Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Sustaining Enthusiasm Msg 113 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

Sustaining Enthusiasm Msg 113 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: If you haven't noticed already, the outline this morning provides
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: on the reverse side a plan for the next 13
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: weeks in a new series of messages I've titled Wise
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Counsel for Troubled Times. I've kept it simple by giving
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: two word titles for each of the messages and providing
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: you with the individual who will be the focus from
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: the scriptures, the biblical character who models the truth of
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: that message. And today his name is Joshua as we
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: address the subject of sustaining enthusiasm. So would you place
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: that at 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and then leave it
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: there We'll come to it later. That's where we will
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: begin today's message. But I would like to read for
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: you from Joshua 1, which is where we will conclude
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: today's message. Joshua is our, if you will, our poster
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: child for the subject of sustaining enthusiasms. Once you find
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: your way to Joshua 1, because of our respect for
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: the word of God and the God of the word,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: may we stand for the reading of the scriptures. After
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: the death of Moses, the Lord's servant, the Lord spoke
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses' assistant. He said, Moses,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: my servant, is dead. Therefore, The time has come for
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: River into the land I am giving them. I promise
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: you what I promised Moses. Wherever you set foot, you
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: will be on land I have given you. From the
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Negev in the wilderness in the south to the Lebanon
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: mountains in the north. from the Euphrates River in the
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: the land of the Hittites. No one will be able
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: to stand against you as long as you live, for
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: I will be with you as I was with Moses.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: I will not fail you or abandon you. Be strong
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: and courageous men. For you are the one who will
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: lead these people to possess all the land I swore
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: the right or to the left. Then you will be
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: successful in everything you do. Study this book of instruction continually.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Meditate on it day and night, so you will be
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: my command. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: wherever you go. I'll be preaching from the New Living
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Translation during this series, and because of its reliability and readability,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: our hope is that these truths will come alive even
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: more effectively. You may be seated. Let's pray. Today, our Father,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: we come before you with gratitude for the way that
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: you continue to meet our needs in such abundance. Thank
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: you that you cross all cultural barriers, all races, all color,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: all needs, all beliefs, and you penetrate the heart with
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: the truth of the Son of God. May we not
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: lose our way in this strange age in which we live,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: where compromise is written across virtually every politician's life, where
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: many who once preached your word now do entertainment, where
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: we have the opportunity to hear the truth, but we
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: do not value it, where we come to a time
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: where we may not always have These liberties we now enjoy,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: which we take for granted, catch us up short. Remind us, Father,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: that we live by your grace. Your truth is our guide.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Because of it, we live and move and have our being.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Guide us into this series with confidence that you will
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: use each message in a special way to provide counsel
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: for our troubled times. Speak, Father, and we will listen.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Now is our opportunity to do what we rarely are
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: able to do through the week, and that is to
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: give to you. We do so with gratitude that you
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: have provided us with an occupation and you have met
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: our needs. May we be in turn as generous. For
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: the glory of Christ, we pray these things and we
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: give our gifts. And everyone said, Amen. I need to
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: warn you that you are in a dangerous place. The
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: more time you spend here, the more dangerous it will become.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Because you are being stalked. There is no place you
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: can hide from the stalker. He sneaks around all parts
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: of the worship service and comes to one place after another,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: including where you are sitting, and whispers into your ear.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: He's in every classroom of this facility, every room filled
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: with adults or children, Teenagers or even preteens, he's there.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: He's in every committee meeting, every planning meeting, every elders meeting,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: every staff meeting. Every men's meeting and women's meeting and
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: men's retreat and women's retreat. Every Bible study. The longer
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: you spend time engaged in the things about the church,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: the more easily the stalker will steal from you and
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: in fact carry out a plan to kill something within you.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: He's a thief as well as a killer. And what
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: does he steal? He steals your excitement. He kills your enthusiasm.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Who is this predator? This invisible but powerful thief and killer?
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: He is overexposure. That's the name I'll give him. Overexposure.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: becoming so familiar with spiritual truth, singing spiritual songs, attending
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: spiritual meetings, planning spiritual programs, activities, involvements, that you become
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: ultimately weary in well-doing. And you start to lose heart.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: If you stay in this hothouse, I call it, if
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: you stay in this setting too long, listen to me,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: you will lose your awe of God. What is it?
