[0:00] All right, well, good morning, everybody.
[0:15] And let's just, let's pray together and then get into this Sunday school lesson. Father, Lord, I pray as we are gathered that you would be pleased with our hearts and that you'll just move into this place.
[0:34] Lord, I'm grateful that we could meet. It's kind of been a weary week for myself and my family, but it's so good to be in church and just get reset and to get the week started off centered here around the word of God and with your people.
[0:49] And so I'm thankful to be here. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy. Thank you for the word of God. And thank you for atonement through the blood of Jesus Christ and the covering of our sins and the forgiveness of them.
[1:02] Thank you that you see us as righteous and we know in our hearts what we are. And even this morning, I'm sure we've dealt with that old man and he's right there and he's very present.
[1:13] And Lord, yet you see us as clean. And because of that, we're here and we're thankful. And just ask that you'll minister to us now in this time and give us strength to keep fighting another day and to carry on for Jesus Christ.
[1:28] And it's in his name we pray. Amen. Amen. I want to take you back to just where we ended last week. If you'd find Nehemiah in the Old Testament, Nehemiah chapter 4.
[1:41] And so we're going through a little bit of a series about perfecting that which is lacking.
[1:55] And the idea is to just address certain things in a different light and manner by doing it by contrast, really. And trying to pick out some things that may not get addressed typically or commonly, at least in this light.
[2:12] And just to help you, to try to, if this is something, if these categories, if you're lacking in these ways, then let's perfect it.
[2:23] Let's work on getting it cleaned up, getting it right, and putting the old man down. And so the first one we discussed was, we called it isolation versus unification.
[2:34] And I'm not going to rehash that this morning. Last week we started a second one, which was quitting versus fighting. And it's easy to quit. It's far easier to lay down and to give up and not follow through, especially when things get tough.
[2:49] It's easy to get charged up about an idea. It's easy to get a thought in your mind, and I'm going to do this this year. I'm going to be better. I'm going to this, that, and the other thing, especially with the new year. And then it's easy to start off good, but it's very easy to fail.
[3:04] It's easy to fall and just to say, forget it. Been there, done that. And quitting is the easy route, and there's no question about it. And I said last week that quitting destroys a few things in the person.
[3:16] It destroys your character. A quitter at one thing is likely to be a quitter at another. Quitting is contagious inside of you. You quit on one marriage, it's easy to quit on the second marriage.
[3:31] You quit on something in your spiritual life, it's easy to just start it up again, but then just forget it. How many times have you tried to read your Bible through and not finished?
[3:42] How many times have you tried to start something for God, a prayer life, a consistent prayer life, and then not followed through with it? It's just easy to quit. It's absolutely easy. It destroys character, and it destroys confidence.
[3:54] And we ended, though, talking about fighting. And I ran you through a list of verses about the Christian life being a warfare and the Christian being likened to a soldier and to a fighter.
[4:06] And so fighting is the right thing to do. And I remember, I'm going to say it a hundred times here, or close to it, that fighting doesn't mean that you're winning. It just means that you're not quitting.
[4:17] And that's something I really, really, really want to emphasize here with this idea of perfecting that which is lacking. Fighting doesn't mean that you're winning, getting the victory, that you're conquering, and that you're on the top.
[4:29] But fighting means you're not going to give up. You're going to keep striving. Even when you fall, you're going to keep going forward. And that's what we want to instill, and that's what we want to aim for. So the people of God have always had a fight on their hands.
[4:41] And I've got you back in Nehemiah chapter 4 to remind you where we started with this first thought about fighting. And it was a beautiful verse that just struck me in verse 14. Nehemiah 4.14, there's opposition surrounding this work of God.
[4:58] Nehemiah is trying to motivate the people of God to get up and do something and not to give up, not to be afraid. And he said, And I looked and rose up and said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, Be ye not afraid of them.
[5:12] And here's the line. Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. Remember the Lord.
[5:24] And in there's a list of things worth fighting for. That's kind of even another avenue here of this thought. But being more generic is just remember the Lord and fight.
[5:36] Remember what's right and fight. It's a great place, I think, to begin this admonition to be a fighter and not a quitter is to remember the Lord, to remember that it's what the Lord wants for you in your life.
[5:48] Remember who the Lord is. Remember that He died and saved your soul. Remember that He has heaven awaiting you. Remember these things of the Lord and the spiritual man and the new life He's given you.
[5:58] Remember that stuff and then get after it and fight for it. And don't quit. Don't be so quick to give up and lay down. Remember that God gave you a fight to engage in, and He calls you to stand and to engage in battle and to war a good warfare.
