[0:00] So if you would, James chapter 4, we've already gone over this part, but that's just a little bit of review of the verse. Verse 6 says, and he gives more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble.
[0:16] Now look this way. Listen, the first thing you need to understand is you got to admit you need some help. You got to admit you need help. Some of you would say, how many of you would say, I am sure that I am saved and on my way to heaven, would you say amen?
[0:31] How many of you would say that since I have been saved, since I've been saved, I have had tremendous battles of doubt. I've had tremendous battles with temptation, tremendous battles with sin.
[0:44] I mean, I may have already won the battle. I may still be in the battle, but I have had to deal with some junk going on in my life. If that's you say amen. That's the way it is. That's life.
[0:55] And so he says, he gives grace to the humble. Now mostly what we tend to think is I can handle my own situation. I can handle my life and I can do things.
[1:06] And the Bible truth is, no, you can't. No, you can't. He's far superior to you. He has more power than you. He's able to defeat you. He's able to steal from you, to kill you, to destroy you.
[1:18] But there is one who can help you. So humble yourself. If you haven't humbled yourself, maybe you're here today. You're not sure you go to heaven. And the blunt truth is, you know in your heart of hearts that though you look religious and though you've taken all the religious steps, you have never truly repented of your sin and turned to Christ.
[1:39] You've never believed that Jesus and Jesus alone could save you. You believe that Jesus is a good thing to add to your life.
[1:50] You believe, you know, I got to go to church and I got to take care of doing the sacraments and I got to take care of doing good works. And then Jesus helps me with that. I only have to do 50% and Jesus does 50%.
[2:04] But if that's the case, you've not humbled yourself yet. Humbling yourself means you'll say, there ain't nothing I can do. Humbling yourself means you would say, I can't save myself.
[2:16] I can't do anything towards it. I won't get to heaven. I need help. I need to humble myself. If you haven't done that, today's the day to do it. Today's the day you ought to say, God, I'm a sinner. I have failed you.
[2:27] There's no way I can do anything to fix this. I humbly ask you to forgive me and to save me. And he will. Instantly, he will do that. That's his promise. And if you're a Christian and you've been in battle and you say, sometimes I thought the Christian life was easier than this.
[2:43] I never knew I was going to have to deal with all this junk I have to deal with. I would have thought that God was going to bless me. And I don't think he's blessing me too much. Then humble yourself. He wants to help you and he wants to work in your life.
[2:55] Now go with me, if you would, to James chapter 4 and verse 7. And there the Bible says, submit yourselves, therefore, to God. So that's where we'll stop just for a second.
[3:05] And look at this. Here's what happens is I realize I need God. And so the very thick thing I do is this. I just say, God, whatever you want me to do, that's what I'm going to do. Whatever you want me to do, that's what I'm going to do.
[3:18] I'm not going to follow a man's program. I'm not going to follow my program. I'm not going to do what my mom and dad think is good to do. I'm not going to do what the people in my community think is good to do.
[3:30] I'm just going to do what you say do. That's what I'm going to do. Now, how would you know what God says to do? Well, you get that from the Word of God. There's no question about what He says.
[3:41] It's all written down really clear, black and white, on a piece of paper. And you can read it and you can understand it. You really don't need any interpretation. The Bible will just tell you what God expects, what God wants you to do.
[3:54] God wants you to trust Him. God wants you to believe Him. It's really not about feeling it. It's just about doing it. You know, if you tell your kid, take the garbage out. And your kid says, well, I will when I get the feeling.
[4:06] Well, you're going to post-taste give him the feeling in the back of the britches. Say amen. One good kick and he's going to get the feeling. Well, that's not how it works with serving God.
[4:17] He just says you submit to Him. And that's what we've looked at so far. Now go with me to the next part of that verse if you would. The Bible says, resist the devil and he will flee from you.
[4:30] To me, that's like some of the most tremendous words in the Bible. So resist the devil and he will flee. Flee.
[4:41] Now what in the world does that word flee mean? It means to run like a scalded dog. But if you haven't been on a farm, you don't know what that means.
