Rhythm Part II

[0:00] Everybody, so good to be here with you today. My wife and I are from the old school.

[0:12] ! And no church is perfect.

[0:34] No church culture is perfect. People are not perfect. But one of the things that we were encouraged, admonished, ordered, whatever word you want to use, was that when those church doors are open, be there.

[0:50] Because if you don't, you're liable to miss something that you really needed to hear. Or there might be something that you really needed to hear that day that you did not make yourself available to.

[1:06] And it's no wonder that people that, oftentimes, people who continue to struggle in their life, whether it's socially, whether it's spiritually, whether it's economically, many times those people do not have a habit of faithfulness.

[1:33] And it's because of that inconsistency. That inconsistency can drive other behaviors in their life that do not allow their lives to be blessed.

[1:46] And what I do find is that people who are faithful regularly have a greater sense of peace in their life. They have a greater sense of contentment. They have a greater sense of purpose.

[2:00] And it's really important to understand that it's whatever you make yourself available to, that is what you end up becoming. And if you make yourself available to other activities that may not be spiritual, that's what you end up becoming.

[2:18] But if you make yourself available to activities that are spiritual in nature, gathering together with brothers and sisters, worshiping, praying, that's what you become.

[2:29] And you have to do it for a while. We're going to be talking a little bit about for a while today, although I don't want to take a long while. You have to do it for a while in order for it to become not just a habit, but a lifestyle, and then for it to become part of your nature, and for it to become a rhythm in your life, which is what we are going to continue to talk about today.

[2:55] And that is rhythm, and having that spiritual rhythm in your life, and the rhythm of God's kingdom in your life. Last week, we talked about Daniel, and Daniel developed a rhythm in his life, and we discovered that it was prayer.

[3:12] And Daniel's prayer, if you go back and read the sixth and the ninth chapter of Daniel, you'll see that Daniel's prayers are not for himself. They're not for the betterment of his own life.

[3:24] They're not for some situation for him to be delivered from. He's not praying to be delivered from the lions. He's not praying to be delivered from anything. He's not praying for his own advancement.

[3:35] He's not praying for his own blessing. He prays for his nation, and he prays for his people. And Daniel saw the future in ways that no other prophet saw the future.

[3:49] If you read all of Daniel, you'll see that Daniel saw future kingdoms. He saw future kings and queens.

[4:00] And to the extent to where when you finally get to the book of Revelation, if you don't know Daniel, you will never know Revelation. So Daniel sees things, and he truly sees probably the bigger picture, almost more than any other Old Testament prophet.

[4:22] And it's really remarkable how he does that. And we recently heard a series about where we're all going to be in six months.

[4:34] But we're going to take a little bit longer view again this morning, and we're going to talk about rhythms in our life. Now, I think some of you might understand that in our world today and in our culture today, there are forces that are active that are unseen.

[4:51] We don't see them. But they are active nonetheless. There are things that are happening. We say they're happening behind the scenes. But oftentimes, they are happening not only behind the scenes, but in an unseen realm.

[5:07] Things that are going on that we don't really know about. I'm not a conspiracy buff, and I don't follow after conspiracies. But these forces that I'm talking about, they affect the bigger picture of our entire world and our entire humanity.

[5:26] Our country and the culture that we live in, as significant as it is, and we are, our country is very significant in the world today. But in the course of all of human history, our country is relatively a minor player.

[5:41] Because we are really only 250 years old as a nation. The Roman Empire, as an example, began around the year 700 B.C.

[5:56] and existed in a couple of different forms all the way up until about 1400 A.D. That's about 2,100 years of history.

[6:07] Just one empire. And the Roman Empire is 10th on the list of longest lasting empires in the world. There are others that lasted a lot longer.

[6:19] So this rhythm that has existed in all of humanity, this what I call the spirit of the age, which has always been in existence and has been working constantly.

[6:36] John, the Apostle John, reminds us. He says, little children, and this is important for us to understand. He says, little children, it is the last time.

[6:48] And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time.

[6:59] How many believes we're living in the last day? Well, when John uttered this, it was 2,000 years ago. And if John uttered this 2,000 years ago and said it's the last time, where does that put us today?

