January 5th 2020 - Pastor Jeff Shipley - History & Honor

Whitten Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

It's funny, but even with that very good definition, it's still missing something, isn't it?

00:09

I mean, men, you know what I'm saying? It's still missing a little something, something. Because in reality, no matter how many words we put to it, men, it still falls short of when we see it.

00:25

Let me give you a little example.

00:31

Have you ever seen the movie Glory? The 54th Massachusetts Regiment, right? Love that movie.

00:38

And I'll tell you, the most blessed part for me is this, is when that regiment is storming that hillside, that fort on the hill.

00:50

And they're getting wiped out. And then the character of Denzel Washington, although that character was fictitious, the commander in that unit and that entire story was real.

01:05

That actually happened. He picked up the flag, knowing that he was going to be a target, and moved forward.

01:12

I'll be honest with you, when I see movies like that and I know they are based on historical fact,

01:20

I cry like a little girl. I do. Because there is something that I identify with in there that to me is very precious.

01:32

And it's that honor thing. It's that self -sacrifice. It's that understanding that there is something greater than myself in which to sacrifice.

01:42

I taught my sons this. Guys, there are things to live for, but I promise you in this life, there are things to die for as well.

01:53

I actually heard a liberal commentator say this, that all war is evil and morally wrong, and there is no glory in death.

02:03

I strongly disagree. You see, there was this hill called

02:08

Calvary one time, and this guy died for the glory of God and the obedience to God that you and I might have life, if that's not a glory,

02:19

I don't know what is. There is glory in death.

02:25

There is honor in death. Guys, yesterday I got to preach a funeral, and I got to preach the gospel because I had the foundation bedrock of the testimony of a family who was living out the glory of God and honoring each other even in the midst of death.

02:46

You can have honor. Guys, the problem is we have come to a point, and I'm going to be a chauvinist pig today,

02:57

OK? I'm going to be a chauvinist pig today. I'm a chauvinist pig every day. I'm going to highlight it a little bit more today,

03:05

OK? So you chicks go make some sandwiches. Guys, in the history of mankind, there's been many moments of honor.

03:16

I'm going to give you a little history lesson real quick, and it will set the backdrop of what we're going to talk about in Nehemiah chapter 4.

03:25

Guys, everyone is familiar with little David and Goliath, you know, the little kid where he had a little slingshot, you know?

03:32

You've probably seen the little pictures, little white kid with blonde hair, blue eyes, Jewish guy. But anyways, he's sitting there, and he's swinging his little rock around, and he hits

03:41

Goliath in the head, and Goliath dies to death, right? That little silly picture is far and away removed from the history of what it really is.

03:51

David had honor. He stood up when everyone else sat down, OK? David grew up, and in 1010

03:59

BC, now this is historical fact. This isn't a movie. This isn't a sermon. This isn't a little church thing.

04:06

In 1010 BC, David united the 12 tribes of Israel into one nation.

04:12

Their capital was in Jerusalem. And then his son Solomon became king. And then when

04:18

Solomon's son was ready to became king, they had a civil war, OK?

04:24

They had a civil war. And the 10 northern tribes looked at the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and they said, we don't like you anymore.

04:33

And so those 10 northern tribes became their own nation. And they had their own capital called

04:39

Samaria. Now, this is important, y 'all. Listen. They had a capital called Samaria. Well, the two southern tribes, their capital was

04:48

Judah, and they hated each other. I know this is hard to believe and understand, but back then in those times, brothers and sisters in Christ would disagree so strongly they would split from each other and call themselves different names, like Presbyterian or Assemblies of God or Baptist.

05:05

And so they hated each other, right? They absolutely loathed each other. Well, God sent prophets to the 10 tribes of Israel and said, hey, man, you better repent.

05:18

If you don't repent, it's going to get real bad. But they didn't listen. And so a nation named

05:24

Assyria came in and whooped those 10 tribes.

05:30

They took over those 10 tribes of Israel, and man, they did horrible things. They took over the land, and they sent the

05:38

Israelites off into places like Russia and other places, and then brought in Assyrians, and they intermingled with the

05:45

Jews and tried to remove, or I'm sorry, the Israelites, and tried to remove their identity.

