 1: other way. What a surprise. When Daniel wouldn't bow before
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  Speaker 1: King Nebuchadnezzar, I could go on and on with these stories.
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  Speaker 1: They found out about it and they sent him to
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  Speaker 1: the lion's den. And last time I checked, a lion's
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  Speaker 1: den is a treacherous place to wind up. And they
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  Speaker 1: had the worst case of lockjaw in their entire existence.
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  Speaker 1: I like the way Vernon McGee refers to it. The
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  Speaker 1: reason they couldn't eat him because he was three-fourths gristle
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  Speaker 1: and the rest backbone. That was Daniel. Surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise.
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  Speaker 1: How long will it take us to realize God is
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  Speaker 1: into surprises? I want you to take a quick look
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  Speaker 1: into Acts chapter 20 before we turn to the other
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  Speaker 1: two sections. Right after the Gospels, those are the first
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  Speaker 1: four books of the New Testament, you will find the
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  Speaker 1: book of Acts, which is a history of how God
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: first reached out to the world at large, using his
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: followers called the apostles, the disciples. Look at Acts 20,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: verse 18, if you will. The one in question here
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: is the apostle Paul, And he is leaving the friends
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: of his who were the elders from the church at Ephesus.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: They have come to meet him. And when they came,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: we read, you yourselves know from the first day that
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: I set foot in Asia, how I was with you
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility, with
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: tears and with trials, which came upon me through the
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: plots of the Jews. Keep reading. How I did not
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: teaching you publicly from house to house, solemnly testifying to
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now? Well, their thinking
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: is going to keep on doing the same thing. He's
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: been doing it with great effectiveness, though there have been
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: trials at each place. But now there's a surprise ahead. Bound,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: They must have sucked in their breath knowing he was
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: a wanted man. I'm on my way to Jerusalem, not
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: knowing what will happen to me there. He's going, but
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: not knowing what is in front of him. Now, admittedly,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Paul is the missionary type. And being of a pioneer spirit,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: that sort of thing energized him. He did say this,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. Well, Paul,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: that's enough reason not to go. Doesn't it make sense
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: that you not go? Oh, on the contrary. The Spirit
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: of God is leading me to go. And there's real
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: controversy over this section. Some scholars argue, should he have gone?
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Others are saying, well, of course. It was clearly directed
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: by the Spirit of God. But look at what happens.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: Exactly what the Lord told him would happen. Again, another
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: set of surprises. But it would take those arrests in
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem ultimately to get him in front of Nero. which
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: was his goal, to stand before the emperor and testify
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: of Christ, which is another story. I am on my
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: way not knowing where I am going. All of this
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: is an ideal backdrop to the life we are studying.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: A man named Abraham, who is getting up in years,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: turned to Acts 7. And by the way, you who
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: were not with us last time we were together for
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: this study, missed out on the outline or the chart
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: that I had put together, and I placed it on
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: the opposite side of the outline for you to see
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: the life of Abraham in one sitting. You can look
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: through it and follow along with it. We are right
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: now at the very beginning of his life, and you'll
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: notice at the top left corner of the chart, as
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: you hold it horizontally, I mention Acts 7. That's why
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: I want you to look right now at this section.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: Acts 7, Stephen speaks, hear me brethren, verse 2, hear
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: me brethren and fathers. These are Jews who are about
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: to stone him. He says, the God of glory appeared
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: to our father Abraham, that's our man, when he was
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran. That's important. That's
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: a detail Stephen gives us that the Genesis account does
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: not spend much time explaining. So before he moves to Haran,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: while he is living as an idolater in Ur of
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: the Chaldeans in Mesopotamia, the Lord appears to him and
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: said to him, verse 3, leave your country and your
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: relatives and and come into the land that I will
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: show you. Is that clear to everyone else? I think
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: it is. He's living one place and the Lord is
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: going to show him another place where he is to go.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: So let's start where the story starts, okay? I want
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: to look at the way God guided Abram and it
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: won't take a lot of time. The man is over
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: six decades old. Over seven, really. He's gotten married. They
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: have no children. He's been living near, perhaps even with,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: in the same home with his father. Not uncommon in
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: ancient days. And not uncommon in even some cultures today.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: He wasn't surprised to hear God's voice because God has
