[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. Come on. Give it up for Jesus this morning.
Come on, you can do better than that. Give him five seconds of your greatest praise. He's the reason why we're here today.
I am so glad that you're here as well. I'm glad that you got a shower. I'm glad that you. I know your neighbors, is glad you got a shower. I'm glad the person sitting next to you, like, I'm glad you smell good. Look at them, by the way. Look at them directly in the eyes. Say, you look like you lost a little bit of weight. You're looking good today.
Some of you are like, I will never say that.
Look at your second choice and say, I should have turned to you first. I'm sorry. You actually, you're looking really good. There you go. There you go. I'm glad that you're here. Welcome to everybody watching online.
Come on, High Ridge family, let's give them a big, warm welcome. Tuning in from wherever you're watching from.
I believe God's got something special to speak to you today as you dig into His Word. So grab your Bibles, if you would. Let's turn over to John, chapter 16. So we're gonna spend all of our focus today. And as we're turning there, I wanna remind you, in case you're living under a rock, that Easter is coming. And we have expanded now to Easter weekend. It's no longer just gonna be Easter Sunday, but we have Easter Saturday services coming. And so we will have two worship services on. On. On Saturday, 4, 30 and 6, and then three worship services on Sunday morning at our normal times, 9, 10, 30, and 12. So I want to ask you, if you wouldn't mind, especially if you come normally to this service on Sunday, if you would consider perhaps moving off of that time. This is the most popular slot and we will not have enough parking. We not. We don't have enough chairs for everyone that's coming.
So would you at least pray about maybe approaching a different service? Maybe just pray about Saturdays to see if the Lord might just change your heart? I know this is your service and this is your special chair and you got your special parking lot space.
We can do hard things right we can do hard things. Let me just challenge you. And then while we're doing that, we also have some Easter invite cards to make it easier for you to remember the service times. These are going to be available in the lobby, so grab these if you would, and go around the Walmart parking lot, put them on everybody's windshield. They love that.
No, I think it's going to be, it's going to be a wonderful thing. And let me just challenge you as your pastor. Would you, would you start praying over Easter? And for those of you that have ever been on a church staff, if you've ever worked around church and ministry, you understand the weight of the warfare that happens anytime you. You expand the ministry of the Kingdom of God. It is a. It's a massive undertaking. And there's a lot of things that just begin to happen. Spiritual warfare goes off the charts. And then about five minutes after Easter, everyone's like, hey, about all that. That was, you know, a big problem. Nevermind. It's not a big deal at all. And you're like, I wanted to kill you last week. I.
Would you pray?
Let me, let me, let me make it a little bit stronger.
Pray, please.
We believe there are dozens and dozens of people that are going to be saved this Easter weekend. And we're going to ask you to start praying that the Lord would begin to draw them from all parts of the city. There are lots of people that do not have a church home. There are lots of people that are looking for Christ. There are a lot of people that are burned out on church that this Easter might be the last shot that they ever give organized religion. I believe that we, we need to pray. We need to ask the Lord that he would speak to them. Come on. In a way that they can understand. Are you still with me, everybody? Is this all right?
So let me just challenge you. Please, pray for Easter. Pray for the weekend. Invite people. It's going to be a fantastic thing. I want to just make this deal with you. If you invite your friends and we get to the end of the service where I present the gospel and to tell everybody, bow your head, close your eyes. I give you full permission to peek because I want you to see what happens when the friends that you invite start receiving Christ. It is a beautiful moment, and you don't want to miss that. Those moments don't just come around every single day. You don't want to miss that moment. It's a beautiful thing. So invite people.
Statistics say if you invite them for Easter, they will come. So there's no excuse you could do this. And so I want to just challenge you, if you wouldn't mind, take Easter seriously. Also, if you've been. If you've been coming here for a while and you've been kicking the tires around this church and you're like, I think I might want to call this place home. Let me tell you how you do that. Our version of a membership class is called Growth Track. It happens at 12 o'. Clock. Now, on our video announcements, it says, this is a two week class. We miscommunicated, that it does not last for two weeks. Okay? There's lots of people. I don't have that kind of vacation time to give that kind of commitment to a church right now at this point of my employment. It doesn't last for two weeks. It's two Sundays. It's about an hour per Sunday. Okay? So it's not going to kill you. You can do hard things. Come on, somebody. So if you're, if you're looking to make this church your home, Growth Track happens. It's a 12 o' clock class. It's over in the youth building across Rockwell Avenue. And it does not last for two weeks. It's just two parts. Okay? It's going to be fine. You'll be okay. So we would love to have you join us and just be as crazy as the rest of us. It's a good thing. So in the meanwhile, open up your Bibles. Once again, we are in John chapter 16.