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: What is the danger of overexposure? It is the inability
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: to sustain enthusiasm for spiritual things. You evangelize too much,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: you lose your heart for the lost. It's just another
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: message of the gospel. Due to repetition, you start to
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: get a little bored and a little bit of boredom
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: leads to monotony and the monotony results in feeling unmotivated
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: and finally, I'll say it, you get jaded and cynical.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: And I don't know of a harder person to be
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: around than a cynical, jaded Christian. You meet them often
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: in religious conferences. You come across them at some pastoral
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: conferences where men of the cloth gather, whose job it
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: is to do what I do regularly, but they've lost
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: the heart. of it all. How does it happen? Well,
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: the Christian life becomes predictable. The routine around spiritual things
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: affects you in women's meetings and women's retreats and men's
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: meetings and men's retreats and choir rehearsals and choir anthems
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: and the planning of music programs and of worship gatherings.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Before long, you discover that the glory of God is
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: not all that glorious. And you realize that you have
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: lost sight of the wonder of God. Let me be
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: candid here, lest you think I'm speaking only to you.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: There are 19 steps in our home that take you
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: from the first floor to the floor where my study
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: is located. My study is here. You enter it to
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: the left of the landing. And next to my study
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: is a library where I have these wonderful books that
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: I treasure. I am in both every week. When I
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: walk up those 19 steps, I could easily move toward boredom.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: I'm preaching, I'm preparing to preach again. I'm working over
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: the same book, the book I've been studying for the
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: better part of 60 years. Some of them on my own,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: some of them at seminary, most of them while in ministry,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: and it's another sermon. Last Easter was my 50th Easter message.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: Another Easter message, if I'm not careful. And I enter
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: this place of danger every week. Every week I'm there.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Every week I sit in the same chair. Every week
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: I'm at the same desk. Every week I face the
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: same assignments. It is dangerous. Because little by little, if
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: I'm not careful, and if I don't watch it, I
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: can do it while thinking about something else. And I
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: can knock out a sermon or prepare an Easter message
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: or do the work that will go with me to
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: this conference like I've done it so many other times.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: And before long, I lose the edge. And I fear that.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: Paul Tripp has written a book titled Dangerous Calling. You
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: need to read it. Dangerous calling. It's not written just
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: to seminary students, but it includes you who are. It
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: also includes seminary professors. I would say especially them. Especially
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: you who make a living doing what's called Christian work.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: You may be a missionary. Oh, it can set in
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: on you there. I've seen it. Your work may take
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: you from one ministry to another, that is, from one
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: place to another. You're an itinerant preacher. If you're not careful,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: you'll have two or three messages, and you'll dump them
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: out everywhere you go. And because the other group didn't
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: hear you do it, you'll take it to them. And
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: before long, you're cranking out those same old messages, and
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: familiarity has begun to breed contempt. Paul Tripp writes in
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: his book, Dangerous Calling, I quote, He said it rather matter-of-factly,
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: probably not understanding the significance of what he was saying,
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: but I couldn't get his words out of my head.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: He was the head of a national ministry. We were
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: in a meeting talking about ministry partnership. I was sharing
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: my excitement about what I saw happening in the church
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: around the world, and he said, I don't think anything
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: excites me anymore. It wasn't my place to respond to
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: what he said, but I immediately thought, you'd better be excited.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: You'd better be excited. You're leading a ministry, and if
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: you can't get your excitement back, maybe you shouldn't be
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: doing what you're doing. And I would amen that statement
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: from Paul Tripp. He continues, he had lost his excitement
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: and he was left with a duty to do. The
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: business of ministry and repetitive day after day, joyless obligation.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: What a sad and dangerous place to be. Perhaps it
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: begins in seminary. With the up-close examination of every element
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: of the faith, perhaps there is a moment when the
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: glory of God doesn't seem all that glorious anymore. Perhaps
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: living in the middle of the theological community begins to
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: dull my excitement and numb my amazement. Perhaps the Bible
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: gets reduced to little more than a theological manual to
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: be exegeted and responded to. Perhaps even God himself becomes
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: more a divine being to study and theologically understand than
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: the Lord of glory that he is. Perhaps it is
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: all about the dynamic of familiarity. Listen to me. I
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: fear that for every one of you. Especially you who