[4:52] But when somebody throws out some scalded water and hits a dog, he will take off running and yelping and he'll be out of here. It means to run like you are scared to death. If you were ever poor enough to be in one of those houses that had roaches in it, I'm sure none of you, for other people, have ever even seen a roach.
[5:08] Only on commercials. You're like, roaches? Well, we don't have roaches. But if you've ever lived in one, if you ever turned the light on, they scurry for the corners. Because they flee and run to hide.
[5:20] Because they are roaches and they're afraid of the light. And they know that you might get them. So they're running. So that's what the Bible says the devil's going to do. So the devil comes to attack you.
[5:31] And when he comes to attack you, he attacks you not with stuff that's just crazy wicked. He never attacks you with crazy wicked stuff.
[5:42] Because he knows you're smart enough not to believe that. He would never come to you and say, Hey, I'm here to tempt you to destroy your wife, destroy your family, kill your kids, do something horribly wicked, and be look like the worst person in town.
[5:58] Are you in? He would never do that. He'd be like, they're too smart for that. I got to play a game with them. So he'd come to you and he would offer you, he would offer you some tiny little morsels.
[6:09] He'd offer you some tiny little good looking things. He'd offer you some little stuff that might tempt you to get you to go that way. And then he would destroy you. You're a Christian. And you're coming to church and you're trying to love God.
[6:25] And so you say, the devil, how's the devil going to tempt me? He's probably not going to say to you, there's no God. You're not going to say that because you'd be like, no, no, no, no. Come on. That's at that extreme to say there's no God.
[6:38] I've been raised in this all my life. I don't believe that. But he might say to you, well, them old Bibles, they've got lots of mistakes in them. And it's kind of hard to know what the real truth is there. And that's kind of like that guy's opinion.
[6:49] But come on, you know, can you really trust that? See, that's the way he talks. He doesn't flat out attack. He kind of hints at it. He doesn't come at you head on. He comes at you around the corner.
[7:00] He doesn't hit you in the face. He hits you in the corner of the face and the side of the face. He hits you where you're not watching and where you're not expecting. So he comes to you and he goes like this.
[7:10] He says, I know that God's real. Yes, he is. I agree with you 100%. And I know he loves everybody. But he doesn't look like he's loving you too much. I mean, it seems like he loves everybody else.
[7:22] But just to be telling you the truth, it's between me and you. Don't tell nobody I said this. But it don't seem like he's doing too good on the loving you part. And I know they say he answers prayer.
[7:32] But come on, tell the truth. You've been praying quite a bit. You've been hearing your prayer. Tell the truth. Tell the truth. And you're like, well, devil, thinking about it a little bit. I don't think he does answer my prayer.
[7:43] Devil says, that's what I was thinking myself. Now that you mention it. And you say, yeah, you know, you're real smart, devil. And the devil says, oh, no, no, no. It's you. It's all you. You figured it out on your own because you're so smart.
[7:55] You're smart in the rest of them church people. Rest of them church people. They've been thinking that God answers prayer. But he ain't answering their prayers neither. You ever notice when a pastor asks for a word of testimony, says somebody tells something God did.
[8:06] They don't let them say nothing either, do they? They're all just like you. They don't believe God either. Yeah, yeah. Well, come to think of it, devil. I believe you're right about that. I think maybe the whole church doesn't even believe in God.
[8:19] Yeah, yeah, yeah. I ain't the only one, Emma. There's churches all over the country. You just go to church because you're supposed to because it's custom. Well, that's why I could just lay out some.
[8:30] You know, yeah, I got it. And what about this bit? Your wife, I mean, you know, she ain't been being real nice to you here lately. And there's that cute girl at work. Yeah, you know, my wife hasn't been being nice to me lately.
[8:46] You see, the devil don't come to you and say, hey, you want to be a whoremonger? How about committing adultery today? He don't do that. He knows you would. You'd be like, me? Never. Never.