And in honor and recognition of an important man that left this planet, Chuck Norris. I wanted to bring Rip. I wanted to bring a message called Bring it on. Come on, somebody. So at the end of the service today, we are going to have need of some volunteers that will let me roundhouse kick them in the face.
Line up to my right, your left. Um. It's going to be fun. No.
Have you ever had those moments in your life, like I have, where you felt completely confident in what was about to happen, only to recognize, like, in hindsight, I had no clue what I was talking about.
You ever had those moments where you feel like if people would just shut up and leave me alone, I know what I'm doing.
And then later on you're like, you should have helped me.
You ever been there?
I remember. I remember a specific time in my life where people that I know and love and people that are full of wisdom that know and they love me. And they sat me down and told me, like, I know you think you're ready to get married. You Are not. You don't understand what's about to happen. I'm like, I am 18 years old.
I am a grown man, and I don't need your advice.
I felt like all you need is love.
And we love each other. And no matter what happens, we will figure it out.
And we were wrong. We did not understand what was about to happen. Let me just tell you. I, I thought I knew a lot about marriage. And then like, tax season comes around. You're like, I, I need an adult. I don't, I don't know what I'm doing. What are dependents? I don't know what that is. Can we declare our dogs as dependents? Because if we can't, we might be going to prison. We, we do not have, we do not have these kind of resources. And at the time, I wasn't living for Christ. I had a, I had a drug habit. And when it said, are you filing jointly? I'm like, how do they know?
Big brother knows everything. They are listening to us right now. Married. Filing jointly was a state of mind. And I, I, I needed an adult. I didn't understand these things. I was not ready to enter that phase of my life. Although I had all the confidence in the world, I believed I understood. Did I understand? No. I wish I would have listened.
And then you think because you've read some books and because you've seen some movies and because you understand what a child is, that you're ready to have children. I was not ready to have children. And I had to read the Dr. Spock's baby book.
And then I read a baby wise book. And then I remember all these things that you read. And at the end of it, you're like, I feel 100% confident I am ready for kids. Kids. No, you're not.
No one told me about the, like, the first tar diaper parents.
My God, no one told me. And I'm like, this is not. My child is not normal. This, this must be from her side. This is not.
That is demonic.
And for those of you that don't know, I ain't telling you either.
You'll figure it out. Like, oh, you ready to be parrots? And then I had a conversation during the first service with a couple. They're having their first child, a beautiful thing. And they're like, we're going to do cloth diapers. I'm like, you'll do it with the first one.
By the third one, you put them in the backyard, hosing them down. Like the fourth one, you're going through car wash, like, it's fine. They won't remember.
We thought we were ready to be parents. We read a few books, and then you get there and you're like, I need my mother. I need an adult to come and tell me what to do. I remember the first time getting up in the middle of the night and trying to be a good dad, trying to take care of my son. And. And I remember he's, you know, he's staying awake, and then you sit down in the rocking chair and you're trying to get him to get back to sleep, and then he latches onto you.
You don't need coffee. After that moment, let me just tell you, I am wide awake.
I didn't know that that could happen, but it does. Nobody told me I was completely confident in my parenting skills until I became a parent.
And there are multiple points in my life where I can look back and say I had absolute confidence and I didn't know what in the world I was thinking.
And here is where we find this amazing chapter, John 16. Because the disciples are full of confidence, and they're telling Jesus the things that they know. They're talking to Jesus about how they are, ride or die. They're 10 toes down. Let's go to the death. And Jesus is like, not so much. Let me tell you what's going to happen. And there's such gentle compassion that Jesus approaches their confidence with.