[7:14] We are much, much, much, much closer to the last day, the last time. And we might not think of it that way because we are so distracted by everything that is going on in the world now.

[7:29] But if we were able to look at it from a larger picture, we would see we are that close to the coming of the Lord. And we are so close to this entire thing wrapping up.

[7:43] So John writes this, and then Paul tells Timothy this. He says, now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits.

[7:58] And then he says, and doctrines of devils. And can I tell you today that I'm no prophet, but we're living in that time.

[8:11] We're living in the midst of these seducing spirits, these doctrines of devils. And while people are spending valuable time sparring and warring over political philosophies and social philosophies and differences, who's corrupt, who's more corrupt, who's less corrupt, all of those things, there is a rhythm that is beating in this world that started back when Adam and Eve first fell in sin.

[8:46] And it has been beating and beating and beating and beating and beating. Rhythms are important. They're powerful.

[8:58] Think about music rhythm and how powerful that is, how the right beat can just get you moving. Or maybe not get you moving.

[9:10] And I ran across this video of a postal worker who created his own rhythm while he's working.

[9:24] And then as he's doing this, people begin to sing. I brought that video. I don't know if we can play it. I don't know if we can get it up there quick enough. But this is an example of how rhythm can go.

[9:38] Play that if it'll sound. No sound. It's okay if we can't.

[9:50] If we can't get it, we'll just stop it. We'll do it another time. Yeah, that's fine. Okay. Okay. Okay.

[10:14] Okay, let's try it one more time. Listen to this. Listen as this postal worker is kind of making his own rhythm. Wow. I can't take this.

[10:25] I can't take this. Wow. Just listen to that.

[10:52] It's the same going over and over and over. And now everybody starts to get with it.

[11:05] Okay, thank you. You can stop it. If you, rhythms are catchy. And you get attracted to them and attached to them when you're not even thinking about them.

[11:18] If you have ever lived or gone or been near a construction site, you'll hear sounds that are the same over and over and over and over.

[11:30] Day after day after day. If you are near a construction site that has large machinery or large pieces of equipment, you'll hear sounds that are just the same.

[11:41] It's a continual rhythm. And it gets to where you don't even think about it. You can even become a part of it. And so they're very, very powerful things.

[11:54] And day to day, those things go on in the world that we live in today. And I want to talk about another man in the Bible who had a rhythm in his life that I think is an example to every one of us.

[12:08] And is going to show us that there is a way that we can live that will produce a powerful effect. Not only in our personal lives, but in our families and in the world around us.

[12:21] And that's what I want to do. I want to be able to produce a powerful effect that affects other lives and other people. We're going to go to the book of Genesis, chapter number 6.

[12:32] And a lot of you know the story of Noah. You know the story of Noah's ark. You know how that Noah built the ark, saved his family while the rest of the world perished.

[12:44] And we're not going to spend so much time talking about the destruction or the flood. We're not going to take too much time. But I do want to talk about this man, Noah, who many of you are familiar with.

[12:58] In verse number 1 of chapter 6, here is where it says that it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth.

[13:09] And daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and that they took them wives, all of which they chose. And the Lord said, look at this, my spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh.

[13:25] Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. And so the Lord said, there is a time limit for man.

[13:39] I'm going to give him a hundred and twenty years. But after that, it's over. I'm going to give him this space. And the space that God was giving mankind was a space to repent.

[13:52] Because they had grown very wicked. Look at verse number 5 here. It says, and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

[14:11] So, it's an indictment upon mankind. The Lord looks and he says, everything they think about, everything that they do, their actions, their words, all of it.

[14:23] He says, it's only evil. And mankind grew very wicked during this time. And then in verse 6, it says, it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

[14:39] Verse 7, and the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. He's going to give them a hundred and twenty years, and that's it.

[14:50] He's going to destroy them. He's going to give them this space, and then it's going to be completely over. And it's at this point of time that the genealogies actually show us that man has been in existence since the garden for about 1600 years.

[15:11] 15 to 1600 years of human history has already unfolded. And that's a lot of time. 1500 years, 1600 years.

[15:24] If we went back 1600 years, we would still be in the Roman Empire. But there's this much time that has transpired, and there are all of these things that begin to take place.