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: have gotten serious about spiritual things. You who are at
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: the church every time the doors are opened. You who
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: attend most of the meetings. You who would rarely miss
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: a service of any kind. You are the one I'm
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: talking to. We are the ones most likely to listen
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: to the stalker. Ah, you've heard this before. I mean,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: what in the world can the guy say up there
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: that he hasn't said a dozen times? And you've heard
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: it from people who can say it a lot better
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: than he can. Jaded. Cynical. And you start watching your watch.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: How long is he going to keep going? You've stopped listening.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: When you start watching your watch. I'm not the first
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: one to address this. Paul addressed it when he wrote
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: to the Corinthians. And he talked turkey. He didn't hold back.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: In fact, he begins that 10th chapter of 1 Corinthians with,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: I warn you. I warn you. Listen to me. This
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: is a warning. This is a warning. I don't want
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: in the wilderness long ago. So this isn't anything new.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: This isn't like a 21st century malady. It's been going
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: on for centuries. Paul goes way, way back to the
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: people of Israel after they had been Released from Pharaoh
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: and Egypt's bondage and set free to move to the
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: promised land. I know, you've heard it. Here we go again.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: What more is there to learn about the children of
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: Israel than what we already know? Lots. And the day
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: you start thinking like that is the day your enthusiasm
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: begins to wane. We are to read verses like this
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: on tiptoe. I am to preach them on the balls
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: of my feet. I'm to lean forward and with passion
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: help you understand what happened to them can easily happen
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: to us. But what was it you're going to see?
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: What about those people? What were they like? Oh, what
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: happened to them? First generation Exodus people. How'd they do?
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: Before I tell you I want you to take the
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: time to mark some things in these first five verses.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: The word all, A-L-L. My Bible reads in verse 1,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: all of them were guided. And before the verse is over,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: all of them walked through the sea. Second verse, all
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: of them were baptized. Verse 3, all of them ate
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: the same spiritual food. Verse 4, all of them drank
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: from the spiritual rock. That traveled with him. All of them.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: All of them. All of them. All of them. All
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: of them. Every one of them. What? Exposed to magnificent things.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: But notice. Verse 5. God was not pleased. With most
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: of them. All of them had all of the benefits.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: And with most of them. Who became jaded people. cynical, bored,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: who let the stalker make them a victim. God was
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: not pleased. What were the benefits? Well, look at the text.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: It's all right here. I don't have to make it up.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: Look at this tragic story of spiritual monotony. They were
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: all guided by a cloud by day. Did you miss that?
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: All of them, verse 1, were guided by a cloud
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: that moved ahead of them. I think of it as
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: a divine GPS, okay? And it never fails. It never
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: says recalculating. You're never off course because God sent that cloud.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: God moves that cloud. And as they saw the cloud,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: they moved. When the cloud stopped, they stopped. When the
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: cloud went to the left, they went to the left.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: When the cloud went into the valley, they went into
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: the valley. When the cloud stopped as rain came, they stopped.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: When cloud moved on through the rain, they moved on.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: And at night they had the fire. It's cold in
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: the desert. And God graciously gave them a fire by night.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: They had the cloud. They had the fire. All of them.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: Not one of them was lost. What a great benefit.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: They knew where they were going. He continues. All of
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: them walked through the sea on dry ground. I know
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: you've heard it. Oh, another story of the Red Sea.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Another story about stop. Think of it. It was miraculous.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: They got the Egyptian army coming toward them. They cannot escape.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: There's a desert, there's mountains, and there's a Red Sea.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: And they got the army coming and Moses said, stand
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: still and watch the deliverance of the Lord. He steps out,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: the sea parts. Listen to this, as if for the
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: first time. And the waters are rolled back to the
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: right and to the left. They walk through it on
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: dry ground. That's another amazing thing. All of them came through.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Not one of them got drowned. And then the waters
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: came over the Egyptians. Not one of the enemy troops
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: took them on. They were safe. All of them had
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: that miracle experience. All of them. Incredible. Amazing. I mean,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: when they walked through, think of what they must have said.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Look at this. Look at this. Let's never forget this. Well,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: they did. Because they became jaded. That's not all they
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: had for them. They were all baptized as the followers
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: of Moses. The word means identified with. Moses, their leader,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: they were like their leader. Moses followed, they followed. Moses obeyed,