I would not have approached it the same way. I would have used much more sarcasm than Jesus would. But they're talking to Jesus about how amazing things are and how amazing they are and how we're all just going to die together. We will die with you. And Jesus is like, you're going to be gone before dessert gets here. Like, you don't understand. The depth of your confidence does not match the depth of your perseverance.
Many of us at different times in our life have that same attitude. Bring it on until it gets broaded.
So let's look at the words of Christ, what he says to his disciples. And I love how people like Matthew and Mark and John, they capture these words and they tell us very specifically what Jesus is saying, even when they don't quite understand, like they felt think they do.
Jesus says this.
All right, guys, The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and because you've believed that I came from God.
It's a wonderful scripture, by the way, to underline. The Father loves you because you've loved me and you believe that I came from God. And then he says, This. I came from the Father, I entered the world, and now I'm leaving the world and going back to the Father. Jesus says this in multiple ways. All this night, I'm about to leave you. Where I'm going, you can't come. I'm about to go to the cross. I'm about to die. And then later on they're like, what happened? Why didn't you tell us? Like, you're not listening.
Jesus says, I came into this world from the Father, and. And I'm leaving this world. I'm going back to the Father.
Then his disciples, then Jesus disciples said this, and I love this. Notice the.
What's a good word? What's a good theological word for stupidity?
Notice the innocence that they speak with.
They said, jesus, look, now you're speaking clearly and without figures of speech. That's what I'm talking about. We get it now. We can see that you know all things that you don't even need anybody to ask you any questions. You don't even need us to question. We've got it.
We're 100% clear.
And they said, this makes us believe that you came from God.
And there is no way I can read the next scripture without giggling.
Jesus says, do you now believe? Really? That was the final straw for you? Okay, how about a couple days ago when Lazarus got up from the grave? That wasn't quite enough.
Cool. Now you believe because I said that the Father loves you and I'm leaving. Cool.
I like your confidence. Do you now believe? Jesus said, notice his words. Jesus says, a time is coming and in fact has already come.
Let me tell you what's going to happen. You're going to be scattered, each to your own home. You're going to leave me all alone. What? What? What we just told you. We're. We're in this forever. Let's all go die. He said, you're going to leave me?
You're gonna leave me all alone?
He says, yeah, you need to remember this. When you find yourself at the end of where you're going, when you panic, when you freak out, you think, we left him all alone. Remind yourself, I'm not alone. He says, my Father is with me.
He says, this is why I'm telling you these things.
So that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble. But. But. Take heart. Somebody say, take heart. Come on, say it like you mean it. Take heart.
I have overcome the world.
Jesus tells them exactly what's going to happen.
He tells them exactly what they're going to do.
They disagree completely. They've just told Jesus. Now, we understand. We get it.
And Jesus is like, you really don't.
But let me tell you, you're going to feel horrible because your faith is about to get tested, and you don't realize that you're not quite as strong as you think you are. You mean well, you talk a big game.
But when you find yourself at the end of your trial, when you find yourself at the end of your test, when you find yourself at the end of the tribulation, those dark seasons, remind yourself like, I've overcome the world, and in me you have peace.
The disciples had a lot to learn.
Cocky. Arrogant. Absolutely.
And we find that in this amazing text, it's more than just Jesus speaking to his disciples. We find that there's so much that Jesus is still saying to people like me and you today.
Here's the first or three things I want to share with you, things that I think are so important that the Holy Spirit is extrapolating to us today about this particular text. Number one, confidence is always high. Before the testing comes, somebody say amen.
And we see this reflected in the disciples.
Were they confident?
Yes.
Cocky also? Yes. Tested? Absolutely not.
They hadn't really tested until this moment. They're ready for it. They thought.
Notice their words. They say, okay, Jesus, now we understand.
This makes us believe. Here's what we all should see. This is what many of us know. Let me put it on the screen. Confidence is loud in comfort.
I'm very confident when I'm comfortable.
And one of the things that we're hoping to provide for you every single Sunday morning is that you come here and you find yourself getting more confident.