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: a way of capturing our attention when he speaks. And
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Abram listens. Let me start here. It originated in a
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: secure setting. Where? Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram's living there,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: lived there all his life. His father quite likely is
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: a carver of idols. Abram is an idol worshiper. And
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: the Lord breaks the silence and reveals to him, verse one,
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: Genesis 12, go from your country and from your relatives
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: and from your father's house to the land which I
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: will show you. Go. Now, let me add something, because
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: you're thinking I'm leaving out this important point. There's nothing
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: wrong with staying put. There's nothing at all wrong with
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: living where you live, going to the same school where
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: your folks went to school, living in the same house.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: You've got everything set. Grandkids are nearby, or maybe they
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: live away. The point is, I'm not saying today you
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: need to be ready to go. I'm just saying it
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: may be his plan. It wasn't wrong for the other
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: people to stay in Ur. It would be wrong for Abraham.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: So please look at Hebrews 11, verse 8. When he
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: was called, that's very important. when he was called, that
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: means the Lord revealed clearly, unmistakably, his will to Abram.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: He obeyed by going out to a place which he
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: was to receive for an inheritance. So it originated in
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: a secure setting. F.B. Meyer writes this, when this divine
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: appearance came, we do not know. It may have been
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: in the still solemn night or in the evening hour
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: of meditation or amid the duties of Abram's position. But
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: suddenly a voice spoke the message. The message of heaven
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: came to his ears. The same voice that spoke to
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: Abraham would someday speak to Elijah from Tishbe, to Amos
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: from Tekoa, to Peter from his fishing nets, to Matthew
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: from his tax toll booth, Cromwell from his farm in Huntingdon,
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: and Luther from his cloister in Erfurt. God would break through.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: And God would speak. Let me tell you what can
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: desensitize you, and I'll say more about that in a minute.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: And that's thinking that all of your risks are behind you.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: We can all look back to risks that were taken,
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: some of which worked out well and some of them didn't.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: But I will tell you, if you think that all
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: of your risks are in the past, you are going
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: to miss some of his best plan. Think back the
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: last couple of years and you will realize how full
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: of surprises God is. So it originated in a secure setting.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Here's the second. It started with a clear command. Go.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: He was told to leave your country, leave your relatives,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: go to the land I will show you. Now, just
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: stop and think. We're all sitting here in this comfortable
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: place and We're trying to imagine what that must have
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: been like. Let me help you out. Think about Abraham's neighbors.
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: Think about the people who lived around him. They see
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: him piling all of his belongings onto a cart or
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: several carts. They realize that he is really getting up
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: in years. His wife is by his side. She's already,
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: if not white haired, gray for sure. and he tells
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: them that he's going, try to imagine his friends' response.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: Can you imagine conversations that were held with neighbors? Oh,
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: I see you're packing up, Abraham. Yeah. Really? You're leaving? Yeah.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: You know, you're older than I am, and you're moving? Yeah,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: I'm moving. Really? Where are you going? I don't know.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: You're packing up everything you have and you're leaving the
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: familiar and you don't know where. I mean, can you
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: imagine Sarah's daddy? I warned you about marrying this guy.
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: I never have liked the way he is. And now
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: of all things, he's moving you to a place that
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: I'll lose touch with you. And please observe, he is
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: led to an uncertain destination. It originated in a secure setting.
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: It started with a clear command and he's been led
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: now to where he doesn't know. Look at those words
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: in Hebrews 11. He was going but not knowing where
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: he was going to wind up. He was going but
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: not knowing. May I tell you that faith cannot grow
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: without risk it's easy to really fall into dry rot.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Cynthia and I were vacationing in the Bahamas in the
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: home of a good friend of ours. And the little
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: island on which we were, you could walk the island
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: in 45 minutes. 45 minutes from this tip of the
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: island to that tip of the island. We did that.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: Our morning exercise, we would do it. Right in the
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: middle of the island is a sale shop, okay? The
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: husband and wife, it's a little mom and pop deal
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: and they make great sales. Some out of canvas, some
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: out of nylon and all and on. It's a sale shop.