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: they obeyed. They went right along with Moses. They were
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: one with them. Moses, Moses. Can you imagine a more
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: magnificent opportunity than to be under the leadership of Moses? Moses,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: from 80 to 120. From 80 to 120. Moses, strong, meek, courageous, obedient.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Moses is their leader. All of them had Moses. They
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: knew his voice. They saw the tablets. They heard his warnings.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: They listened to his sermons. Deuteronomy is filled with them. Moses.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: They all had Moses. And all of them drank the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: same spiritual water that came from the rock. And that
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: rock was Christ. They had the water. They were thirsty
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: and water came out. You know what? I missed one.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: They were all fed the same spiritual food. Verse 3.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: One of my favorites. Manna. Every day. Manna. How good
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: is that? Well, try eating manna every day. Have you
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: heard of Mrs. Moses' cookbook, A Thousand and One Ways
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: to Fix Manna? Manna's boiled, manna's broiled, manna is fried,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: manna's cut up, manna's thinned out with water, but it's manna. No,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: it isn't just manna. Check out Psalm 78, 25. It's
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: angel's food. It's the food of angels. Delivered to them.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: They didn't have to plant it. They didn't have to
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: harvest it. It's there waiting for them every day. No
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: one went hungry. They got tired of manna. Manna. What's
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: for supper? Don't ask. Manna. Let me pause and mention
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: something here. Can you imagine? One Lasting miracle after another.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Yet God was not pleased with most of them. Why?
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: They lost their awe of God. Business as usual. It
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: was a perfunctory thing. You got to go through this.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: You might as well make the best of it. As
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: a matter of fact, look, verse 6, these things happened
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: as a warning to us. You know what? That bridge
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: is 21 centuries and more, far more. You go back
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: way beyond the first century A.D., You go back to
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: the days of Moses and you come all the way
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: to the 21st. This is today. This is a warning
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: for you and me now. I found that in my study.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: I thought of it in my study. I drew a
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: little chart that spanned from Moses' day all the way
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: to the 21st century. And I saw the years. And
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: I sat back at my desk and thought, oh, it's
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: a warning for me, for you. You who have experienced
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: God's provision in one way or another, you are fed
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: regularly the Word of God. You are fed the food
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: that God provides through His Word. You have it in
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: your own language. Whatever size print you want, whatever size Bible,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: whatever study Bible you want to buy, whatever translation, whatever version,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: it's there. It's there. I counted them one day in
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: my library. I got 21 different bibles 21 how many
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: bibles do you need i need to learn how to
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: live the truth of one of them this is a
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: warning wake up swindoll wake up everybody listen this is
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: for you look at what happened to them These things
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: happened as a warning so that we would not, what?
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Crave evil things as they did. Or worship idols as
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: some of them did. Verse 8. And we must not
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: engage in sexual immorality as some of them did. Evil things?
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: I thought they were in the midst of a miracle.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: They craved evil things. Because they got tired of miracles.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: They got tired of all that same stuff. Or the
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: worship of idols as some of them did. You know what?
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: They turned to idols. For goodness sake. These people became idolaters.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: They built a golden calf. And they worshiped the calf.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: If that wasn't bad enough, in the midst of it,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: they celebrated, feasted, and drank too much. And some of
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: them even engaged, verse 8, in sexual immorality. How come
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: people do that? They're bored. They've lost the awe of God.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: How come pastors have affairs? They've lost the awe of God.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: How come Christian workers can justify running around with somebody
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: else's husband or wife? They lost the awe of God.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: They can do that and carry on with side. No
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: big deal. Hey, I'm a professional speaker. Can make that happen.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: What happens? Exactly what you're hearing.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: Exactly. God was serious, causing 23,000 of them to die
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: in one day. Verse 8 concludes, nor should we put
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: christ to the test that's presuming on him as some
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: of them did and they died from snake bites some
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: of them were destroyed by the angel of death and
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: don't grumble as some of them why do you grumble
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: you grumble because you've lost your enthusiasm You grumble because
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: you want something a little snappy. You want it to
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: be a little more entertaining. No wonder entertaining churches. Pack
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: them out. Just give me a little something to make
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: me feel good. No. I think we need strong medicine
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: at times. I think we need to deal with that.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: He says at the end of verse 11, they were
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: written down to warn us at the end of the age. Oh,
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: that's now. That's for us. I don't know how you
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: slice it, but that's for me. I need to be aware.