You find yourself with your faith getting a little stronger. You find yourself getting into the presence of God. We. We'll sing some songs, and you might clap your hands. We. We encourage you. Like, come on, press into the presence of God. You need this. And then we walk home feeling comfortable. You drive to your place feeling confident. You feel like you've been on top of the world. And then Monday happens, and you're like, I. I need to find another church. I'm not getting fed there. I am.
I'm not. Okay. Like, understand this.
Confidence is loud when.
When you're comfortable.
But Jesus specifically tells his disciples, you're about to walk through some uncomfortable times.
And when you're in it, remind yourself, I told you this was going to happen, and I'm telling you what to do.
Let your confidence not be in yourself.
Let your confidence be in me. And in my word, confidence gets loud in comfort.
I love when they say, now we understand. This makes us believe.
Jesus says, no, you think you get it.
And there's so much gentle irony in that. And I'm so grateful that he's a gentle shepherd.
I would have said something that, like, Matthew and Mark would be like, let's don't write that down. He doesn't mean that.
I'd have been like, peter, because we know it's him. Come on.
Like, just shut up.
You don't know what you're talking about. Just. Just let Jesus speak right now. This is not your time to shine, buddy.
Let him speak.
But he says, now we understand. Now we get it completely. Nope, Jesus, like, you kind of don't, but I'm going to explain it to you anyway.
So their. Their cockiness is a little bit premature.
Their confidence a little bit premature because they had never walked through anything yet.
It reminds me for.
For those of you that could. That. That can relate. I. I had a dream of playing high school football. I wanted really, really bad to be on the varsity team and, you know, practice and worked out forever and finally got to it. Got. Got a chance to play. And I remember that first game, after going all summer long, after practicing and practicing, practicing, working gameplays and finally getting a chance to start, like, I was ready to commit felonies on that field. I was ready to rip someone's head off. Like, this was. Hey, this was back in the 90s. We could do that.
Concussions were encouraged, baby.
Encouraged. Like, lead with your helmet. That's what we do. Now they're teaching kids to tackle. We weren't taught to tackle. We're taught to kill.
And that explains a lot of the reasons why we struggle with the things we struggle with. It's not okay up here. Like, it's. It's.
We have issues.
And I remember that first game was coming, and I was thinking, that team is not ready for what is about to come out of this tunnel. We were fired. We've been sitting inside of that locker room, gone over the gameplay extensively, knew every single position, every single play we had worked for months. And I. I remember specifically sitting in that room, and they're like, okay, we got about six minutes left. Then they start playing like Phil Collins in the air tonight. You remember that song, I can feel it coming in the air. You're like.
You start looking at the people around you, and you're like, ah. You start putting eye black on your face.
Remember that? It's a night game. This makes no sense.
But you had to have it.
You start, like, grabbing stuff.
Here we go.
And then you start running out on that field, and, like, your parents are there and your grandparents are there, and the little girl's got a crush on you. You're like, like, oh, my gosh, I love his number. I'm getting that tattooed on me tomorrow. Just dumb high school things. And then the band's playing. It's just pumping you up, and you get off. Get off onto that field. And then, like, the opening kickoff happened, and they ran it back 107 yards for a touchdown. And you're like, this is stupid. I am.
I didn't get a chance to hit anybody. Like, they just ran past me, like, wait, that's not supposed to happen.
And I remember thinking in that moment, as the. You know, the rest of the fans are cheering as they just run it straight back on us, like, without even breaking a sweat, I'm thinking, my people are soccer people. We have chosen the wrong sport. This is not in God's plan for my life. I perhaps need to reconsider some of my life choices. Confident? Absolutely. Ready?
Not so much.
Here's what we know. Clarity isn't the same thing as readiness.
There are a lot of things we can understand until it actually happens. Clarity is not the same thing as readiness.
And this is exactly what the disciples say. Now we understand. Now we get it. And Jesus is like, you ain't ready.
Just because you understand does not mean that you're ready.
Jesus says, your faith is about to be tested.
Why does God do that? Doesn't he know exactly what we're made of? Doesn't he understand, like, how far we've come? Doesn't he understand our story? Doesn't he understand, like, I shouldn't have to be tested. I'm good.
I just love you.
Here's the thing, James, chapter one, says, the testing of your faith produces something.
It produces something that has been lost in our American version of Christianity. And that word is perseverance.
Perseverance.