05:51

They became known as Samaritans, okay? Samaritans, that's important to remember that because that term is still used even in the

05:59

New Testament. John chapter four, okay? The two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin were like, we're

06:09

God's chosen people. See, those guys went against us, and God said that ain't going to happen, so we are special.

06:19

We're like perfect, and everyone else in the world sins. Those people up there have tattoos and smoke cigarettes and drink rum and make rum cakes.

06:30

They do all those horrible things up there, but we don't do that down here.

06:35

And God said, guys, don't let that arrogance get a hold of you. You best understand that y 'all are all the same.

06:41

You need to repent. You need to do right. They wouldn't listen, and so a nation named Babylon, think of Iraq, okay?

06:48

You had Syria, now think of Iraq. Babylon stood up and walked in and took over, in 586

06:55

BC, took over the two little southern tribes of Judah. I know some of you hate history, and so you're bored already, but this is really important, so try to listen, okay?

07:05

Try to pretend like you went to UT. So they went in and took over those two southern tribes, and those two southern tribes were whooped, and this is what

07:15

God said. For 70 years, y 'all are gonna be in the corner. Y 'all are in timeout for 70 years.

07:23

Now, that happened historically in 586 BC. Well, another nation, you had

07:29

Assyria. Remember, A, B, P, G, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece.

07:35

It's really A, B, P, G, or Rome, but I can't make Rome, you know.

07:41

Anyways, another nation stood up, and now think of Iran. This was

07:46

Persia. Can you believe that Iraq and Persia had been fighting, and God said they would be fighting and hate each other for all times?

07:55

By the way, what was the news last week? Oh, that's right, I forgot millennial group. Yeah, see, this is all a government conspiracy, and all the governments in the world are making

08:03

God's prophecy in the Bible come true just to trick you into coming to church. God, y 'all are so stupid.

08:10

But anyways, Persia rises up. They whoop Babylon, and in 516

08:17

BC, and you can go read this if you read Persian Cruciform. It's in a museum in London.

08:24

It's a cylinder, and it says King Cyrus in 516. They didn't use that date, but in 516, granted the

08:32

Jews permission to go back and rebuild their temple. Now, some of you guys that are good at math, help me out.

08:42

586, 516, what's the difference in years? 70. Things that make you go, hmm.

08:52

So the Jews go back. A guy named Ezra, he was a Jew. He stood up and said, hey, let's go rebuild the temple.

08:58

Bunch of Jews said, I'm with you, and they all went back and rebuilt the temple, and everything was hunky -dory. But the walls, the gates were destroyed.

09:08

Still, they were lying in rubble. And a guy named Nehemiah said, that ain't good enough.

09:15

I can't let God's house, I can't let God's city, I can't let my people stand like this.

09:24

I've gotta go back and rebuild those walls. And so that's what we're talking about today.

09:30

It's the honor to see a problem, and to sacrifice and leave everything, to go and do what needs to be done, no matter what stands against you.

09:40

Read with me, I'm gonna steal this, okay, Mama Louise? Read with me,

09:47

Nehemiah chapter four, verse one. It says this, when Sanballat heard that they were rebuilding the wall, he became furious.

09:56

He mocked the Jews before his colleagues and powerful men and said, what are these pathetic

10:02

Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices?

10:08

Will they ever even finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from mounds of rubble?

10:16

Let me tell you the first thing honor takes for a man or woman of God. It takes this, it takes faith.

10:22

Now let me give you a little hint here. Some of y 'all struggle in your spiritual lives because you're trying to put faith in faith.

10:30

You're trying to put hope in hope. In other words, you're relying on the emotion rather than putting your faith in Christ and your hope in Christ.

10:38

You're trying to look at how you feel and how you are acting as a measurement of your faith.

10:45

That is not a good way to do it. See, true faith is this. It does not need evidence.

10:52

It moves forward in obedience to what God has already said. Some people are like, well, no,

10:57

I need to hear from God. You already have, it's called scripture. You don't need to hear it again. There ain't no committee.