[6:16] In your life, in my life, opposition, even much like what Nehemiah faced, is never going to completely go away. Maybe you'll get the victory in one area, but the opposition is going to show up in another or always be present.
[6:32] And even your best child will test you somewhere. Even the perfect child will test you along the way. Even a perfect marriage is going to face strain.
[6:44] There's always going to be opposition anywhere. It's going to show up, and it'll test your character, not just test your patience, not just test your commitment, but it'll test your faith.
[6:55] My wife and I, we've been married 21 years, I think, going on 22. I'm pretty sure about that. I know it's over 20. And we, as a married couple, are not immune to stress in the marriage.
[7:11] We're not immune to arguments. We're not immune to just being at odds with one another for a time or just seeing things different ways. We're not immune to problems, to trials within the marriage or within the family or just within life.
[7:28] That's just, we're in it. We're just like you. We surely are not like the first couple of the church, like have this holy thing going on where you can all look to us and just be blessed and follow our lead, church.
[7:43] I mean, we try to be or have a good show of it, but the truth is we're not exempt from any of the stress and the opposition and the troubles at all.
[7:54] But we both, her and I, we both in our hearts have a real genuine desire to glorify God. That's inside of me.
[8:05] That is inside of her. And because that's inside of us, these things that come up can be put down and can be overcome and can be dealt with.
[8:20] Maybe not even disappear, but they can still be dealt with and we can go forward and live for God. We face tests and we face issues and we face trials and continue to, but we've made a decision to fight.
[8:32] We've made that decision to fight for what is right in our lives and in our homes. And I remember telling her one time that even if it's hard, we're going to fight.
[8:47] Even if it's tough, we are going to fight because it's the right thing to do. We're not going to give up. We don't have any guarantees that everything's going to work out, but we're going to fight because we know it's right.
[9:03] And she agrees with that. I believe that. And because of that, we can be together, staying strong for Jesus Christ in a marriage. But giving up, that's easy.
[9:17] That's easy. But fighting is right. And you and I need to let our children know and let our families know and let our coworkers know and let our neighbors know and whoever we have relationships with that you stand for something.
[9:32] And that you believe in some things and that you're not going to change just because there's opposition or there's pushback. And a good idea is to remember the Lord.
[9:44] Remember the Lord and then fight for those things, whether it be your brethren and sons and daughters and wives and so forth. All right. So now turn to Romans chapter 13, would you please?
[9:58] First thought about fighting is to remember the Lord and fight. Remember what's right and fight for that. Never give up.
[10:08] Romans 13. And the second thing I want to say is to arm yourself for the fight.
[10:22] Arm yourself for battle. We've looked at it enough times, I'm sure, in Ephesians chapter 6. I'm not going to flip you over there again. But in Ephesians 6, we looked at it even last week about having the whole armor of God and arming yourselves and being strong in the Lord.
[10:40] And we could go through that passage again. This one's just good enough. It's the same thing. Romans 13 and verse... I'll read verse 12 to 14.
[10:52] The Bible says, The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on. Put on. Arm yourself.
[11:02] The armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.
[11:18] That is the armor of light. It's a person. It's the new man. Make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Arm yourself for the fight.
[11:30] So as a creature, a new creature in Christ Jesus, you ought to be prepared to face temptation. And you ought to be aware and taught that it's going to come. If somebody just teaches you a bunch of nonsense about how wonderful your life is from here on out, then you're not, they're not arming you.
[11:48] And you need to be prepared for things to go wrong. And you need to be aware of that. Be armed for the fight. There's some things that need to be cast off so that you can put on the armor of light.
[12:00] And that was mentioned in verse 12. Ephesians chapter 4 mentions putting off the old man so that you can put on the new man. Be aware of this fight and be armed.
[12:13] Reading your Bible and putting time to prayer, to communion with God, like a fellowship with Jesus Christ, like doing those simple but so important things is really just part of everyday arming yourself, preparing yourself, carrying a humble spirit, staying connected to God's people, to Christians, to believers, staying in communion with them.
[12:45] They, for the most part, they should not be the ones that are trying to tempt you and pull you into things that are wrong. But rather, they're going to encourage you and strengthen you and sharpen you.
[12:57] And arming yourself is trained with the right people. Be around the right people. It's a big, big deal. It makes a lot of sense to me. Get that new man fed.