Know this for a fact. God will absolutely, 100% let your faith be tested. It's supposed to be tested. It has to be tested. A faith that's not tested can't be trusted. Come on, somebody.
So here we see the disciples saying, we are 100% in. We are 10 toes down. We are ready. Like, no, no, no, no. You. You're really not. And you're about to walk through a testing of your faith, and it's going to be good for you. Remind yourself, in me, you have Your peace. I've overcome the world, but it's going to feel like the end of the world to you. So here is Jesus giving like a pre crisis briefing to his disciples, trying to let them know they're not quite where they think they are. But it's not going to come as a shock to him. They're supposed to go through it. Well, God, don't you know what's inside of my heart? Don't you know where my faith is? Don't you understand? I don't really need to be tested right now. No, no, no, you need to be tested.
As a matter of fact, I want to say it this way. Let me put it on the screen for you. God's tests don't reveal your heart to him. They reveal your heart to you.
They show you that your words are sometimes just words.
Jesus says you need to know.
Here's the good news, by the way. This is the last time that the Gospels and the rest of the Bible ever records the disciples running in fear.
They learned their lesson. There's some perseverance.
But Jesus said, this is going to happen.
You're not quite as strong as you think you are.
You need me and I'm going to have to show you how much you need me.
I'm going to have to show you where your real peace comes from when the chips are down and when times get tough. Here's the second thing that we see that's still speaking to us so strongly from this text. Number two. Peace doesn't mean without trouble.
Somebody say amen.
Peace doesn't mean without trouble. This is one of the great lies feeding into a lot of Christianity right now. As long as you have a relationship with Jesus, you're not going to walk through anything ever again. I don't know who's telling people that.
It certainly is not me and absolutely 100% is not the truth. But there are multiple churches that you'll walk into. And their response to how are you doing today? Is, I'm too blessed to be stressed. Everything in my life is fantastic. I'm blessed and, and highly favored of the Lord. Like, really, why are your pants on backwards? Like, oh, you know.
We start tending to try to fake it till you make it.
But Jesus is very clear in his word. He says. He says, guys, in me you have peace and in this world you will have trouble.
These are two powerful statements given one after the other by the Son of God to his disciples in the midst of their confidence and cockiness. He says, remind yourself your peace is in Your relationship with me, that's where it comes from. And in this world, you are absolutely going to have trouble. He didn't say you might have some issues.
He says, you will.
You will have trouble. It shows us that biblically, peace and real trouble can absolutely coexist.
You can have real trouble. You can also have real peace in the midst of trouble.
This is how Jesus reminds us through his word that there is a peace that passes all understanding. And until you've experienced that, there's just words on the page.
How many people know today that there are times in your life where you're like, I don't know how in the world I can have peace. Right now.
It doesn't make any sense, but I'm walking through a horrible place in my life and I should be freaking out. But instead, there's a peace that's here, and it makes no sense. This is not how I usually react to these kind of situations. Why am I so peaceful?
And the difference is, in your relationship with Christ, Jesus says, in me, you have peace. In this world, you're going to have trouble. Here's what we see. Trouble is unavoidable, but our peace is relational.
Come on, somebody say it with me. Trouble is unavoidable, but peace is relational.
Now, I'm not saying all trouble is unavoidable. There are some things that. It's not testing your faith, and it's not the devil. It's 100%. You just forgot to put gas in your car. You. It's, it's.
You don't know how to fill your tires up with. With air like that. That's not the devil.
Like, God's testing my patience today, is he? That, that's.
Or, or maybe you don't lie to yourself when you're saying, I'm going to get up early tomorrow and I'll just pass by the gas station on the way to work.
You know, you like Devil sure is busy, is he?
No, I'm talking about real trouble.
Like, you're going to walk through that. You're going to walk through the testing of your faith. You're going to walk through trouble. Jesus promised us in this life you will have trouble.
But then he says, take heart. Why I've overcome the world.
He says, remind yourself your peace is in.
Is in me.
Our faith in God, our trust, and our relationship with Jesus does not remove us from hardships.
But our faith and our relationship with Jesus can redirect our focus during the hardship to something that can actually bring us peace and something constructive. That can produce something in our world.