[8:56] He says, well, how about flirting? Well, she is good looking and I am good looking. And my wife ain't been nice. Say, oh me.
[9:14] Say, amen. So I want you to look with me, if you would, at 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 9. Here's what we do. How do we resist the devil? How do we resist the devil? Number one, we refuse to believe his lies.
[9:27] We refuse to believe his lies. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 9, whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world, but the God of all grace who has called us unto eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
[9:52] Here's what happens. The devil comes to you and he says, you're going to that church and everybody at that church has got it all together. You just look around. Ain't none of them been like you?
[10:04] Your past stinks. They were having to find out what you did before you got saved. They wouldn't even like you. You remember when you was a drunk? You remember when you committed all that adultery and that fornication?
[10:16] Come on, tell the truth. You know. And nobody else did that. They're all, they were saints. You are not. And you go, ooh, that's true. Well, what if they were to bring up what I did in the past?
[10:27] Oh, yeah, that'd be bad. You wouldn't want that. So maybe you ought not go around them people. But see, here's what the Bible says in that verse. Look at 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 9 again. It says that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren.
[10:41] That's been so funny, pastor, in this little church. I've had people come to me and say, that whole church, everybody's got it all together. And I said, yes, somebody else said that to me last week. It's like two people don't even know the other's talking.
[10:54] They said, I'm the only one in this church that's messed up. And the other one goes, yeah, you know, I'm the only one in this church that's messed up. And I'm like, well, you don't know the rest of them as well as I do because they're all a bunch of messed up people too. See, don't believe the lies.
[11:04] Don't believe it doesn't hurt anyone. Don't believe that no one will find it out. Don't believe it's not a big deal. Don't believe it's a big deal. So stop believing lies. When the devil says to you, God doesn't love you, you answer him with what the word of God says about that.
[11:19] When the devil says to you, it seems like God's abandoned you, you answer with what the word of God says about that. You've got to learn that there's this thought thing going on. And the real war that's going to take place, it's not like you walk down the road and the devil's going to pick you up by the shoulders and just throw you around and do stuff.
[11:35] It's all going to happen here in the mind. It's all happening here in the mind. And you want to next stop it quick. Stop it quick. Well, it's just a thought.
[11:47] There's a story in the Bible of David and Bathsheba. And David and Bathsheba is a perfect example of a good example of how Satan attacks and how he messes up people.
[12:00] Now in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 4, the Bible said, You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. So we're supposed to fight against sin. If we've got to do it, let's just fight till we're bloody.
[12:11] Don't quit fighting. Don't give up. So King David in the Old Testament was supposed to go out to war. It was the time for all the kings to go out to war. And so when it came time to go to war, David thought, well, I'm an older fellow now.
[12:24] And I've won a lot of battles. And everybody knows I'm a great king. I think I'll just set this one out. Besides that, I've been watching Days of Our Lives. And there's some exciting events about to take place. And I'd like to watch these next few episodes.
[12:35] And I don't want to miss them. I don't have a DVR yet. And so he said, so I'm going to stay here. And I'm going to watch some movies. And they all went off to war. And everybody's going off to war. Well, David's kind of bored.
[12:46] And it got hot. And he went up on the rooftop of his house. Now, in our country, nobody goes up on the rooftop. But if you travel around the world, you're going to find many people have. There's a lot of square footage up there.
[12:58] If you just flatten that thing a little bit and put a drain hole in it, you can go up there. You can have picnics. And we were on the rooftop in Nepal just the other day. We were on the rooftop at Paul Tauby's house.
[13:10] And the neighbor started ringing the bell to wake up the Hindu God. And we were all sitting out there. And we could look right through the window and watch them as they worshiped our God. They had to wake him up. And they rang that bell for a full minute, probably trying to get him to wake up.
[13:21] He was probably drowsy. And they had to wake him up. And so we were on the rooftop. So David's up on the rooftop. And he's walking around. And he looks down. Of course, he's got more floors. His penthouse is up higher.
[13:32] And he looks down. He sees this beautiful woman taking a bath down there. And when he saw the beautiful woman taking a bath down there, it came into his thoughts. Not from God. It came into his thought, boy, she is good looking.