[15:40] And the Bible says that they became wicked, that the thoughts of their heart were evil continually. It's not a good record.

[15:50] It's not a good time. It's not a good situation. To the extent to where the Bible says that it repented the Lord that he had made man.

[16:03] In other words, it's something that I kind of wish I never would have done. And so he's going to come up with a solution. So all of this is said about humankind in general over this long period of time.

[16:20] And then the very next verse, verse 8, says, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

[16:32] And this is a space in which we are introduced to this man whose name is Noah. This Noah is different.

[16:44] But Noah. Here's a man who is different than what just got described previously. He finds grace. Here's a man who has not corrupted himself.

[16:56] I want you to think about this. He is a man who has walked a different path. He is a man who has walked to the beat of another drum, so to speak.

[17:08] There is a rhythm in the world, but Noah is walking to a different rhythm. There is a beat that is going on in the world, but his beat is different.

[17:22] There is a pattern that is going on in the world, but he's not replicating it. He's not duplicating it. He is not a part of it. Noah has set himself apart.

[17:35] We don't see that God set Noah apart. He sets himself apart. In the midst of this 1,600 years of humanity, Noah has been setting himself apart day after day after day after day.

[17:54] He sees the world that is going on around him. He sees the wickedness. He hears it. He's related to it in some way because he is human after all, but he is not partaking of it.

[18:10] The Bible says that he is a righteous man. Peter tells us that Noah is a preacher of righteousness.

[18:20] And the word that Peter uses for a preacher is a messenger, a herald, as it were, vested with public authority, one that speaks for the king, one that speaks for the empire.

[18:38] Noah has decided to take it upon himself to speak for the king. He is a preacher, a messenger of righteousness.

[18:54] And verse 9 says this. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations.

[19:07] And Noah walked with God. I want to camp right here for just a little bit because this is what is going to make all of the difference in the world.

[19:18] It says that Noah was a perfect man. And when you and I see the word perfect, we think of without flaw. And to a large extent, when the Bible uses that word, that is exactly what it means.

[19:34] But in this case, what it means in the Hebrew language, this word perfect, it means whole. It means complete. It means entire.

[19:48] It means sound. It means healthful. Noah was a whole man. He had a completeness in his life.

[20:00] He had a wholeness in his life. He was ethical. He was a man of integrity.

[20:11] And he was a man who was complete. And I want to talk about what it means to be complete. Because being complete is so important in all of our lives.

[20:24] It is something that can sometimes feel elusive. If you're sitting here this morning, you might have some sense of completeness.

[20:36] Or you might not have any sense of being complete. There's something about being whole. There's something about having this completeness in your life.

[20:50] This completeness in Noah's life brought him these things. Noah didn't need anybody or anything to have this wholeness.

[21:04] Noah developed this wholeness and this completeness. He knew what manner of man he was. He's whole not on the outside, but he's whole on the inside.

[21:18] When he gets up in the morning, he doesn't wonder about who he is. He doesn't wonder so much about what his day is going to be like.

[21:29] He doesn't wonder and worry about the evil that is going on around him in the world. Noah has a walk with God. Noah has a completeness with God.

[21:42] He is content. He is satisfied. He has the right perspective. He has right judgment. He is a man that looks on everything and sees it exactly for what it is.

[21:58] He's not self-righteous. He's just righteous. And he has this walk with God. And that is exactly why he finds grace in the eyes of God.

[22:10] So when God looks down on this generation that he is about to destroy, he sees this man and this man finds grace.

[22:20] Why? Not because it was just one day, but every day Noah had been finding grace in the eyes of God. Every day that he lived, year after year after year after year, and he's 500 years old at this point.

[22:41] You know, I wonder what somebody looks like at 500 years old. I see what people look like at 100. But what does somebody look like at 500? How does your body feel at 500 years of age?

[22:58] What goes on in the brain of a 500-year-old man? But this man is 500 years old.

[23:08] And because of this wholeness in his life, it says that he was perfect in his generations. And because of this completeness in his life, Noah doesn't feel the need to get approval from others.

[23:27] Noah does not feel the need to seek the favor of others. He beats to a completely different drum. He beats to a completely different rhythm.