In the middle of our difficulty, it can still produce things. In the middle of our trials, we can still learn, we can still grow, we can still find ourselves closer to him than ever. Some of the deepest and darkest moments of my life.
I found a Savior.
I found a help.
I found a refuge.
I found that my relationship with Jesus was more than just words on some page. But he was real.
And as his word tells us in Psalm 46, God is a. He's an ever present help in the times of trouble. He's here.
Remind yourself, he's here.
There's another wonderful scripture that says, cast your cares on him. Why? Because he cares for you.
No matter what I'm walking through, I can find myself asking the Lord to be closer to me. Lord, help me come close. I know you're here. Let me sense your presence. Show me what to do. I need your help. Your word tells me that you're a present. Help. You're here. You're present, and I'm in trouble.
Here's what we know. Peace isn't found in a calm life, but in a constant Savior.
Here's the third and final thing I want to leave you with. I think it's so important. From this text, number three. Here's what we see. Victory is declared before it's seen.
And this is a little strange for us in scripture because many people will take this and turn it into something that's theologically junk science. Let's just call it that way.
Lots of people can declare things, okay? And we declare things all the time. We're from the South. Well, I declare.
That's a thing here. If you're not from the south, you don't know what that means. Actually, we don't know what it means, but we say it.
Well, I declare. And then you can declare things all the time.
You can declare yourself cured.
You can declare bankruptcy. You still have to file the paperwork like that.
Michael Scott. Come on. Anybody ever watch the office? I declare bankruptcy. I don't think that's the end of it. No, you can't just say it. I didn't say it. I declared it like you. Still.
That's not how that works. You can declare a thumb war if you want to. There's lots of things that we. That we can declare, right? That doesn't necessarily make it so. There's lots of things that even believers will say, well, if I declare it out, then God has to do it. Like, that's.
I don't think you understand what that means.
You're manifesting something else that's not biblical Christianity. That's called Santa Claus.
That's. That's hoping that he gives you what you want. There's lots of things that you can declare that. And, and here's. Let me. Let me just be very clear, though. I believe life and death is in the power of the tongue. And I. I believe that you can speak out things according to God's word. And it's. It's completely a much better option than you just speak in the way that you would normally speak. Life. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. I believe that. I also believe that in the power of. Of positive words. If you have a. If you have an option between thinking positively and thinking negatively, choose positive, weirdo. Just try to think positive. Like, what. What's the good thing that could happen? Like, if there's your choice, think positive. I get that.
But that's not what Christ is doing here when he tells them, take heart, for I have overcome the world.
He declares victory before the cross happens.
Jesus is saying, it's already done before he even goes to the garden and has sweat like great drops of blood. Before he gets beaten, before he gets nailed on a cross, before they throw his dead body into a tomb. Before all that happens, Jesus says, I've overcome.
This is victory verbiage.
Is this just Jesus being very optimistic about the next couple of days?
Or could it be that just as he prophesied a couple of minutes ago exactly what was going to happen, that he absolutely is continuing that thought process and saying, I'm telling you, not only do I know what you're going to do, I know what I'm going to do, and I know what's going to happen afterwards.
Jesus gives us completed victory language. He guarantees victory before the battle happens. How in the world does he do that? How is it.
How is it that he's able to say those words?
And here's one of the coolest things that we see in Scripture is that when God declares victory, there's nothing that can stand against it.
And one of the things about God and the things that he declares is God loves to tell you the way the story's gonna end at the beginning.
Some of the greatest movies, by the way, will do that. They'll start at the end of the movie and then go back to the beginning. And you're like, how in the world is this gonna get to that? Cause you've already shown me the end. And then by the time you get there, you're like, wow. Like you. And here's the thing. God tells us that in Isaiah 46, he said, I'm a God that makes the end known from the beginning.
All the way back in the garden, there was one man and one woman. Everything was perfect.
Except I would like to have the one thing that God says don't, don't do.
Let's not get too upset with Eve, because if she wouldn't have messed it up, I 100% would have. I know me. I would have messed it up for all of us.
I'm that guy.