[13:44] And I'd like to know her. And now, the idea that he saw her wasn't a problem. The idea that he thought about, how about inviting her over for coffee? So he goes back in the house.
[13:55] And he says to one of the people working there, he said, somebody run around there and tell that lady I saw taking a bath. I'd like, well, don't tell him that. There's a lady living next door. I think she's lonely because her husband's off to the war.
[14:06] And, of course, I'm here at the house. And I tell her I'd like to have coffee and tea and some cupcakes with her. Get her to come over to the house. So she comes over to the house. Well, we still ain't done much wrong. But they sat there drinking the coffee and the tea and began to talk and converse.
[14:19] And it isn't long until we got a full-blown affair going. She gets pregnant. He kills her husband. He kills her husband and takes her as his wife. See, he didn't resist the devil.
[14:31] Now, you can look at me and you can think I'm making up a dumb story. But that's straight out of the Bible. And I can tell you that same story has happened right here at Vision. I can tell you that people at Vision Baptist Church have been known at work to start flirting with that person.
[14:45] And it was nothing going to happen. All they were going to do was grab coffee together. All they were going to do was send a few text messages. All they were going to do was meet in this place. And they were good people. And they loved God. And they were supposedly doing right.
[14:56] But they didn't resist the devil when it first stopped. They didn't stop it quick. And now they're a broken family. That's what the passage is about. But resist the devil.
[15:07] Now, who could fall? Any one of us could fall. Any one of us could do it. It's not like somebody's bad that does that. It's just somebody that gave place to the devil. Look at Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 27 with me.
[15:21] In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 27, You must focus on truth and not give place to the devil. Focus on truth. Don't give Satan an opening in your life.
[15:32] And we talked about last week how if this platform were your heart and you carve off a niche for Satan to move into your house, he's slowly going to take control. It's like the camel getting his nose in the tent, you know.
[15:45] If you give him an inch, he'll take a mile. And so what ends up happening is we let anger and bitterness and wrath and unforgiveness take over our lives. And so we get harsher and meaner and we fall into sin.
[15:58] And here's what ends up. Now, listen to me. If you want to resist the devil, you can't give place to him. You can't say, Satan, I'm not going to do all the wicked stuff you want me to do, but move into this room right here and we'll talk about stuff that ain't too bad.
[16:12] We'll party, but we just won't get drunk. We'll party, but we just won't have sex with somebody that's not our spouse. We'll party. We'll mess around with some stuff that we ought not mess around with just as long as we don't let it get too bad.
[16:26] We'll worry about being popular and proud and powerful, but we won't let it go to our head. And we begin to play that game and you're giving place to the devil. You've got to resist the devil.
[16:38] How come y'all are so quiet? Are you mad? See, you don't give place to him. You resist him. So you stop it quick and you quit opening the door for him to move in. You respond with scripture just like Jesus did.
[16:53] When the devil attacks Jesus in Luke chapter 4, every time he has all the power, he created the devil. He could have body slammed him at any moment. He could have slapped him down and won the battle real quick, but he was teaching me how to do it.
[17:07] And so the devil threw a fiery dart at Jesus, and Jesus held up the shield of faith that said, this is what the word of God says. And so the devil comes at you and he says, God doesn't love you.
[17:19] And you just go, well, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. Whosoever believe in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. I know he loves me. Romans chapter 5, verse 8, but God committed his love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for me.
[17:32] Take that, devil. And the devil goes, I don't think he knows. So let me try another lie. So the devil throws that. He says, God's left you and he's not helping you. You say, he'll never forsake us.
[17:43] Matthew chapter 28 and verse 20, and lo, I'm with you all, even to the end of the world. So I just throw the Bible back at him, and the devil can't handle that. That's how you resist the devil.
[17:54] You're going to have to get full of the word of God to do that. And whenever you've gotten through doing that, you just stand. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 13. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 13, the Bible says, Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
[18:21] So, listen to it. Some of you right now are in a reprieve, and the devil's not bothering you. You're not getting bad temptations of thoughts. You're not being tempted to not be loyal in your marriage.