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: Came across the words of Benjamin Warfield. a name some
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: of you will remember, others of you have never heard before.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Benjamin Warfield was a great theologian, a teacher, a professor
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: at Princeton Theological Seminary. He wrote over 100 years ago,
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: the date, October 4, 1911. He delivered a talk to
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: the seminary students on the religious life of theological theology.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: It's as though he wrote to Dallas Seminary, or Trinity Seminary,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: or Denver Seminary, or Master's Seminary, or Gordon-Conwell Seminary, or
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: wherever today. Listen to B.B. Warfield's prophetic words to these students.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: We are frequently told, indeed, that the great danger of
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: the theological student lies precisely in his constant contact with
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: divine things. They may come to seem common to him
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: because they are customary. As the average man breathes the
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: air and basks in the sunshine without ever a thought
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: that it is God in his goodness who makes his
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: sun to rise on them, though he is evil and
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: sends rain to him even though he is unjust, so
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: you may come to handle even the furniture of the
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: sanctuary with never a thought above the gross earthly materials
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: of which it is made. Keep listening. The words which
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: tell you of God's terrible majesty or of his glorious
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: goodness may come to be mere words to you. Hebrew
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: and Greek words with etymologies, inflections and connections and sentences.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: The reasonings which establish to you the mystery's of his
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: saving activities may come to be to you mere logical
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: paradigms with premises and conclusions fitly framed, no doubt, and
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: triumphantly cogent, but with no further significance to you than
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: their formal logical conclusiveness. It is your great danger. Listen
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: to the word he uses. Danger. It is your great danger,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: but it is your great danger only because It is
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: your great privilege. I have the greatest privilege on the
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: planet to be able to study and to proclaim the
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: truth of God's word. And if I am not careful,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: it's just another book. Just another talk. And for you,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: just another sermon. The stalker is on the move. Now,
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: stay with me in this transition. All of that first
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: generation of people died. Disciplined by God, died in the wilderness,
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: and for 40 years, Moses preached one funeral service after another.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: The path was strewn with the litter of cadavers as
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: all of these jaded, cynical followers of Moses lost their heart.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: And a brand new generation arose. Children of these moms
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: and dads who were taken. Now, When you go from
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 10 to Joshua 1, turn quickly, Joshua 1,
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: you meet up with the new generation. Okay? Here's a
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: brand new generation of people. These are all folks that
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: are really relatively young adults, all the way down to
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: little children. Their moms and dads are all dead. To
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: make matters even more interesting, Moses is dead. So Moses
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: is gone. There's a brand new leader named Joshua who
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: has the task not of being Moses. There was only
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: one Moses. He now has to lead these people as Joshua.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: And so the Lord calls him to the side and says, Joshua, listen,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: listen to me. I got some stuff I want to
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: tell you. And I don't want you to ever forget it.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: Or you'll lose your enthusiasm. Like they did. So the
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: first thing he verifies is Moses is dead. He won't
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: speak to you at night. He won't visit with you
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: in the morning. There's no sky writing. Moses. Gone. You're on. Joshua. Joshua.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: Here's what you do as I charge you to stay engaged.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: As you make the journey from here into the promised
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: land where you will be fighting the Canaanites, mean as
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: a bunch of junkyard dogs, hard to deal with, idolatrous,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: filthy in their morals. You'll have to deal with all
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: of the stuff they've written on their walls and all
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: the pornography that is a part of their lifestyle. You're
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: going to have to invade that land, clean it out,
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: and occupy it. You'll live in homes they built. You'll
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: eat from trees they planted and vineyards they planted. You'll
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: drink from cisterns they've dug. You'll have model homes. But
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: if you're not careful... You're going to be just like
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: that former generation. You're going to lose your enthusiasm. This
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: is straight talk. Strong medicine, huh? Let me pause here
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: and let you take a breath. I decided this past
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: week to get a little refreshment from Steve Farrar's book,
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: Finishing Strong. Love Steve's writings. This book happened to be
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: one that I'd read before in had some markings in it,
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: and I came across a story I just love because
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: it illustrates the importance of what I'm trying to say.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Willie and Ray, a couple of ranchers, met at the
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: feed store one afternoon. I had some problems with my herd,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: said Willie. My prized bull was impotent, but the vet
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: came over and gave him some special medicine, and now
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: he seems to be doing just fine. Several weeks later,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Willie and Ray met again at the store. Hey, Willie,
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: said Ray. Now my boy is having those problems. What
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: was that medicine the vet prescribed? Willie said, I don't
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: remember the name, but it kind of tastes like chocolate. Now,
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: if that offends you, I've got Steve Farrar's phone number here.