[23:41] He walked differently. Everybody knew it. His neighbors saw it. His family saw it. Everybody saw it. He is one man who stands out in his entire generation over the course of the 500 years of his life.

[23:59] He talks differently. He acts differently. He thinks differently. He walks differently. Everything is different about Noah. Physically, he probably resembled everyone else.

[24:12] But there's something about his character, there's something about his life that makes him completely different than everybody else. He is in every way different than those around him.

[24:24] And being complete does that to you. Being whole does that. So Paul says this to us. He says this to the Colossians.

[24:36] He says, you are complete. And he uses the same word. You are complete in him. Can I tell you something?

[24:46] That when you are complete in Jesus, when your relationship with him is such that you feel or have this sense of wholeness, this completeness, the one thing that ends up disappearing from your life is the need to try to seek the approval or the affirmation of the culture or of other things that you think will only get or that you think will give you happiness but really won't.

[25:20] But what your attention goes to is your attention says, you know what? What I really need is Jesus. And we sing songs all the time about all I need is Jesus or all I want is Jesus or all I really want to be after is Jesus.

[25:39] I want to be like him. I want to talk like him. I want to walk like him. I want to think like him. And here's the thing, is that the more that we find ourselves connecting with him and being complete in him, the less we actually want of temporal things that we think will satisfy us and that we think will give us pleasure and that we think will give us joy.

[26:05] We tend to move away from those things and find ourselves seeking after a Savior who is able not only to give us life but to give us joy, to give us a sense of fulfillment, to give us a sense of peace, one that can heal all of our diseases.

[26:26] Here's what ends up happening is that when we don't have the wholeness with Jesus, we will often find ourselves trying to feed at the trough of the world that we think will satisfy us rather than spending time at an altar with the Savior that really wants to change our life and do something and give us the blessing and his favor.

[26:51] And what I don't want to do is I don't want to be attracted to a culture around me that has a strong rhythm that is beating. I want to be able to hear the heartbeat, if you will, of God.

[27:04] I want that to beat in my heart and I want to be drawn to that and say, Lord, let me be a part of your heartbeat because I don't want to beat with the world.

[27:17] I want to beat with the kingdom and with the Spirit of God. And Noah was such a man that he was able to turn that off and say, regardless of what they do, I'm going to walk with him.

[27:34] I'm going to talk with him. I'm going to live for him. And so when the time comes that God says, I've got to do away with all of that, he looks down and he finds one man and he says, that's the one I'm going to choose.

[27:51] And I don't think God chose Noah in some random fashion. I don't think that the Lord said, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, I choose him.

[28:03] I don't think he did that. I think he looked down on this man that he had been looking at for the last 500 years and said, that's the one I'm going to choose.

[28:18] That's the one I'm going to choose. Because as far as we know, so far as we know, we don't know if the Lord ever spoke to Noah before this. We don't know that.

[28:33] We don't know any of that. We know that Noah was the son of Lamech, who was the son of Methuselah, who was the son of Enos or Enoch.

[28:49] We know that. We know that he comes from that lineage. But during that time, so many other people came from those lineages. We know that Noah has this direct connection to this man called Enoch, who was taken, because the Bible says, Jude tells us, he had a testimony that he pleased God.

[29:15] We know that Methuselah was the longest living man at 969 years old. And we know that Noah lived during the time that Methuselah was alive.

[29:29] So they had some connection. And maybe Noah got good counsel. And maybe Noah got some wisdom from some of these men.

[29:41] It's very probable, all of these things. And I'm just speculating. But it's very possible. But when the chips are down and the Lord says, man has 120 years, but I'm going to find somebody that's going to carry on the human race.

[29:58] Now, can you imagine you being the one that God chooses to carry on the human race? We're not just talking about, you know, I want you to continue this city.

[30:09] I want you to continue this family. No, I want you to continue all of humanity. And it doesn't say that he chose Noah because Noah had a wonderful wife.

[30:22] I'm sure he did. Or because he had wonderful sons and they had wonderful wives because they probably did. But it doesn't say God chose him for those reasons.

[30:32] He chose him because he was a man who was perfect and righteous. But he is the one that did that in his own life.