[18:32] You're not being tempted to doubt the Bible, or tempted to doubt God, or tempted to let money rule your life instead of God. You're not being tempted with any of those things, and so you're like, this has nothing to do with me, but don't worry, it's coming.
[18:43] But there comes a day in your life when you really feel under attack. How many of you have ever had a time when you're just like, oh boy, I think it's just like, everything's against me.
[18:54] Have you ever been there? If you have, say amen. Yeah, we have. Yeah, we have. I have too. He said, and on that day, when it happens, stand. Just keep standing and doing what I've told you to do, and when you've done all you can do, just stand there.
[19:10] That's the idea that took place. I just read, I was actually listening to an audio book this week, and in the book, the guy made the comment, he said that when a Spartan lost his spear, or his sword, or his bow and arrow, that was bad, but not the bad thing.
[19:29] The really bad thing was when he lost his shield. He said, because the shield not only protected him, but protected his other men, and they had this shield wall that they would build, and so when the enemy would attack them, they could plant their shields and build a wall to protect everybody behind the wall, and you might lose your offensive weapon, but don't ever lose your defensive weapon, and so here's what's happened.
[19:51] The fight's been brought to me. The devil is just whipping me and beating me, and I've run out of ammunition. I don't know what to say back. I have no answers. I'm just discouraged, and I'm ready to quit, and I don't know what to do, so I just say, that's it.
[20:04] I plant my shield and say, bring it on, devil. I ain't moving. I don't know what to say next. I don't know how to do it, but I'll plant my shield of faith, and I will not move.
[20:14] I will just trust that God is going to get me through the having done all to stand, so we resist the devil. When we resist the devil, he flees.
[20:26] Now, some of you may not know this, but anybody who's been serving God a long time can tell you that the devil does attack. I have been on the mission field. I've been on the mission field and teaching and preaching, and the devil made me think I should quit and give up.
[20:42] I've been preaching to you in this church sometimes, and the devil seems to put in my heart, they don't want to hear you. They're not listening to you. Just finish the hour and go to the house. The devil brings these thoughts to my head, and I've got to make up my mind.
[20:55] Do I resist? And if you resist, the devil flees. The devil runs. He quits fighting with you when he learns. You see, and he never quits for long. In Luke chapter 4, he brought three strong temptations against Jesus, and he left him for a season, the Bible says.
[21:11] He's coming back. He's going to bring a fight back. So once you resist the devil, you were at work the other day, and you had this strong temptation to talk to that girl or that guy. You were at work the other day, and you were fussing with your husband, and you were fussing with your wife, and then somebody was really sweet to you, and your little heart just bubbled up in you, and you thought, but in that moment, you said, No!
[21:39] I will stand. And you stood. The devil left. But he'll be back. He'll be back. So we start by humbling ourselves, submitting unto God, and resisting the devil, and then look at James 1.8.
[21:52] He gave us the next step. Look at James 4.8. He said, Now it's time to draw now to God, and he will draw now to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners.
[22:06] Draw now to God, and cleanse your hands. Let's talk about drawing now to God real quick. Do you remember the story of Peter? Jesus said to Peter, He said, The devil has desired you to sift you like wheat.
[22:20] The devil is going to grab a hold of you and shake you till you fall apart. He is going to try to destroy you, Peter. And Peter's like, He's a good independent Baptist.
[22:32] He goes, No way. If everybody else quits on you, I will not be quitting. If everybody else runs and hides, I will not do it. If they deny you, I will not do it.
[22:43] I got my sword with me. I will fight and stand and die before I turn on you. And the fact is, if you recall, when they came to get Jesus, he cut a guy's ear off.
[22:56] And he wasn't aiming for the ear. He was trying to split the guy's head. He just was a preacher, not a swordsman. So he got an ear instead of a head. And Jesus put the ear back on. But later, Peter's denying Jesus.