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: I'll be glad to give you. So call him, don't
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: call me. I think that's a great story. You know why?
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: Because we all need a little strong medicine sometimes. Sometimes
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: you think it's for somebody else, even the bull. It's
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: for you. You need it. I need it. Every seminary
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: student I know needs it. I want to grab some
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: of them by the collar and shake them. And remind
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: them of the privilege that is theirs. To sit in
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: this classroom before this professor. To drink in these truths
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: that the great majority of the world, in fact most
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: of all of them in the third world, would just
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: love to have that position at that school. It's boredom.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: This is all given to warn us. Don't go there.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: I warn you as we go through this series of messages,
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: if you're not careful, it's just another series. Another bunch
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: of talks Chuck put together. Just different verses from the Bible. No, no, no, no, no. No.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: It's truth to live by. It's designed not to entertain
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: you or just feed information for you to put into
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: your notes. This is to change your life. Look at
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: that list. Overcoming failure, never quitting, thinking biblically, demonstrating wisdom,
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: taking responsibility, standing alone, respecting authority. Cultivating humility, studying hard,
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: modeling integrity, extending grace, encouraging others. That isn't just run-of-the-mill stuff.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: But without enthusiasm, it sort of falls flat. This isn't
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: for some ancient Hebrew or even a Hebrew who lived
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: in Joshua's day. This passage has your name written all
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: over it. Especially, be honest now, If you've begun to
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: yawn a little more than usual, gotten a little cynical,
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: no longer bother to carry a Bible. I mean, how
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: elementary can you get having to carry a Bible? Really?
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't go anywhere without it if it's my turn
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: to speak. I haven't got anything to say without it.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: It's my life. I got ahead. It's like water from
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: the rock. Ralph Waldo Emerson never spoke stronger words than
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: when he wrote, nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: The reason you listen when I preach is because I
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: am filled with enthusiasm. And it isn't fake. Sunday after Sunday,
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: Sunday after Sunday, there is this passion that pours out. Why?
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: I'm enthusiastic about it. My life was changed the previous week.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: I took those 19 steps and I sat in that
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: study and I poured over the things that would guide
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: me into the truth that I should deliver. And then
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: I deliver it because I believe it. It works. It'll
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: change your life too. But if you're not careful... It's
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: just another long sermon on some other religious talk. God
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: never wanted that to happen to the next generation. That's
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: why Joshua chapter 1 speaks with such power. Joshua, Joshua,
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: listen to me. Here's what you got to do, man.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: Four things. And they're all right here in the text.
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: I don't make this stuff up. I don't have to.
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: My stuff stinks compared to this great stuff here. Look
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: at verse 6. Down through the end of verse 9.
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Here we go. Four directions to keep from losing your enthusiasm.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: Number one. Be strong within and courageous without. Be strong
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: within and courageous without. That speaks of conviction. That speaks
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: of determination. That represents discipline. Be strong down inside, Swindoll.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: Be strong. Don't hang on the fact you've been doing
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: this all these years. Don't get hung up on how
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: old you are or how easy you may be able
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: to do some things and others. That's not important. That's
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: not even relevant today. I could take your voice in
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: one moment and you have nothing more to say. You'll
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: be strong down inside. You're going to face some tough challenges, folks,
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: in the 21st century. You ain't seen nothing yet. They're
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: going to come after the church like you can't believe.
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: You better be strong and you've got to be courageous.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: If you are not, you will yield. You'll fall in
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: rank with the majority, which is rarely if ever been right.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: Be strong and courageous. Look how many times he says it.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: Verse six, mark that. Verse seven, be strong, very courageous.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: Verse nine, be strong and courageous. Verse 18 ends with,
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: so be strong and courageous. Say, well, he's already said that.
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: That's right. You missed it the first three times. Maybe
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: the fourth time it'll land in your head. I'm talking
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: to you, mom, dad, single parent, single adult, older gentlemen, ladies, teenagers.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: Be strong. Be courageous. Stand up and be counted. Second,
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: notice carefully right here in the text. Be careful. Be
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: careful to what? Look at verse 7. Be strong, very courageous.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: Be careful to what? To obey all the instructions Moses
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: gave you. When you do that, you won't lose enthusiasm.