[13:09] Get him activated. It won't inoculate you from being tempted. It won't inoculate you from the opportunity to sin. But it will absolutely strengthen you to be at your best, at least better than you would be without it.
[13:21] That should make sense. You think that if you're going to know that you're going to be tempted to do such and such at 12 o'clock this afternoon, do you think that you maybe could prepare yourself for that so that you don't fall?
[13:35] You probably would. Well, you don't know when the temptation's coming because your enemy's not going to be like that. So arm yourself. Prepare yourself for battle. Look back at 1 Corinthians 9.
[13:49] Just a few pages to the right. 1 Corinthians 9. Neglecting the armor of God, neglecting feeding and putting on the new man daily, it's risky.
[14:03] And it's foolish. You'll fall. So arm yourself. 1 Corinthians 9. This is where Paul likens the Christian life to a battle here into a fight.
[14:15] And I just want to point out what he says in verse 26. He says, I therefore so run, not as uncertainty, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.
[14:28] Paul's not just swinging away blindly when he gets himself into a bad situation. You shouldn't just drop into some temptation and then just start swinging away blindly, beating at the air, just trying to fight it off.
[14:46] But to be at your best, discipline your life. Purposefully. Make a plan to feed and grow and strengthen the new man, to be prepared and armed for when the temptation comes.
[15:02] I'm sure you've seen the videos, they're everywhere, aware of fighters and street fighter versus martial arts trained or just stupid stuff like that. Sometimes it sucks me into watching them.
[15:14] And you can see the guy who has no training. When it comes to a fight or to some confrontation, he is just beating the air, just throwing his arms, throwing left and right, throw, throw, throw, throw, just swinging like a madman.
[15:30] And the trained guy blocks, blocks, blocks and then drops him. It doesn't take much because he's trained, he's prepared, the other guy's not.
[15:41] And what a truth that is. You'll get knocked out. So arm yourself for the fight. Be prepared. Have plans that the fight's coming. And when it comes, you're not going to quit.
[15:54] So arm yourself. It's a decision that you make every day. Imagine a group of soldiers. Imagine, could you picture in your mind about, oh, maybe a dozen soldiers that are clearing an area and going through some kind of dangerous environment and they're all geared up with their pants tucked into their boots and strapped up and all of their vests and their helmets and their glasses and their headsets and their mouthpiece.
[16:21] They're communicating. They've got their guns drawn. There's this side's going that way. That side they're up. Somebody's got down. Somebody's behind the side. Like they've completely surrounding and eyes on everything, maneuvering, working their way through and just totally prepared and engaged in fighting position, moving forward, cautiously, covering all the angle.
[16:43] Can you just picture that in your mind? Being very cautious, being very aware. And in that group, one of these, say, 12, is just flip-flops, shorts, board shorts, tank top, just kind of looking up in the air.
[16:59] It's a nice day. Man, it suns out. It's bright. And everybody else is just ready for anything. And that guy's just doop-de-doop-de-do.
[17:10] I mean, he might be the same age, might be the same experience level, just as fit, but the guy's not prepared and he's not armed. And if you can picture that kind of absurd scene in your mind, when the attacks come, which one's going to be prepared or have any ability to defend himself?
[17:30] Or which one's just going to go down quickly and fall? So be that soldier. Be prepared daily. Arm yourself. Because you don't want to quit. That's why.
[17:42] I don't want you to quit. I want you to fight. I want you to take your Christian life and not just your walk with God serious, but how it affects people in your lives. You're a role model for people.
[17:52] You don't know it. You probably don't care. Maybe you don't see it, but you are. Your decisions affect people in your life. God puts you in a place to be an example to others. And here you are in a place where you have the truth of the Word of God.
[18:07] You get doctrine. You get fed well. You get a Bible. You're here in Sunday school. You're a little bit more elite of the forces than a lot of people in your life.
[18:18] You know what that makes you? An example to them. So be armed. Be prepared. Show them that you're trained. Let it be known. Something else you want to do so that you don't quit, and this is by way of fighting, is to beware or aware of your enemy.
[18:37] Now, I don't need to spend much time here, and I think you know the verse probably by heart, but I'll read it to you. in 1 Peter 5, where we're commanded to be sober and to be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, 1 Peter 5, verse 8, your adversary, the devil, talking about being aware of your enemy.
[18:58] As a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist, steadfast in the faith. Fight.
[19:10] And to fight, you better be aware of your enemy. Now, we spent a lot of time talking about our adversary, the devil, and more of a doctrinal teaching of uncovering everything we could from the scriptures about his person and his methods and all of those things.