11:03

There ain't no vote. There ain't no preacher. There ain't no religion. There ain't no church. If God said it and you obey it, that is the faith that he's talking about.

11:13

And guys, honor needs faith. And here's why. It's not in your strength.

11:19

Man, I feel like a sausage up here, like a brat.

11:25

I really do. Have you ever seen, some of y 'all are laughing at me. Guys, I have a little problem.

11:32

I swallow a lot of aggression along with a lot of pizza and these suits keep shrinking because of it.

11:39

I mean, I feel like a big fat brat. Marty, wipe that smile off your face. Well, I can't,

11:47

I can't right now. But, you know, I guarantee there's no Baptist pastor this

11:52

Sunday that had his congregation say, take it off. Y 'all are all going to hell.

11:59

But anyways, anyways, I love when my,

12:04

I love my senior adults. I love them because, you know, they grew up in a different culture and there's more use to propriety and properness.

12:12

But I love it when they laugh because they all do this. They always put their heads down.

12:17

I don't want to actually see you laughing at that bad joke. But guys, watch. Listen, I'm a fat old man.

12:25

One of my sons called it old man strength, but I am still a very powerful individual.

12:30

I mean, I got a lot of physical, even though I'm not as strong as I used to be, I still got a lot of physical strength left.

12:37

Now, it's adding quite quickly, but I still feel very strong, all right?

12:44

But when I go to work, something happens. I was cleaning out the gutters on my roof the other day.

12:53

And I noticed that I must have liked the smell of the oxygen in the air because I was breathing it very rapidly.

13:01

And sweat from just sweeping a broom was protruding from my head.

13:06

I had a lot of strength, but I'll be honest with you, man, I really don't. Because here's real strength.

13:14

It's not in how much you can bench press, but it's in how much you can take getting hit and keep moving forward.

13:21

It's how much you stay focused on the job. It's how much you overcome adversity.

13:28

And that is not gender specific. Listen to me, strength is not gender specific.

13:34

Some of the strongest Christians in this room are females. Book it, book it.

13:42

Guys, that's not something that goes, oh, and if you're threatened that in your masculinity, you need to go lift some weights or something.

13:49

But guys, some of the strongest people we got are women in this room. Strength is the ability to push forward.

13:58

Now look, look at this. When they started rebuilding the walls, your faith can't be just simply a feeling.

14:06

It's actually got to be action behind your feeling. When you come here on Sunday, and you're like, man, he said that again, and you start feeling that conviction, and you're like, oh man,

14:18

I'm so sorry, God. And then you walk out the door, that's when the strength happens, right there.

14:24

When you're walking out of here, facing those addiction, facing your destroyed family, facing all that stuff, strength is sitting there not going, oh,

14:34

I can't do this. Strength is rolling your shoulders back, sticking your chin out and saying, bring it on.

14:39

That's what real strength is, guys. These honored men and women, these people who wanted to honor

14:47

God, it had to be a focus on their faith and not on their own strength.

14:52

Listen, it's not in what you see. Someone read verse 11 real quick. Read it loud.

15:01

Pastor, I gotta get my Bible out first. Say it, Mama. Okay. You know, the number one destroyer of faith is this, fear.

15:21

Fear. Man, fear, like I said,

15:26

I'm a pretty strong guy, both mentally and physically, and spiritually, but I'll be honest with you, fear will just suck the strength in life right out of me.

15:37

Listen, maybe you don't understand what I'm saying. If I feel a pain in my chest,

15:44

I'm immediately having a heart attack. I am. If Gwen says, hey, we can't afford to do that right now, we got $47 in our checking account, it is the 1929 stock market crash all over again, and we're all gonna be living in the street, and we're all gonna be, no, living in a trailer down by the river in a van, very good.

16:10

It's always that bad. Fear, and here's what's funny. My fears are based more on fantasies, and my faith is based on more reality, but sometimes my fear wins out over my faith, okay?