Sin enters the world, and Jesus has a conversation with his disciples that takes us all the way back to the garden and tells us the word that the Father says to the serpent. The moment that sin enters the world, God spoke its cure to a serpent. He says this Genesis, chapter three.
He says, he's going to crush your head.
Now you're going to bruise his heel. You're going to make him suffer. He's going to suffer, but he's going to crush your authority.
Everything that you've done to bring sin into this world, to entice people to take a different road.
I'm going to send my son, and he's going to suffer, but he's going to destroy the authority that you have.
And as the Father speaks these words in Genesis chapter 3, we find Jesus able to declare victory in John 16.
Why?
Because the Father declared victory before I, anyone else has ever seen it.
He sees things that I can't see.
And if he's declaring victory, I can stand on it.
So when Jesus says, take heart, I have overcome the world, that's not optimism.
This is not Jesus saying, well, I hope I get it right.
This is Jesus saying, my Father's already declared it.
And I'm not saying it's going to be easy.
I'm not saying that I want to do it.
I'm saying according to His Word, it's already done.
Victory.
Is already paid for.
That's good news for us today. It shows us something powerful, that the cross wasn't God's backup plan, but it was written into the story. From the first moment that sin entered it.
God had a plan for the cross.
So from heaven's perspective, it's already settled. Why? Because God declared it.
Now it's different when. When you declare something, but when he declares victory, it's done. And let me just remind you that because God gives the end from the beginning, there's an. There's an end to this book.
All the way over here in Revelation, chapter 22.
And the ending tells us you're going to be okay.
Victory is yours. Victory is mine.
Why? Because God declared it from the beginning.
It shows us something that's really important when we're walking through testing and trials and tribulation and dark days and all the things that we have to deal with in this life. When life gets messy, when it gets hard, when it gets painful and you feel like you're super confident, you feel like you understand. You feel like you can do it, and. And then you actually walk through it and you're like, I failed horribly.
Doesn't feel like victory.
Remind yourself that in the end, he wins.
In the end, we win.
Not because of anything else that we've done, because of what he's done for us.
Here's the good news. I'll leave you with this. Faith isn't pretending that we'll win. It's trusting that in Christ, we already have.
We already have. That takes a little pressure off times. When you find yourself letting Jesus down.
You're not gonna shock Him.
But know that the testing of your faith can produce something. You don't have to repeat the same mistakes.
You don't have to keep going back to the same sin over and over. But you're human. You're gonna mess up. You're gonna have low days where you feel like my faith is just not where it should be. I thought I was good yesterday. I felt confident that I could face it. But then Monday happened and I messed up. I did something stupid. Remind yourself that he understands.
Remind yourself of his great grace.
Remind yourself of the victory that he purchased for you on the cross. Remind yourself his mercies are new every morning. And then get up.
Step forward in your relationship again.
Remind yourself that in Him I can find peace.
In him, and because of him, there is still victory.
As we finish up today, I want to invite you. Go ahead and close your Bibles, if you would. Let's put those things away and put your phone by your side for just a second. You're gonna be okay. You're not gonna die. We can do hard things.
Set it down for just a moment.
And I want to invite you to just connect with your Father for just a moment. Would you bow your head? Would you close your eyes?
And for those that have been fighting through temptation, or maybe you're walking through a dark season. Maybe you. You find yourself facing doubt, discouragement. I sense that really strongly from the Holy Spirit today, the spirit of discouragement.
You maybe thought something would happen by now and it hadn't. Quite happened. And you find yourself battling through discouragement.
For others, it's distraction. You find yourself so distracted. There's so much going on in your world right now, it's really difficult to focus.
For others, it's a season of doubt.
I'm not sure if things are ever going to change. I'm not sure if I'm going to get it right.
I'm not sure if I can fix this.
Remind yourself that your God is an ever present help in the time of trouble.
He's here and he wants your confidence to be in him, not in you.
You're not enough.
But thank God he is enough for me.
So, Lord Jesus, today with heads bowed and eyes closed, we give you our full attention.
We recognize that our confidence has gone to a lot of places and many times our confidence is in our own ability.
Until life gets tough and we recognize how shaky our confidence really is.
Father, I pray that today that we would have a mindset change, that our confidence would be in you and what you've done on the cross and what you're doing in my life.