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: Don't miss any of it. You see, Moses' instructions were
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: not suggestions. They were ten commandments, not ten pretty good ideas.
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: where you may like number two, five, seven, and 10.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: That's not an option. You take all 10 of them.
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: You believe them. You deliver them with your words and
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: you deliver them with your mouth. Be careful to obey
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: all of it. In fact, look at what it says.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: Do not deviate turning to either the right or the left.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: Then you'll be successful in everything you do. Joshua, you
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: want to be a successful leader? There's the answer. Do it.
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: Do it. There's no other option. And it'll take all
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: kinds of strength and courage. It'll take all kinds of
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: obedience because you're going to move into Canaan. You stay
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: with them. You look at them. You let them penetrate
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: your brain and you obey all the instructions. I love
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: the way this reads in this text. Do not deviate
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: from them turning to the left or to the right.
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: Why does he say that? Because we like changing lanes.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: I do it all the time. Driving along and I say, oh,
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: look at that. Cynthia goes, oh, perfect. Now get back
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: on the lane. Get on the lane. You know, sometimes
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: my car beeps.
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: You get too close. Why? Because I'm getting out of
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: the lane. Stay in the lane. What's the lane? Truth. Truth.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: What you will never hear about in our post-Christian culture. Truth.
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: Guide your life by the truth. Stay in the lane.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: Don't shift from one side to the other. And once
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: you're in the lane, look at the third one. Study
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: and meditate. See the way it says it? Study the book.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: Verse 8. Study the book of instruction continually. Okay, it's
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: a little less television. It's a little more study. It's
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: a little less fiddling around and sleeping the afternoon away,
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: and it's a little more study. And after you've done
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: the study, he adds, and meditate day and night. So
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: I got to thinking, sitting in my study, 19 steps
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: above first floor, how do I do this? All right,
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: and I got an illustration. It's like fixing a great meal,
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: if you love to cook. You start with a recipe, okay?
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: The recipe lists things that you have to pick up
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: from the store, okay? You go to the store, you
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: find them, you pay for them, you bring them home,
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: you prepare them like the recipe says, because that's all
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: part of preparing the meal, okay? Now then, the great
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: part comes when you chew it and taste it and
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: swallow it and digest it and get nourishment from it.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: And a great meal pays off because it was prepared
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: carefully and is now enjoyed. The study part is the
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: recipe and the things you buy and the things you prepare.
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: That's the work of it. You work on it. You
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: work on it. I put my tail in my chair
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: every week and I do not lift my tail out
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: of my chair until I have produced something in my study.
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: And it's original stuff. It's stuff that I dig out
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: I find in the text and I prepare it carefully.
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: And then I lay it in front of you for
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: you to take. And then you begin to chew on
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: it and meditate and digest it and nourish it. Hopefully
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: it'll change your life and you won't be like that
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: Christian leader who says, you know, I'm not excited about
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: anything anymore. Really? I'm really sorry to hear that. If
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: I hear a seminary student say that, I'm going to
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: tell him to quit for a while. Get out till
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: you get your heart right. If I meet a minister
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: who tells me something like that, I say, why don't
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: you do something else for a while? You're not doing
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: a whole lot of good doing what you're doing. Emerson's
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: great words come back to me. Nothing great was ever
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: accomplished without enthusiasm. Without enthusiasm. What is it that draws
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: you to this church, among other things? Why do you
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: sit and listen like you do so carefully and so
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: well and for so long? Because you're hearing someone who
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: is enthusiastic about the truth. I would die for it.
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: I would stand up against anybody for the truth. And
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: that kind of enthusiasm is contagious. Joshua would take that
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: baton from Moses. Got it. Run with it. As you
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: run with it, you be sure you pass it off
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: to the next person. And I got it, Joshua. I'm
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: running with it. Before I'm finished, I pass it on
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: to someone else. And I run the race with enthusiasm.
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: I don't dare let it wane. Because when I do,
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: the stalker comes. He says, Trent, I'll take it easy, man.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: Hang out. Do this in your sleep. They won't know
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: the difference if you don't study. I'll know the difference.