[30:43] He decided that there would be a rhythm in his life that would be so powerful that it would counter the entire culture.

[30:56] That's pretty strong. That's pretty powerful. Think about small beginnings and how that there are things that start small but end up being large movements and how that people end up participating in those things.

[31:18] So Noah was not a rebel. He wasn't trying to be different for being different's sake. He wasn't not wanting to conform to his generation because he just decided, you know what, I just want to stand out and be different.

[31:38] He wasn't trying to do that. Noah was not tooting his own horn. He was not saying, hey, look at me. Look at how spiritual I am. Look at how much I pray.

[31:50] Look at how much I worship. He wasn't doing that. He wasn't trying to seek public attention. He had a wholeness and a completeness in his life that he simply just did not need anything else.

[32:04] He had this in his life. He didn't seek attention. He's not trying to grab the headlines. He's not doing any of that. But he finds grace.

[32:16] And God has been looking at him for all of these years. And he chooses a man that I think God says he's suited for the job. He is suited for the project.

[32:28] So Noah sets to work. And I wouldn't be surprised if Noah knew something about building. I wouldn't be surprised if maybe Noah was already a tradesman.

[32:39] I wouldn't be surprised if Noah already knew what it was to cut trees down and form beams and slice them and make boards and do all of those things that they needed to do to build structures.

[32:55] I wouldn't be surprised if Noah knew all of those things. But the building process begins. The beat of the hammer. The rhythm of building.

[33:06] It's a job site now. And it's a job site that is a continual job site for about 80 to 100 years. This is a long project.

[33:17] Nobody had ever built an ark before. Noah had never built an ark before. He had to go cut down the trees. He had to form all of the timbers and all of those things.

[33:28] And he begins to build with his sons and their wives and his wife. There's a group of eight people now that are building this thing that nobody has ever, ever built before.

[33:41] He's never built anything this large. Maybe Noah has never built, but I think he probably has. I think he probably knows something about all this. They have to make their own tools.

[33:53] They have to make their own nails. They have to make their own bolts. They have to make all of these things to get this thing to go. And the building frames up quickly. Structures always seem to frame up very quickly.

[34:06] I don't know if you've ever driven by a construction site, and it seems like the frame is up, and everybody's excited. And everybody thinks, wow, that went up really fast. And all of a sudden, everything just halts to a crawl.

[34:19] It's like, wow, what's going on? Well, now all of the other components start to have to close everything in. Building a frame is the fast part, and it's the most impressive part.

[34:35] And if you ever have been involved in a building project, you know that you can stand up wood-framed walls pretty quickly. Within a couple of days, you can have the walls of a house standing.

[34:47] But it's all of the other things that have to go on that seem to halt the building project and just make it crawl.

[34:59] And everything else has to be attached. Nail by nail. Bolt by bolt. Wood tenon by wood tenon.

[35:11] All of these things. It's the constant back and forth of a saw. Woo-ah. Woo-ah. It takes time. It takes rhythm.

[35:22] And it takes dedication. And it takes persistence. Noah had to build something that would last. And he had to build something that would get through that flood.

[35:38] And that flood was no small deal. It was a major catastrophe. He had to build something that would impact the world like nothing had ever impacted the world before.

[35:51] And so when you're building something that long, you can't take shortcuts. When you're building something that is supposed to last that long, you cannot take shortcuts.

[36:03] You have to build it right. You have to build it right. And this is the thing about laying foundations and about building and about putting things together and about developing a rhythm that will create something that will last far into the future.

[36:23] There is a time to build. And Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes, there is a time to build up.

[36:33] And every one of us has that time come into our lives. And you may be in that time right now. A time of building. A time where you are building up.

[36:45] Paul says this. This is very interesting. And I'm not going to be too much longer. But Paul says this. According to the grace that is given to me like a skilled master builder.

[36:56] He's telling the Corinthian church, I laid a foundation. And someone else is building upon it. And then he says this. And this is the real interesting part. And the part that we really need to pay attention to.

[37:08] He says, let each one take care how he builds upon it. But Paul said, I came in here. I laid the foundation. And everyone is adding to it.