[23:08] Huh? Three times. And everybody knows the story about old Peter. Big mouth Peter. Everything's going to go good. And now everything's messed up. But you know what Jesus told Peter when he said it?
[23:18] He said, he's desired to sift you like wheat. And I prayed for you. And when you get through this battle and you're strengthened, I'll pray and the Lord will strengthen you more. Now listen, you been through a battle yet?
[23:32] That doesn't mean you're a bad Christian. It means the Lord's growing. You're a bad Christian. Because he helped you get through and you didn't fall, did you? Your marriage can be stronger after that temptation than it was before that temptation. Your heart can be stronger after that fight with pornography than it was before that fight.
[23:46] Your heart can be stronger after that battle with alcohol than it was before. You can have victory because once you have submitted to God and resisted the devil, now you draw nigh to God.
[23:57] So now's your time to get close to him. Because the battle's gone. The devil has pulled away. The devil's like, I thought I had him whipped. I had tried my best, but the bell has sounded and I got a minute to sit over here and think about what I got to do before I go in there to attack him.
[24:12] And so while you're in your corner over here and the guy's cleaning off your face and taking your mouth guard out and letting you swish some water in there and pouring some water over you to get you cooled off, what you need to do is say, God, I got to get close.
[24:24] I need you. Because the devil's coming after me again. So you draw nigh to God. God, he draws nigh to you. So write this down somewhere. Nearness is likeness.
[24:35] The more you get close to God, the more like him you'll get. You ever noticed how couples start looking like each other? You're like, poor lady. She's married that guy.
[24:45] If she turns out looking like that, she's really going to be in bad shape. Look at it. See, when you get close to God, you start being like him. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, the Bible says, Without faith, it's impossible to please him.
[24:57] For they that come to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So what I need to do right now is this. If you're not in a battle, if the devil's not attacking you, that's great.
[25:10] Start getting close to God. He wants you to come to him. He wants you to believe that he is. He wants you to believe that he hears your prayer. He wants you to believe that he'll answer your prayer.
[25:21] He wants you to come close to him. So it's time to do that. Draw nigh to him. Draw nigh to him. Get strengthened for the next battle. Here's our problem.
[25:32] Most of us talk a good game, but we don't walk it. In Matthew chapter 15, in verse 8, this is what Jesus said. These people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honor me with their lips, but their heart's far from me.
[25:48] I read this week where a guy said, Christians don't lie. They just sing lies. He said, you know, a Christian, he's not going to lie to you.
[26:00] But when he goes to church, he will. Have thine own way, Lord, not really. Have thine own way, you know, I don't mean this. All to Jesus, I surrender.
[26:15] All to him, I don't really give. You know, we lie at church. And here's what he's saying when we draw nigh. It's not the mouth. It's not what you say.
[26:28] It's not the lips. It's the heart. Anybody can talk a good game, but all alone, are you seeking God? When you're at home, when no one's watching, when you're not at a church service, are you drawing nigh to him from your heart?
[26:42] So how do you do that? Go with me, if you would, to Romans chapter 6 and verse 13. Romans chapter 6 and verse 13. The Bible says in Romans 6, 13, this is one of my favorite verses.
[26:56] You got to mark this one well. Neither yield you members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. So let me put that in Tennessee Hillbilly.
[27:07] Stop giving your body to do things that are wrong. Stop giving your body to do things that are wrong.
[27:19] See, it's hard for me to have an affair if I don't give my body. It's hard for me to get drunk if I don't give my body. It's hard for me to watch porn if I don't give my body.
[27:30] It's hard for me to get involved in sin if I don't give my body. He said, stop giving your body to sin and instead of that, look at it, but yield yourselves unto God. Go to God and say, God, now you can have everything about me.
[27:44] You can have my hands. You can have my eyes. You can have my mouth. You can have who I am. I yield it to you for you to use as instruments of righteousness unto God.
[27:56] I guess my favorite one to this is verse 19. Romans 6, 19. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh. Now this is what I want you underlining in your Bible.