[19:24] And so, we're not going to delve back into that deepness, but it's pretty wise to be aware that not just opposition, but of the enemy himself.
[19:35] The devil's not going to knock on your door. He's not going to send you a text and say, here's what I'm thinking. Two o'clock today, I'm going to take advantage.
[19:47] I'm going to attempt to manipulate your emotions. When certain things kind of show up, I'm going to attempt to push you into just falling, into a sin or into reacting wrong, into saying some hurtful words.
[20:06] I'm going to be, so just give you no heads up. That's me. I'm coming for you today. He's not going to do that, but he is going to do that. He will absolutely be present and even orchestrating, as we've discussed and studied in the Bible, his ability to orchestrate events and to even, on a very, very large scale, when attacking Job, he is capable of maneuvering and influencing people and twisting and doing things and setting things up for a very precise moment to try to get them to fall, to get you to fall, to get you to quit.
[20:44] And it may not be today. It may not be some big moment this week, but it may come. You better be aware when it comes, you've got an enemy that wants to take you out.
[20:57] And so the Lord warns us about that. And so he tells you to be sober and to be vigilant. He's not going to announce when he's coming or how he's going to work and attempt to take you down.
[21:09] So be aware of your enemy. And fourthly, a quick little repeat. As far as fighting goes, don't isolate. Don't fall back to be by yourself.
[21:21] Stay connected to your church family. Stay connected to your Christian friends. Make it a point in your life, no matter what happens this week, I'm going to be in church when the doors are open.
[21:34] When you get tempted, when you mess up, when you fall, now it's like, well, I might as well not go because what a hypocrite. I'm not going to be a hypocrite.
[21:45] I'm more noble than that. I'm going to stay home from church. That's your flesh telling you that that's a good idea. It's not a good idea. If you fall, you belong in church. You belong right here.
[21:57] You belong where you'll get strengthened, where you'll get helped, maybe even reproved, but you'll get something. You'll get around other people who are just as sinful as you are probably. don't let that excuse or that thought that you're being a faker, no, you come to church even if you fall.
[22:19] You're just a sinner that needs to be encouraged and needs to be strengthened to get back up. And so don't isolate. Don't hide away. But surround yourself with help and get around the right people.
[22:31] Get the right people in your corner that are going to say, come on, you got this. You ever see that boxer and he's getting beat up but in the corner his manager's telling him, you need to try this. Step to the side. He's never telling him, you're done.
[22:43] It's over. Stay seated. No, he's trying to help him, trying to strengthen him even if he's getting pummeled. He's still trying to tell him how he can avoid getting beat so badly and he's trying to help.
[22:57] And that's what a church family ought to do. It ought to edify and encourage you to do right and to live for God and to abstain from your fleshly lusts. And so, finally, in this thought of not quitting but rather fighting is just a strong and straightforward admonition to don't quit.
[23:18] Ever. Don't ever quit, Christian. Times will get tough. Something will fall apart in your life. Don't quit.
[23:30] Don't let it faze you. It's going to happen. It's coming. If it hasn't already gotten a glimpse of it, maybe you're even starting, whatever. It's coming. Be prepared.
[23:42] Don't ever give up on living for God. Don't ever give up on doing what's right. Fight. It's worth it. Be convinced of that on the inside. Be convinced right now and sit in that pew and think, yeah, that's exactly right.
[23:58] That's how I'm going to live my life. Come what may, hell or high water, I'm not quitting. I'm in this to the end till Jesus Christ comes and gets me or until I'm laying in a grave, I'm serving God.
[24:15] I'll slip, I'll fall, but I'm not quitting. Don't quit. Get that inside of your heart. It is the best avenue that you could take in your life is the determination to never quit.
[24:28] And I want to challenge you with that. Be committed to putting off the old man. Be committed to arming yourself. Be committed to sticking with it till the end. Look back at Psalm 37.
[24:39] I want to just throw a few verses at you that is going to remind you that you will fall, but falling is not the same as quitting. It is not the same as quitting.
[24:56] Psalm 37. And here's a good man in verse 23 that falls. How about that?
[25:07] A good man falls. 23 and 24. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
[25:23] If you fall, the Lord doesn't just forsake you. Amen. I know that to be the truth. The Lord doesn't drop you and say, well, that's what you deserve so long.
[25:36] He's never like that. He's not like man. He's far higher than man. He doesn't see things or think the way man thinks. He doesn't get offended like you and I get offended.