16:27

Come on, Christians. Yeah? Yeah? Guys. When that happens, you've gotta take the focus, listen, you've gotta take the focus off of you and off the problems.

16:45

Here's one of the things I did one day. I said this. I was worried that I'd lost my salvation before I understood what grace really was.

16:54

I was afraid that God was done with me. I was afraid that I had sinned so much and failed so much that God was no longer, you hear what

17:02

I'm saying, Deacon? This was what my prayer was. God, if I end up going to hell, so be it.

17:13

God, if I never feel your presence again, okay. God, give me the strength, and I will spend the rest of my life still praising your name, preaching your word, and trying to obey you.

17:29

No matter what the end result is, God, I choose to follow you today.

17:36

That was funny. That was a hard prayer to prayer. Have you ever prayed that it's okay if you go to hell? It's not a fun prayer to pray, right?

17:44

Now, here's what's funny. God had never left me, God had never moved, but because I was having the focus on me and my fear rather than upon God and his grace,

17:53

I couldn't see what was right in front of my face. I'm a poet, dude.

18:00

Guys, listen to me. When I prayed that prayer, man, the fetters, the chains broke off of me, and I began to experience faith again, and the feelings followed faith.

18:13

A lot of times, Christians wanna find the feelings and think that will help them find faith. It won't, it won't.

18:21

Find faith first, and faith is this, just this, obey. Obey God no matter what.

18:28

Guys, when we come to the point in our lives where we wanna exhibit honor, it takes focusing on faith.

18:36

The second thing it takes is this, it takes focus. How many of y 'all are ADHD besides me?

18:44

Man, look at all the retards in here. Evan, you are? Man, that explains so much.

18:51

Guys, ADHD, I have a lady whose job it is is to keep me focused.

18:59

God bless, she's not in here, is she? God bless her little hearts. God bless her, because I get focused, but see,

19:08

I can focus on 37 different things all at the same time and can't accomplish nothing, right?

19:15

Are you with me, sister? God, man, it's horrible. Focusing, God says this, meditate on him day and night.

19:27

The definition of meditation in the Hebrew word means basically this. Don't look at this like this.

19:35

Pick this up and look at it from every angle and focus on it so that everything else in your world goes blurry.

19:44

This and this alone is what you focus on. Guys, if you wanna be a person of honor, it's going to take focus, because here's what's gonna happen.

19:54

Read verse 10, somebody, read it out loud. Okay, that was the

20:06

Kuhn version, but always thank Louisiana folks. But anyways, no, you did good, brother.

20:13

You did good, you did good. It's just labor, it's just labor.

20:22

Guys, listen to me. Have you ever bought a new piece of furniture or gotten something new and then had to go in and fix everything in the room to have that piece in there?

20:33

Okay, I didn't, I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only crazy person in here. I just recently got a new leather -making thing and I had to redo everything to make that fit and to make it feel perfect, right?

20:48

One of the things in our spiritual lives that saps us definitely is fear, but it's also this.

20:54

We get our eyes and focus on the rubble rather than the end result. Have you ever had so many little things?

21:01

I call it piranha spiritual warfare. It's not one big thing that hits you, it's just like a little bunch of things going, it's basically like the world going,

21:10

I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you, right? And it's like all these little things coming at you at one time, and you sit there and go, dear

21:18

Lord, please, and guys, it's great to pray, but after that, it's even better to focus not on the rubble, but on what

21:29

God has instructed us to do. There are gonna be times when the rubble is piled up.

21:34

Have you ever seen Jeremiah's room? Holy mackerel, man. Golly, it looks like a

21:40

Red Cross clothing shelter in there, man, I'd get lost in there, right?

21:47

The rubble is piled up, but you can't focus on the rubble, you gotta focus on Christ.

21:53

Look at this next thing. Read verse three, somebody. Come on, read. Hurry up.

22:09

Okay, let me help you out a little bit with human reasoning. I know I'm running late, but y 'all stay with me just a second.

22:17

Here's what people do. And listen, if you're one of those people that say, well,

22:22

I can't go to church because all of them are hypocrites, you cannot be that stupid or naive, okay?