[28:07] For as you have yielded, for as you have yielded. Would you say that part with me? For as you have yielded. Say it again. For as you have yielded. All right, underline that.
[28:18] Your members, servants, uncleanliness to iniquity, even so now yield. Underline that. Even so now yield. Say that with me. Even so now yield. Your members, servants, to righteousness unto holiness.
[28:32] Now it's amazing. When you were playing high school sports, you would run till your body screamed for mercy and keep on running. You would let them tackle you till you were like dying.
[28:43] I remember when I was in high school, we were a small little school in the Hick Sticks of Tennessee and they would tackle one of our guys and I mean it would be like, I mean they're like 900 pounders and our guys weighed 50 pounds and they'd just stomp him and he'd be in the ground and he'd jump up and get to running again and they'd holler out, he's a warrior.
[29:02] He had to be a warrior, man, that's going to kill that poor kid. But he didn't care. He was yielded to the game. Beat me up. Knock me down. I remember one time they were running down the field, a headline in 1972 long before doing any rules and two of them hit in the middle of the field and it would sound like a gun went off and they both knocked down and the warrior jumped up.
[29:21] Our guy, he jumped up. The other guy's a lot bigger but the warrior, he wasn't, because when you're little you got to get up quicker than they think you're beat. Huh? Oh, you know how you, you know how you did to get through college, how you worked night and day and whatever it took for you to do.
[29:36] You know how you did to build your business, how you yielded yourself to whatever it was you wanted. You have been going crazy. You remember how you gave yourself to get where you are? You know, you gave yourself.
[29:49] You studied early, you studied late, you applied for jobs. There's other people at the same school you did and they've never done anything with their life and you'd say, well they didn't put into it what I put into it. Come on, tell the truth.
[30:00] That's what you'd say. So here's what he said, even so now. Huh? Had a man in my church in the first church I started, he used to say to me, I drunk enough alcohol to float this building.
[30:14] I said, well my goodness, if you did all that for the devil, let's see what you do for Jesus now. Say amen. So whatever you did for the devil, let's do it for Jesus now. That's what the verse is saying. How do you draw nigh to him?
[30:24] You draw nigh to him by saying, you know what? I busted it. I busted it for sin. I busted it for self. I busted it for profession. I busted it. I'm good at my job.
[30:35] I have climbed up the ladder. I am number one. You want to see my trophies? Come on, be honest. Showed me a, somebody showed me a picture last night of a house. I bet they had 300 trophies in one room.
[30:48] They said they're really big into trophies. I was like, well if that was my house, I'd throw them things in the garbage. But anyway, take up a lot of space. But the truth is, you're big in your trophies, but it's earthly trophies. So now you'll just have to godly trophies.
[31:03] We heard a guy speak a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday night here or Thursday night. And he said he read the whole Bible through in three or four weeks. We're like, that's crazy. Oh, it wouldn't be crazy if it's your college book.
[31:14] No, would it? It wouldn't be crazy if it was run that marathon. No, would it? It wouldn't be crazy if it was past that test that takes two days to pass and you studied and you didn't even sleep while you was doing it.
[31:28] Because you see what's of real value? You yield yourself to it. You give yourself to it. And here's what he says, a draw night of God. Can I just be honest with you? The only place you don't want to be a fanatic is a church.
[31:42] I mean, it's okay to be a business fanatic. You know exactly what the market's doing. You've checked the Wall Street Journal 12 times today. I subscribe, don't worry.
[31:54] I'm not making fun of you. You know, you're driving the right car, you're wearing the right clothes, you're doing everything you're supposed to do because you're in pursuit of the dream. Here's all Paul said.
[32:06] Guys, you remember how you did all that for lost stuff? Let's do it for Jesus. You can be a fanatic for everything, but Jesus, hey, you don't mind spending money? One ball game, a preacher talks about you being a generous giver and you're like, well, I'd spend that for going to the ball game.
[32:25] I'd pay three times what a hot dog costs. I'd pay ten times what a hot dog costs at the ball game. But don't be asking me to give an offering. Come on. That's ridiculous. At least give me a hot dog.