[25:48] He doesn't hold a grudge the way you and I hold a grudge. and just like just pure pride that you'll never forgive. You'll never try to seek restoration or you'll always just hold your grudge.
[26:01] No, the Lord's not like that. He's never like that. You fail him, he doesn't change. He doesn't fail you. His hand's right there, right there.
[26:12] I'm telling you, I've gotten away from the Lord in my life a little bit and then gotten back. And then as I went and got a little older I got away a little further.
[26:24] It's like each time just be further and then whatever the case got back. And wouldn't you know it time goes by and I go another step further and just get further into some other sin deeper into things and by the grace of God and his mercy the hand is just it's like it extends all the way no matter how far away I go the hand of God is right there for me to reach up.
[26:50] One of my favorite verses is special to me it's in Mark 9 27 it's about a boy that was getting tossed in the fire and all that it says and he took him by the hand and lifted him up and he arose.
[27:03] That's me. Not the boy in the fire or the devil but that's me. The Lord took me by the hand and lifted me up. And you could fall and you will fall but get it in your heart and in your mind and resolve in the new man you're not going to quit.
[27:23] Look at Psalm 145. Psalm 145 and verse 14. Somebody else is falling.
[27:41] It doesn't say that the Lord keeps them from falling but the Lord upholdeth all that fall and raiseth up all that be bowed down.
[27:55] There's people falling left and right. Look at Proverbs 24. Keep moving to your right. Proverbs 24 verse 16. Here's another good guy.
[28:22] Proverbs 24 verse 16. For a just man falleth seven times but that's not the point of the verse is it? The point of the verse is that he riseth up again.
[28:36] He riseth up again. Don't quit. Don't ever quit. One more verse. This is on the Lord's hand helping you. Look at Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41.
[28:48] And verse number 10.
[29:10] Isaiah 41. 10. Fear thou not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee.
[29:22] Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. So if you're a child of God he's not going anywhere.
[29:37] He will never leave you and forsake you. He's always willing and ready and prepared to assist and to help and to strengthen you. to forgive you.
[29:48] There's no sin that you'll ever commit that he won't forgive. That the blood of Jesus Christ cannot forgive and wash away. There's none. And you're going to test that, aren't you?
[30:00] You probably have. And it doesn't matter. His blood can cleanse you. His word can sanctify you and strengthen you. He's not like your family and friends like I mentioned earlier.
[30:15] He's just not in his character. It's not his mindset. You're dealing with somebody holy, a creator, a caring and careful and loving creator.
[30:27] He cares for you. He's ready to help you. So don't ever quit. Understand the relationship. Understand who he is. And don't quit on him.
[30:40] Don't be deceived when you do fall either. That you can't get back up. Or that you can't get past this. Or you can't get this right. Don't ever stop fighting.
[30:50] So wrapping this up. Fighting doesn't mean that you're winning. It means that you're not quitting. So determine in your life and in your heart that you're going to fight.
[31:05] Continue to fight. The easy route is to quit and to just say forget about it. You know that. That makes sense to you. It is. It's easy. It doesn't mean it's going to make your life easier.
[31:17] But it's easy in the moment to just give in. But when you determine in the inside no this is what's right. This is what the Lord wants. It's not easy but I'm going to fight.
[31:28] And you say I'm going to continue to fight. Something's going to happen to you. What's going to happen is you are going to grow. It's the nature of the Christian life.
[31:41] As the Christian soldier fights and engages in the battle and relies on the Lord's strength he gets stronger. He gets little by little incrementally further ahead.
[31:55] He gains ground. But it takes time. One more verse I want us to consider before we're done is James chapter 1. Maybe two more.
[32:11] James chapter 1. You can't quit just because it's easy and just because you fall.
[32:22] You can't quit because it takes time to get victories. It takes time and it takes effort to get past some things. They just don't fall into your lap the moment you get saved.
[32:35] Well somebody could argue well you get the Holy Spirit and yes I would agree with that. But I've also lived this life long enough to know some things just take time and repeated effort and getting back up till God grants the victory.
[32:54] Till the strength is over the hump to where you can go on. Look at James chapter 1 and notice in verse 2, 3, 4 My brethren count it all joy when ye fall when ye fall into diverse temptations.
[33:12] Why is that joyful? Well knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience but let patience have her perfect work that ye may be perfect remember our theme here that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing.
[33:33] Do you see there it takes time? Let patience have her perfect work. The trying of your faith worketh patience.