22:28

Yes, there are hypocrites in here. Name me someone in here who's not a hypocrite. Go ahead. I know

22:35

I am, table of one right here. I am, so one more won't matter. So get off your righteous, self -righteous high horse and come and enjoy the work, okay?

22:44

Here's one thing that we all face though. I hate ridicule. Don't you?

22:51

Man, it's like someone can say 20 good things to you, but if someone comes up and goes, oh, you decided to wear that?

23:00

Oh. And you're like, ah, 30 people could have told Deborah, hey, you look smoking hot today.

23:06

One person walks up and goes, mm, Walmart? And you just, boom, right?

23:17

You're an easy target because you're so beautiful and well put together. And I'm wearing the same tie as Ben today.

23:23

I'm really nervous about that. But anyways, guys, Christians, are you doing good and one person says one little thing and you just crash?

23:34

Or one thing goes wrong? And it doesn't have to be a little thing. It could be a big thing. But after all the momentum you have comes to a screeching halt, here's where honor comes in.

23:45

Honor says that you stand back up and you keep moving forward. And here's what's even more honorable.

23:52

Don't sit there and go and try to find 30 other people to validate your feelings, okay?

23:59

Take it on the chin, suck it up, and keep moving forward anyways. Here's something

24:04

I want all of us to stop doing. Quit being drama queens, okay?

24:10

Somebody hurts your feelings. Can you be mature enough? Can you be grown up enough?

24:17

Can you have enough spiritual depth that you don't sit there and take your Bible and cry and go home?

24:24

Listen, I know pastors that quit. I know people that just stop because something didn't go their way or somebody hurt their feelings.

24:33

Well, I'm gonna go to a different church. Oh, I'm gonna go do this. I'm not gonna be their friend anymore.

24:39

Are you really still in sixth grade? Seriously. And yet you're the person that's a spiritual giant because you read our daily bread and pray every day.

24:49

Guys, that's not the measurement of spiritual strength. The measurement of spiritual strength and maturity only comes in the face of opposition.

25:00

It only comes when you're faced with something hard. When things are easy and good, yeah, everybody's strong.

25:08

But when you take that first shot to the jaw, then we're gonna see how strong and tough you are.

25:14

Right? What are you gonna do? You've got to focus on God and not focus on people's ridicule.

25:22

And here's the line, oh my God, after 28 years of being a pastor, here's what

25:27

I hear all the time. Well, I expect that from the world. I just didn't expect it in here.

25:35

Because you're that dumb or that ignorant? Why? Why didn't you expect it? Because you actually think you have, you're one of those

25:43

Christians, we're so much better in here than they are out there. Guys, we're all on the same level.

25:48

I've been preaching that for about 28 years now. The homosexual, the prostitute, even the child molester, civilly,

25:57

I want to kill them all, but we're all on the same level, guys. Focus.

26:03

Last thing and I'm done. Guys, it's gonna take this. Are you ready? It's gonna take fight.

26:14

I'm not gonna tell you how to raise your kids, but let me help you with something.

26:27

There is something very beneficial to letting your sons get a little blood in the eye.

26:35

There's just something beneficial to it. I know that sounds horrible, especially to you passive daddies and you overzealous mommies.

26:45

You're going to breed a very weak man. You just are,

26:51

I'm sorry. And if that hurts your feelings, focus on truth, not on the rubble. I remember when my kids were learning how to walk, they would be like this.

27:07

Hey, dad! And I'd stick my foot out. And they'd go. Right?

27:15

I know it's mean, I get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was. And basically my children were there for entertainment, like I'm Caesar.

27:23

But I'd get them to fight in the living room and go. Guys, I would sit there and let them fail.

27:34

I would let them fail. And then I would do something like this. I would come over and put my arm around them and go, hey, tiger, you're gonna do.

27:44

No, you know what I'd do? Are you really that stupid, son? It's a claw hammer. And you're using the claw to hammer in nails?

27:51

What are you thinking, son? And then I would start doing, son, no, do you pick that up? No, get on top of you.