Let my confidence be in you.
So if my faith is being tested, if my character is being tested, if my sanity is being tested, Lord, let it produce perseverance.
Let me find a deeper level of relationship and intimacy with you.
Let me draw close, Lord, and learn and grow to become what you called me to be in Jesus name, with heads bowed and eyes closed. Maybe you came here today and you're saying, pastor, I don't have a relationship with Jesus. I don't know what that means. My friend, you're in the right place.
This next part is just for you.
For others you might say, pastor, I am so far from God right now. I might have been raised in church. Maybe you did all the things. But you know, and God knows, you are so far from God right now.
You've been away for far too long, my friend. If you could see it right now, God himself is reaching down his hand and saying, come home, come home to me.
And I want to show you how to do that with heads bowed and eyes closed, with nobody looking around. I want to invite you to pray a prayer. I want you to pray this prayer out loud with the rest of us. We're going to say it out loud so you don't feel singled out or embarrassed in any way. But you need to pray this prayer. A prayer of repentance, a prayer of asking him for help.
So if you want a relationship with Jesus, pray this prayer with the rest of us. Come on, let's pray this out loud together. Just say, jesus, I believe you're the son of God.
I believe that you came and died.
I believe you rose from the grave so that I could have life and forgiveness for my sins.
Please forgive me and I'll give you the rest of my life.
In Jesus name.
And with heads bowed and eyes closed, with no one else looking around, just those of you that prayed that prayer, would you lift up your hands all over the space and say, that was me. I prayed that prayer. I meant that prayer. Good. I see you. Good. Good for you. Yes, I see you up there in the balcony. Good for you. You guys can put your hands down. Just those of you that prayed that prayer, I want you to know that there is a phone number available for you. I would like, if you wouldn't mind, if you. I'd like to challenge you to text me if you prayed that prayer. There's a phone number appearing on the screen behind me. If you're watching at home, wherever you may be watching from, there's a phone number appearing on your screen as well. If you prayed that prayer, text me. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna send back to you the link to some things that I think will help you understand what just happened in your heart and what to do next.
Let me just remind you this is not the end of your relationship with Jesus. This is the beginning. It is the greatest honor of my life to help people know Jesus better.
I'm proud of you in the decision that you just made here today. Good for you. How rich family. Go ahead and look up at me if you would. Let's stand to our feet together today. And as we prepare to end our services, I'm going to invite our elders forward. And these guys are going to remain right here at the front edge of this platform to be available to pray for you about anything that you might need prayer for. If you're walking through a tough season, do not walk through that alone. We would love to connect with you. We would love to be your praying partner. Partners. We have some amazing people that would love to pray for you. They've got breath mints. They've got smiles on their faces. Are they smiling? Are they smiling?
Ruth is smiled. Deb, I see you.
Good for you. I want smiling. What in the world?
That's as close as it gets.
We would love. Come on. We would love to. Would you guys love to pray for some people? Come on. We would love to pray for you. So if you're. If you're decided to walk through that stuff alone, that's 100% on you. But for everybody else, we would love to to pray for you and believe that God will hear your prayer and turn some things around today. Come on, somebody, today.
Quick reminder, Easter's coming up. There's invite cards located in the lobby. Take as many as you like. Your tithe dollars. Bought it. They're yours. But, you know, don't put them on the cars at Walmart. Don't do that. Don't put them in mailboxes either. That might be a felony. I'm not sure if you can technically do that. But do hand them to people.
Here's something to keep in mind. Statistics say if you invite them, they will come.
Easter is the one Sunday people will come.
And there are people that need Jesus. Come on, people. There's people that need Jesus.
And we believe that on Easter weekend they're gonna find the real Jesus. We're gonna introduce them to them. Their lives are gonna change. Amen.
Come on. Amen.
Let me pray for you and bless you as we go. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week? Help them be led by your spirit. Help them to walk free from temptation. Help them to stand strong in trials and tribulation. Help them. Help them to overcome the evil one. Help us to recognize our victory is in you.
We thank you and we praise you for what you've just done. We give you all the glory in Jesus mighty name and all of us said together. Amen. God bless you as you go. Hope you have an awesome week.
[00:43:10] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening.
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