[37:20] But be careful how you add to it. Be careful that what you are adding is going to fit with the master plan. Or the master design.

[37:31] Because you can't just do it any way that you want. There's been a plan set. There are blueprints, if you will. And you've got to follow those patterns.

[37:42] And you've got to follow those instructions. And you've got to follow those directions. And so it's not for us to just add upon the foundation any way that we want.

[37:55] We've got to go back to the Word. And make sure that we are aligning with those that laid the foundation for us. And we have to be careful about what we add.

[38:07] Here's the problem that I see with our generation. Our generation says, I'll just do it the way I think works. I'll just do it the way I feel like is the best way to do it.

[38:21] I'll just do it according to the way that makes sense to me. That's the problem with the generation that we live in. And that's how you end up with seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.

[38:38] And that's how you end up with all sorts of things that are untoward. And that's how those rhythms develop. But somebody has got to have a counter rhythm.

[38:52] Somebody has got to have a rhythm in their life that beats to the beat of a different drummer. Somebody has got to have a rhythm in their life that is contrary to the spirit of the age that we are living in.

[39:11] And so Paul goes on to say, he says this, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold and silver, and he uses these metaphors now, gold and silver and precious stones and wood and hay, everyone's work is going to come manifest for the day we'll disclose it.

[39:28] And disclose it because they will be tried, these works will be tried by fire. Wood, hay, stubble all burns up. Silver lasts and gold lasts through the fire.

[39:44] And so what you're adding, what you're building with matters. You can take shortcuts and build with hay and stubble. But it will not last when the day comes.

[39:58] Or you can decide, I'm going to invest more. I'm going to spend more. I'm going to take more care. And I'm going to add on silver and gold.

[40:11] It's not talking about putting it on the body. It's talking about the quality of the works that we do. The quality of how we are building upon the foundation that has been laid.

[40:29] So, how is the building of your life coming along? If your life is like the ark that Noah is building, how's the quality of your building going along?

[40:47] How is, how are those rhythms beating on your job site? Are they continual?

[40:57] Are they steady? Are they continually producing something that people can see day after day? Is there a constant steadiness to it?

[41:08] Is your life developing a wholeness, an integrity, a completeness to where you say, you know what? My life is hid in Jesus Christ.

[41:21] And in him, I am satisfied. And in him, I am complete. I have a contentment. I have a peace about me. It's not dependent upon whether there's enough in my checking account or enough in my savings account.

[41:39] It's not dependent upon whether my car works or there's food in my cupboard. It's dependent upon my relationship with him.

[41:51] When I pray, it's not about me. It's about the kingdom. When I seek after God, it's not just, it's not really about me. It's not about my feelings.

[42:02] It's about everybody else. And when I talk, it's not stories about me and my life. It's about him and how good that he has been.

[42:16] Those are the rhythms that people notice. Are you building something to last? Or do you take shortcuts? Do you find yourself taking shortcuts?

[42:28] Do you find yourself tempted to take shortcuts? Do you find yourself thinking, you know what? I'm tired right now. And I just, I want to cut this corner here because it's too much work to do it the other way.

[42:46] Developing a rhythm in your life. And those of you that have been at this a while, you understand this. Developing a rhythm in your life is what carries you through in the time, whether times are good or whether times are bad.

[43:07] You have to find a place. You have to find a way. You have to find a pattern and develop a beat. And you have to do that to where, regardless of what happens in the day, you're still at it.

[43:23] It might be early morning for you. It might be late at night. It might be like Daniel. Morning. Afternoon. Evening. It might be like that.

[43:34] But regardless of what was happening, he was at it. He was at it. It was like a beating drum that just kept going on and on and on and on.

[43:46] You ever had one of those neighbors that they decided to learn an instrument? And you happened to have the privilege of getting to hear them learn?

[43:59] And it's just like an annoying sound. Time after time after time after time. But one day they got better and it's like, oh, this is okay. I can tolerate this now.

[44:09] You have to keep going day after day after day after day. And you may not think that anybody is noticing, but there is one who is noticing.

[44:20] You may not think that nobody knows, but there is one that knows. And he's looking down. And when the chips are down and he's needing to do something significant, he's going to be looking for somebody that he can choose.