27:57

My, no, you go get me that one. Say, well, what are you doing? And they'd be like. And I taught them that chaos and confusion is something to be embraced.

28:10

It's something to grab by the belt buckle and punch it dead in the throat. Your fears have to be the same way.

28:18

Guys, listen to me. I hate to tell you this, but the Christian life takes fights.

28:25

And I'm talking about in the dirt. I'm talking about gutter stomping, throat stomping, absolute junkyard dog fight.

28:34

And if you're one of those people that are raising your kids, especially in this culture, in this world, to never say no, to never offend anybody, to never ever do that, they are gonna get eaten alive.

28:50

In about a few years when they get to college, you're gonna be amazed because they're gonna sit back and go,

28:56

I don't believe in God anymore. I don't believe in God anymore. I really, mom, you're so stupid to believe in that.

29:03

I evolved from a monkey. Wait a minute, here's my favorite one.

29:10

I can choose to be a boy or a girl, mom. I just figured that out. Now, listen, come here.

29:18

We have entered a time, listen to me. We have entered a time where culture is prevalently saying that an individual can choose their gender identity.

29:39

If, guys, listen to me. And you know what? We all sit here and go, yeah,

29:45

I know. You haven't fought enough. You're afraid of offending.

29:51

You're afraid of standing up. You're afraid to go and you cannot be that stupid because that's offensive.

30:01

Look what Nehemiah did. This is what Nehemiah did. He sat there and said, boys, here's what we're gonna do.

30:08

We're gonna protect our families. And men, this is where I'm gonna show him this pig. Men, men, we got a group praying up here every day and I still don't see all you men coming up here.

30:23

Why? Men, it says protect our homes, protect what we're building, protect our wives and protect our children.

30:34

So for those of you out there that are politically correct, I'm sorry, there is a greater call on males than there is females.

30:44

First Corinthians 16, 13 says this, have faith, act like a man and be strong.

30:51

Is that being chauvinist pig? No, it's saying that our roles are different.

30:56

Women are keepers of the home. It doesn't say men and women. It says women are keepers of the home.

31:02

That don't mean you can't work outside your home, Proverbs 31, but it does mean you're to be the keeper of the home.

31:08

Men, you are to protect your home. And what's the number one thing you need to protect your home from? That's right, parachuting

31:15

Russians, dropping out of the sky and that's why you need an AR -15. No, the number one thing you need to protect your home from is you.

31:26

Your words, your apathy, your laziness and your failure to lead. That's the number one thing.

31:31

You're the biggest enemy or the biggest benefit of your home. Last thing,

31:38

I know, shh. This is what Nehemiah said. Men, we're gonna sleep in our clothes.

31:44

We're gonna have a hammer in one hand and we're gonna have a sword in the other. And we're gonna work in ships and we're not gonna stop till either we dead or this wall is built.

31:55

Women, men, you are responsible for the home.

32:01

You are responsible for this place. I've got a 15 year plan in my little head.

32:07

I've also got a contingency plan if I drop dead tomorrow. You know why?

32:13

Because this church is not about Pastor Jeff. If I died tomorrow, nothing should change except a more intelligent, more etiquette wise pastor come up here.

32:29

It's not loyalty to me or to being a Baptist or your country club mentality.

32:36

It's the kingdom of God in which you focus on. And it's going to take fight. And men, guess what the number one enemy you gotta fight?

32:47

Again, yourself. Guys, there are times to tell your wife and children, be silent,

32:53

I got this. There are times when you don't need to draw attention to yourself, you just need to get the job done.

33:01

Men, there should never be a time where you're asked to serve and you give a female answer like this.

33:08

Well, I need to pray about that. No, let your yes be yes and your no be no.

33:13

Quit making excuses. If you can't do it, say no. Well, I need to think about it.

33:19

You need to think about whether you need to serve the house of God. Really?

33:24

No. Well, Brother Jeff, I don't know if I have time. Then say no. It's either yes or no.

33:31

There ain't no in between. There was a guy who said that once. I forget what his name was. Oh yeah,

33:36

James in the New Testament. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. One way or the other. But you got to start standing.