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: And it won't be long before you'll know the difference.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: Because you'll hear me commit plagiarism as I steal from
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: somebody else's sermon since I'm too lazy to dig it
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: out for myself. Enthusiasm keeps me at it and will
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: keep you at it. Be careful. Study. Meditate. And the
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: last verse, do not be afraid or discouraged. Why? Because
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: you're not alone. Look at what he says. The Lord
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: your God is with you wherever you go. Don't be discouraged.
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: Don't be afraid. I'm not worried about a knock at
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: the door. I don't care what some authority says in
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: the government. I don't guide my life by that. That's
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: not for me to concern myself with. What I'm doing
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: is walking carefully with God regardless. And you know what happens,
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: by the way, if I could just put it straight?
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: Before long, you are willing to leave the results with God.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever counted the number of people
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: that come and go or how large the crowd is.
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: A lot of my staff will tell you, I never
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: mention size of the congregation. You know, Junior on Hee
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: Haw used to say, if size meant anything, a cow
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: could outrun a rabbit. So size doesn't mean a whole lot.
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: I quote great sources, by the way, among them is
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: Junior Ron Heall. And before long, you know what? You'll
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: stop comparing. You'll stop taking your cues with what other
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: people are doing, what other churches are doing. I don't
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: care what other churches are doing. I'm not involved in
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: other churches. I'm leading this one. I don't take my
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: cues from how most of them are doing what they do.
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: I'm enthusiastic about the original work we're doing here, and
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: I am exhausted with delight because of it. This past week,
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: I read of an incident that actually occurred back when
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys used to win games. And then they
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: would go on and win their district or their division,
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: and sometime they'd go to the Super Bowl and win that.
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: Gene Stallings mentioned this when he was defensive backfield coach
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: for the Cowboys. Two all-pro players, defensive backs, Charlie Waters,
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: Cliff Harris, names that sports fans here and around the
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: country know. Charlie and Cliff were sitting in front of
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: their lockers completely exhausted after playing a tough game against
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: their longtime rivals, the Washington Redskins. Love this story. They're
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: still sitting there in their dirty, sweaty uniforms as the
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: other guys are starting to change and take showers. They're
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: just sitting there with their heads down in exhaustion. They
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: had given it everything they had in that game against
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: the Redskins. They played with endless energy and great enthusiasm. Finally,
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: Waters looks over at Harris and says, by the way, Cliff,
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: what was the final score? Didn't he know? He didn't. Why?
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: He didn't play for the score. He played to give
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: it his all. When you give it your all, there's
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: maximum reward that comes. Give it your best. Hold nothing back.
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: Set your enthusiasm free. Leave the final results with God.
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: That's my advice. And I hope for the rest of
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: my life to model that. But I'm not important in
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: this thing. The Lord Jesus Christ is. That's why he died.
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: He didn't deviate to the left or the right. He
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: went to the cross. Gave his life. He could have
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: wiped them out with one word. but he died. That
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: sinners might have hope of forgiveness and eternal life. If
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: you've never met Christ, no wonder you're so miserable. No
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: wonder you've lost heart. He'll turn your whole heart around.
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: God with me. Oh Lord God, we realize in the
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: final analysis we will give an account to you of
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: the things that are done in our lives. And I pray, Lord,
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: that as you look over our lives, you will find
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: that we were faithful men and women, that we sustained enthusiasm,
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: that we gave little thought to what the final score was,
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: but we were preoccupied with what we were responsible to do.
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: May we live this game of life like that. May
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: we play it to the fullest. And find us at
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: the end of the race. Exhausted. But filled with enthusiasm
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: and gratitude. That you kept us in it. May we
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: all realize the value of truth. And the truth that's
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: been given to change our lives. Not simply fill our heads.
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: Or prepare us for some talk we're going to give
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: later on. May we see these truths as life changing.
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: May they guide us. when the bottom drops out of
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: our life, when society moves to the left, when our
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: world loses its moorings. May we turn to your word
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: to find direction and guidance and may strength come from
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: that source. May I speak for you when I deliver
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: your message and for none other. May it bring honor
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: to your name, Father, in the name of Christ. All
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: of us pray. Everyone said, Amen. Amen.
• 57:25
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Sustaining Enthusiasm, was copyrighted in 2013 and
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: the sound recording was copyrighted in 2017 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.