[32:36] Come on. Here's what he's saying. Drum out of me. You want the Lord to work in your life? You want to have victory? You want this abundant life? It's going to be about you getting off your backside and saying, I am all in.
[32:53] I'm all in. He said, draw nigh. Well, I'm not going to give this to you anymore after today, so let me just take you to the last thing he said in James 4 and verse 8. He said, draw nigh to God.
[33:06] He'll draw nigh to you. Then he said, cleanse your hands, you sinners. So you know what we do? I'm in love with Jesus. And I am clean.
[33:17] By the blood of Jesus, I am clean. But I want to keep being cleansed. So let me give you the verse to read. Go with me, if you would, to 1 John chapter 3 and verse 1. This is a powerful verse for us to apply and live in our lives.
[33:34] Behold, look what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, what manner of love the Father has given us, that we should be called the sons of God.
[33:45] You believe this? Hey, sons of God. Hey, children of God. That's who you are. He says, can you believe that? Therefore, the world doesn't know us. Lost people don't like us because we're the sons of God.
[33:58] They didn't like him. They don't like us. Verse 2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him.
[34:12] For we shall see him as he is. He made you a son. He's cleansed you, purified you, and you're going to see him. And some people would say, it's all been done and I'm going to rest.
[34:27] But verse 3 says, that every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
[34:39] So I'm in the family. I would like to look a little more like I'm in the family. I'm in the family. I'd like to walk a little more like I'm in the family. When I married my wife and I went to the Ferguson family, you do not understand what the Tennessee redneck, we have big forks and little forks and big spoons and little spoons.
[35:04] Serving spoons are adult size spoons. Small spoons are for children to use. Big forks are for adults and the little salad forks they're for children to use. I had no idea that you, I sat down at their table the first time and there were like three forks and three spoons and a couple of knives and I was like, Lord help me, they're showing off how much stuff they got.
[35:24] And you think I'm joking but I'm just a Tennessee redneck. I've never seen this stuff. And I go into the house and I'm in their house and they got more than one plate. You know, you don't eat the salad on the real plate.
[35:36] I mean, you got a plate for the salad and you got a plate for the food. Well, that's the dumbest thing. That's just more plates to wash. To wash. Say amen. And so, I didn't understand none of that.
[35:48] I mean, I'm sitting there and so all I do is I watch Betty and when she touches the utensil I'm like, hey, must be the one you're supposed to touch. I sure was glad they didn't have boy forks and girl forks because I would have really been confused.
[35:58] And I got through the meal but you know, I learned, I learned which one to use when she wasn't there because I was in the family now and I was in the family whether I knew how to use the forks or whether I didn't know how to use the forks but it sure felt a little bit better when I wasn't so embarrassed about using the forks.
[36:17] You're in the family now but if you're in love with Jesus you ought to want to be cleaning up and smelling better. So I took off my cowboy boots and I had cow manure and horse manure on and I quit wearing them at the house.
[36:32] The fact is, when I met Betty I wore cowboy boots everywhere but in the bed and that's all. And my cowboy boots weren't western wear. You know, they didn't cost $500 a pair.
[36:44] They were really cheap. Huh? They were really cheap. They were just so you could put your foot in a stirrup and you wouldn't fall out. I mean, that's all they were. They had nothing to do with no other fancy Alpharetta stuff.
[36:56] You guys are like, I wear cowboy boots too. No, you don't. Every real cowboy would laugh at your cowboy boots. He'd be like, where'd you buy them? At the dude store. When's the last time them things smelled cow manure?
[37:09] But I wanted to live like the family. Do you understand that? Do you get that at all? I wanted to live like the family. I wanted to fit in. I'm a born again Christian. I'm a blood washed saint.
[37:20] All my sins are forgiven. I am as pure as the day, the day Jesus saved me. But I want to keep purifying myself. I want to keep growing in him.
[37:31] Don't you want to resist the devil? Don't you want to live in that abundant life? Today is your day.