[44:33] Somebody that he can say, they've been there the whole time. You know what? I haven't called them in 500 years. But I'm going to call them today and I'm going to make something out of them.

[44:44] I'm going to make them a builder. I'm going to make them a savior. I'm going to have them restart something that I've been wanting to do. I'm telling you that God is looking for people that have a rhythm of his heartbeat in their life.

[44:58] And their lives beat with his heartbeat. And he knows it and they know it. And God wants to use those people. I want to be one of those people.

[45:11] I want to be one of those people. You know why I show up here every week, week after week after week after week? Because I want to be one of those people.

[45:22] That's the reason I show up. The reason I get up and I try to get up every day and say, God, I've got to spend some time with you because I want to be one of those people.

[45:33] You know what? None of us are going to be perfect about it. But we've got to have the want to to be one of those people. And you know what's so beautiful? What is so beautiful is when there is a momentum in your life.

[45:47] And you're thinking, I'm not even trying. And I feel the blessing and the favor of God. Why? Because it's a beat. It's a rhythm. It's just started and it keeps you going.

[46:00] And that is what's so beautiful about serving God. And like I said at the very outset this morning, there are probably going to be some people that never experience that because they've never learned to develop those habits.

[46:21] They've never learned to develop that rhythm in their life. They get distracted by so many other things that they just can't do it. But God is looking for somebody that decides, I'm just going to do that.

[46:39] Not because I need a favor. Not because I need deliverance. Not because of any of that. But because He loves me. And because I love Him. And whether I drive a good car today and a bad car tomorrow, none of that matters.

[46:55] It just matters that I walk with Him. So I want us to stand this morning. I've gone on long enough. And I just am trying to remind us.

[47:12] Not only that we are living in the last time. Not only that we are living in the last day. But that we have to be proactive and do something about it. We have to do something about where God is finding us right now.

[47:28] We have to do something about it. We have to do something about this. Now, I don't mean to embarrass Esther, but she just went through surgery and had her knee replaced.

[47:45] Both knees, one knee. Now, I have to be honest with you. She had a hard time getting up those stairs before the knee surgery.

[47:56] But I would see her come up those stairs. And I know that those stairs are a challenge.

[48:07] I get it. But I thought, you know what? And I would say, Lord, I wish that everybody could be that determined. I wish that everybody could.

[48:21] Because that's the quality that God is looking for. Are you willing to do it?

[48:33] Are you willing to get there? Even though it hurts. Even though it's painful. Even though it's uncomfortable. Even all of those things. Are you willing to do it?

[48:44] And I think that Noah could have thrown in the towel in his generation and said, You know what? There's so much wickedness around me.

[48:56] I'm not making any difference. But one day, he made a difference. And if nobody else appreciated it, you can bet his wife, his three sons, and his daughters-in-law, they appreciated it.

[49:15] Because they were the only ones to survive. That was it. Out of the perhaps millions who were in the world at that time, eight people made it.

[49:27] And that really does tell us that it's not numbers that God is impressed with. It's who decides that they're going to have his heart beating in their life.

[49:42] Let's pray. Lord, today we have heard some things, God, that I think are helping us. And I pray that more than anything, Lord, you would help us to develop the want to and the desire that your heartbeat would beat in us.

[50:03] That that natural rhythm would beat in our lives, Lord. Because we are at the time of your coming.

[50:14] And we need to pay attention to what makes the difference. And so, Lord, today, those that are in this room, I pray for them, Lord.

[50:31] And I pray that you would speak into every heart that is here. And help us, Lord, not to feast, O God, at the trough of convenience.

[50:45] But rather, Lord, to get to the altar of your kingdom. And seek after you and call on your name.

[50:57] So that you, Lord, can turn our lives into that which you desire. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Lord, we pray all of these things.

[51:14] And I pray right now that you and I would make that dedication. That you and I would make that consecration. And that you and I would decide today.

[51:29] We want to walk to the beat of a different drummer. We want to walk in a different way. Help me today, Lord.

[51:40] Help every one of us today, O God. Let's just take a few moments and pray right where we are. Right where we stand. Let's just take a few moments to pray.

[51:54] And let's ask God to help us, O God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you.