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: So we walked in one day and we met her
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: and her husband was gone and got to know her
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: and she's a lovely lady and I said to her,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: she said, are you visitors? And we said, yes, we are. Oh,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: she said, really? I said, yeah, we're at the yellow
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: house down at the end of the island. She goes,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: yellow house? And I said, yeah, there's a big yellow
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: house down there, and we're staying with friends there. Oh, really?
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: I said, you've never seen it? She said, oh, I've
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: never been to the end of the island. Really? Like,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: it's 20 minutes, sweetheart. You could just take a quick walk. Oh, no.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: I'm here. Now you think that's weird. So do I.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: You know the next sentence, don't you? Are you sure
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: you want to be where you are? Are you really
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: sure of that? Have you taken a 20 minute walk
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: in your mind to the end of the island? Probably haven't.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, who knows what you're going to run into
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: or what you're going to encounter 200 miles, 300 miles,
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: or however far it may be. You see, here's the fourth.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: It called for an obedient response. I love the part
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: that says, verse 4, Genesis 12, so Abram went forth
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: as the Lord had spoken. I'm not going to make
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: this message complicated, difficult. I'm going to keep it really simple.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: And I'm going to bear down a little more because
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: I still don't have some of your attention. I understand that.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: You are so deeply rooted you can laugh at a
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: woman that lives in the middle of an island and
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: never sees the end of the island on either end.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: Are you heading in that direction? So let me ask
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: you three questions. Here they are. Since God is not
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: through with any of us, let me ask you three questions.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: They're probing. I cannot answer them for you, so you're
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: on your own. All I ask is that you be honest.
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: Number one, are you seeking God's will deliberately and passionately?
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: Are you seeking God's will deliberately and passionately. If you
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: are not, you are committing the sin of sloth. It's
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: the fourth in the list of seven dreaded sins and
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: it's the one we least address. We think sloth is
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: laying down on the couch and taking a snooze on
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: a Sunday afternoon. It's not sloth. That's necessary rest. That's relaxation.
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: Sloth is being disconnected from God's directives. Os Guinness puts
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: it very well in his book, The Call. Sloth is
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: a condition of spiritual dejection that's given up on the
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: pursuit of God, the true, the good, the beautiful. Sloth
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: is inner despair that finally slumps into an attitude of,
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: who cares? Who cares? It's what the medieval spoke of
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: as the noonday demon. the noonday demon. So you answer,
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: all on your own, are you deliberately and passionately seeking
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: the will of God? Is it your desire, Father, that
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: I be right here and do what I am doing?
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: I need that assurance. I need you to make that clear.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: I need the peace that goes with that. Here's the second.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: Are you willing just as much to go as to stay?
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I can't answer for you. You can
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: turn it the other way around. Are you just as
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: willing to stay as to go? See, since God is
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: full of surprises for all you know, his plan for
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: you last year may not be the same as his
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: plan for you this year or the next. So when
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: I was spending time with Navigator friends, we used to
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: refer to this as live your life with shallow tent pegs.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: Isn't that a good way to put it? Quit putting
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: your roots down so deep that God couldn't move you
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: until he blasts you out of your foundation. Lighten up.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: Ministers live like this. It's called our call. And sometimes
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: we figure incorrectly. Give you an example. Years and years ago,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: I was very comfortably settled in a situation at a church.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: And I was serving as an assistant pastor to a
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: magnificent man whom I deeply respected. There was really no
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: reason to look elsewhere. A couple of little things were happening,
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: but nothing huge. And I felt, nevertheless, that God was
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: leading us to move to another place for ministry. So
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: we moved there. As I recall, the church spent about $ 1, 600
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: to move us. Doesn't seem like a lot of money today,
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: does it? But back in those days, that was a
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: lot of money. And I hadn't been there but several
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: months before I realized I missed it. I don't fit here.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: This isn't where I ought to be. Nobody throwing rocks
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: at me. There was no bad guy making life miserable.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I was surrounded by people
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: who really loved us, but I didn't, down inside my chest,
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: have a sense of peace. I was disturbed. Cynthia was too.