[33:45] Let patience have that work. It's a work that has to be performed in you. It's not a work that will ever get performed when you quit. You quit your character falls into that hole and just says I can't but no you can and you call out to God and you get back up and you get back on your feet and you try again and you go at it again and you arm yourself with the word of God and you fellowship with the Lord and you connect yourself with believers.
[34:17] Those things that God put into your life to help you to strengthen you and you go forward another step and you fall again but you're a step further than you were before.
[34:29] Praise the Lord and you get closer and more complete and time passes. It takes time. It's a process. Perfection as this is.
[34:40] This being entire, being mature, being grown. It is a process of time and effort and battle. There's ups and there's downs and it's a decision you have to make and I'm trying to encourage you.
[34:56] I'm trying to train you and enforce this in your brain and mind and new man. Don't quit. Don't ever quit. Fight. I'm not getting any stronger. Well, you are.
[35:07] Just keep fighting. You'll see the results one day. You know, you've gone to the gym, have you not? Have you ever lifted weights? Have you ever done anything physical where it hurts before it helps?
[35:18] Your muscles are all just super sore but then they start to tighten up. You start to get stronger. You start to advance. Samuel and I went to the gym probably two years ago or better by now and we haven't even been close to faithful with it.
[35:34] We just kind of started doing it when we could when time permitted and when we started, I don't want to tell you any numbers but he couldn't put up much weight at the beginning. Comparatively, whatever.
[35:46] I don't know where to, more than his mom but not a whole lot. So he's just disappointed. Man, I can't even do this and he was disappointed but he stuck with it and we really haven't been hardcore at this at all.
[36:00] Not even close but over the time that we've gone in the two years or so, I don't think it's been three, two or three, just the little bit that we've gone, he's gone from whatever number it was to almost triple that number.
[36:16] Probably not, maybe at least double the number and what he can put up bench pressing. Why? Because he didn't quit. If he did quit, he'd still be back there because he stuck with it and it hurt and it wasn't convenient and the results are there.
[36:31] They're showing up. He's still not as strong as me but he's coming along. One more verse, this is the last verse. Look at Proverbs chapter 9. Just read this the other day and was sitting on the couch beside Samuel and I pointed this out to him.
[36:57] And so I want to point it out to you in the context of fighting and never quitting. Proverbs 9 and verse number 12 says this, If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself.
[37:14] But if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. In plainer words and in context of this study, you're the one that benefits from being wise.
[37:30] If you make wise decisions, guess who's going to help out the most? You. If you make stupid decisions and continue to do stupid things, guess who's going to hurt?
[37:44] You. You're the one that's going to reap from your actions and your decisions. And if you quit, you're going to be the one that bears that.
[37:56] That's what your life's going to be. Just a loser. Never. Just spiritually weak. Just defeated. Never getting victory. Never getting strength.
[38:07] Never being a help to anybody. Never leading a soul to Christ. Never pleasing God. But if you'll be wise, if you'll make wise decisions, if you'll fight, you'll gain ground.
[38:22] And guess who's going to benefit from it? I'm trying to say, this is for your benefit to do the right thing. Not just because it's the right thing to do, but you're going to benefit from it in your life and in your walk with God and in your ministry to others.
[38:37] And you'll see one day, you stick with it, God. You'll lead somebody to Christ and say, oh my, I never thought I'd do that. I never thought I'd be able to experience what it is to lead a soul to Christ.
[38:49] Or maybe it's just for you to just be handing a track out to somebody and you'll go home, you'll just get in your car rejoicing like, I did it! I did something I was so scared to do, but it was the right thing to do and I feel victory!
[39:04] You feel adrenaline, it'll be so wonderful. You'll reap the benefits of fighting and of doing right. and it's worth it.
[39:16] So, perfecting that which is lacking in the Christian life, it's easy to quit, but it's right to fight. So, let's be fighters. The fights are all different in here.
[39:28] They're similar, but they're different. You've got your own battles. You've got your own opposition. You've got your own situations. But, but let's all get the same resolve. We are not quitting.
[39:40] We're going to do it because it's right. We're going to arm ourselves with what God has given us. I don't want to fall anymore, but if I do, I'm getting back up.
[39:52] It's not going to keep me from God. It's not going to keep me from church. I'm going to get back up right away. That's the best thing you can do. And don't isolate. Don't stay away and don't quit.
[40:05] So, that's the challenge and the charge there on that thought and we'll close with that and let's do it with a word of prayer. Father, as we dismiss this time, pray that what was said was helpful and effective and that it would be, that it would resound in our hearts throughout our days and weeks and months ahead.
[40:24] And so, let me assume, So, say,