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: We shared this. Well, we stuck it out for about 18,
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: 20 months, and I didn't have a place that I
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: knew we should go, but I knew I couldn't stay.
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: You can't minister if you don't have the peace that
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: you're in the center of his will. So I didn't
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: know what else to do. So I picked up the phone,
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: and I called the chair of our elders, and I
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: asked Tom if I could come see him. He said, sure,
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: come on over. Everything okay? I said, sure. I just
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: want to talk to you about something. So I walked over.
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: Tom ran a tuck shop, so we went in the
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: back room. He pulled the curtain, too, and he said,
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: sit down here, and I sat down there. He said, okay,
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: what's up? And I said, you know, Tom, I don't
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: feel like I should stay here. And he said, really,
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: what's wrong? Isn't that a good question? And that's the
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: question you would have asked. And I would have asked
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: it of me if I'd have been there. And I said,
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: nothing's wrong. I just don't have peace, peace about it.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: I'm really restless. Really, tell me about it. I told him.
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: And he had a great answer. He said, Chuck, if
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: God doesn't want you here, we don't either. Now, you laugh.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: I love that answer. Rather than, do you realize how
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: much money we've invested in moving your bodies here and
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: getting you in your home and putting wallpaper on your
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: house and making you feel comfortable and this is the
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: way you treat, all of that is shaming. Don't do
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: that to people. How wrong it would have been for
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: me to have said to this guy, you know, Boston?
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: Oh man, that was one miserable life for us. You
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: know what I said? Get going. That's where he ought
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: to be, man. He said, you know what? I really should.
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: He said, I'm about half-packed. I said, finish up and
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: get out of here. He said, I just want you
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: to know that I needed this affirmation, and I needed
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: that from Tom. Now, I'm not saying we were anxious,
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: but we got a phone call from another church after
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: I talked with Tom, and the other church was interested
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: in interviewing and candidating And I said to them on
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: the phone, Cynthia's listening in, and I said, well, we'll
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: pray about it. And she said, you pray while I pack.
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: So it's amazing how the voice of your wife sounds
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: like the voice of the Holy Spirit at times. There's
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: another church I was at where I was there for
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: 24 hours as a pastor. Did you know this? If
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: I told you everything, this church would empty in about
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: five minutes. I really did. I thought, I need to
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: go there. And I was all caught up in it.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: And they had a vote. And it was unanimous. I'm
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: going to go there. I'm going to be their pastor.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: I was just old enough to have my snot dried up.
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: And I remember thinking, boy, this is great. Unanimous vote.
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: And we're driving home. from this church that's called us
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: to come as a pastor. And I said to Cynthia,
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: I don't feel good. She said, I don't either. And
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: I said, well, I can't do this. She said, I said,
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: what do I do? She said, you need to tell them.
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: And I thought, how can I tell them? She said, well,
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: you open your mouth, sound comes out. So that morning followed,
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: I called up this very fine man and I said
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: to him, we got to meet. He said, what's wrong?
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: I said, I I can't come. Is this Chuck Swindoll?
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: I said, yeah, yeah, it really is me. So we met,
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: and a similar thing he said, which relieved me, he said,
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: at least one thing we can say. Our church had
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: Chuck Swindoll as their pastor for 24 hours. Isn't that
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: a great line? I said, believe me, they won't even care.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: Be sure you're just as willing to stay as to go.
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: Just be sure of that. Be sure that you're just
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: as willing to go as to stay. Because if you're
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: churning and wrestling and disturbed over your situation, whatever it
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: may be, it may not be a physical move. It
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: may be your work. It may be something related to
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: friends that you have no business cultivating. You need to
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: drop them. Bad friendships ruin morals. And you got no
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: business messing with people that are bad for you. Maybe
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: it's that. I don't know what the situation is. But
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: decide for the sake of God's will. Third question. Are
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: you making the decision more simple or more complicated? Okay.
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: Are you making this decision more simple or more complicated?
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: What do I mean by that? Well I'll tell you
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: how to complicate it. Talk to too many people. Every
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: time I've wrestled with the will of God, I've gotten
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: God's will on both sides from other people. Oh, you
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: can't do that. Or, oh, that makes a lot of sense. Or,
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: are you nuts? Or, man, I thought you'd be gone
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: a long time ago. Or I could tell you were restless,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: somebody else, but you've been at peace so many, and nobody,
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: see what I mean? You'll complicate things. It's not God's
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: will for their life. Abraham doesn't go around the neighborhood going, hey,
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: what do you guys think about this? No, you don't
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: do that. Furthermore, if I may, it's none of your
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: business how God is leading someone else. It's none of
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: your business. That includes your kids. Get out of their way.
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: They're making their decision. Applaud it. Help them do it.
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: They're convinced that's what the Lord would have them do.
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: Don't even think of shaming them. Hang on to too
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: much stuff. hanging on to too much stuff. Some of
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: you need to really get rid of some stuff. I'll
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: tell you another one. Going ever deeper into debt. The
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: greater the debt, the less availability. Every missionary will tell
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: you that. Another is being afraid of the sacrifice. You
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: just sang about sacrifice. When I survey the wondrous cross
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: on which the Prince of Glory died, and it ends
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: with I give him my soul, my life, my all.
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: You sang that. That's what that cross represents. He left
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: it all for people like us. You know why? The
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: Father said, this is for you to do. Do this.
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: There's no other way I can rescue them. Keep your
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: mind open to either a yes or a no from God.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: One lady wrote this in her poem. Lord, day after day,
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: I thank you for saying yes. But when have I
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: genuinely thanked you for saying no? Yet I shudder to
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: think of the possible smears the cumulative blots on my life,
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: had you not been sufficiently wise to say an unalterable no.
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: So thank you for saying no when my want list
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: for things far exceeded my longing for you. When I
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: asked for a stone, foolishly certain I had asked for bread,
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: thank you for saying no. To my petulant, just this time, Lord,
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: thank you for saying no to senseless excuses, selfish motives,
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: dangerous diversions. Don't be afraid of the sacrifice. In the
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: long run, it won't be any sacrifice at all. You
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: will please the Father. Dear Father, we thank you for
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: caring enough about us to talk in terms that simple
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: and stupid minds like ours can get it. Thank you
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: for pulling a life off the pages of an ancient
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: book and having him stand in front of us saying
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: in effect, I understand what you're going through. I've been there.
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: I want to thank you for your son, Jesus. And
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: I want to thank you that he did what you
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: told him to do. And because of his sacrifice, We're
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: able to know you. And otherwise, we would never have
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: been able to. Thank you that though he was rich,
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: for our sakes, he became poor. That we, through his poverty,
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: might be rich. We worship you, O Lord, on this day.
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: And we commit this very special time of decision to you.
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: Many wrestle. Enable them to come out on the right side.
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: In the process, be patient. Bear with them. Knowing that
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: you're not finished with us yet. In the name of Jesus.
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Going, Not Knowing, was copyrighted in 2012
• 54:58
  Speaker 2: and 2014, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2014.
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: By Charles R.
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: material for commercial use is strictly prohibited. In the preceding message,
• 55:14
  Speaker 2: Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. is grateful to Ruth Harms Kalkin
• 55:18
  Speaker 2: for permission to use her poem, Thank You for Saying No.
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: Published in Tell Me Again, Lord, I Forgot. Copyrighted in
• 55:25
  Speaker 2: 1974 by Ruth Harms Culkin.