33:44

It's gonna take fight. And then here's the last character of honor. You gotta finish.

33:51

Man, you gotta finish. Let me address some of you today. And I will close with this.

34:04

We have a program called MIT. And basically, it is a very accelerated, very concentrated, very focused, especially when

34:15

I was the teacher, ministry training where you're taught homiletics, apologetics, systematic theology, you're taught anything, okay, and everything.

34:28

We have had now over 80 something people attempt to do that over the last 11 years, okay?

34:38

So far, what is it, nine have graduated. Nine. We have a group going through it now.

34:48

And I've heard rumors of, well, I'm gonna quit.

34:54

This is too hard. If you ever wanna get out of kindergarten, you're gonna have to run the wind sprints.

35:04

If you're ever going to mature past the spiritual age you are now, it's going to take sacrifice, hard work, dedication.

35:16

And the honor is not in how smart you are. The honor is finishing your commitment and what you started.

35:26

Christians, listen, James tells us that he, or Philemon, or Philippians, I can't remember, 1 -6, says, he that began a good work in you will keep working in you until you are completed on that day.

35:41

Christians, we have way too many quitters. Way too many quitters. Way too many.

35:48

People who sign up, people tell me all the time, this was hilarious, brother Jeff, we have to pay to have the grass mowed.

35:54

Why don't we, and I remember this guy, why don't we just get a bunch of people together in the church and we can go mow the grass and it won't cost us anything.

36:02

And I remember going, okay, you make the list. You lead it, you get it done.

36:10

Oh, I wasn't talking about me. Man, what a coward. Go put a dress on, son.

36:19

Listen to me. You know why we can't do it? Because we have people who try to do it by themselves and they get worn out.

36:26

Or we'll have 32 people sign up and it lasts for about, what, Char, three weeks?

36:32

And then everybody's like, oh, I can't do it today. I can't do it today. Then don't commit on it. Then don't commit.

36:39

But listen to me. If you're ever going to be a person of honor, giving it the old college try is not good enough.

36:49

Christians, you have to finish the race. You have to go all 10 rounds.

36:57

You can't keep quitting. Brother Jeff, I've repented 32 times of that sin.

37:03

It doesn't do me any good. Yeah, it will on the 33rd time. Oh, it will on the 35th time because what you don't understand is the continual repentance and the continual submission is the destination that God's trying to get you to.

37:16

You cannot be a perfect Christian. There ain't no such thing. It's that you finish by keep on trying.

37:25

Failure isn't not achieving your goal. Failure is I'm going to quit trying.

37:31

Guys, you got to grow up a little bit. Now I know some of you in this room already and save your emails because I don't want to hear it.

37:38

You're offended because you hadn't been ever. Here's what one lady told me. I've never had a preacher talk to me like that.

37:44

And that's why you're a bitter old hag. That's why you have destroyed your entire family and your grandchildren's family because of your arrogant, self -righteous, religious hypocrisy.

37:57

Guys, you need to hear this. You do need to hear this.

38:03

And if it offended you in any way, guess what? No, oh well and good, but guess what?

38:11

That means you have an opportunity to change. That opportunity is going to slip away.

38:18

The fool thinks in his heart that he has tomorrow. Today is the day of your salvation. Life is like a whisper of smoke here today and gone tomorrow.

38:26

You got an opportunity right here and right now to change. The only thing that's going to keep you from doing that is either fear or your pride.

38:35

Some of you in this room, you know you're not a Christian. You know you're not. But you're either too scared or too prideful to submit to a holy

38:44

God. That fear and pride is going to drag you straight to hell. Oh, brother Jeff, that's just too harsh.

38:50

Try hell. That's a lot harsher. And there ain't no time out of recess or parole in hell.

38:56

So you best understand, well, brother Jeff, I just don't believe that. Once again, your arrogance is going to take you to hell.

39:05

For you Christians that are saved, there ain't a one of us in this room that don't need polishing.

39:12

There ain't a one of us in this room that don't need to repent. There ain't a one of us in this room that don't need accountability.

39:20

Guys, humble yourself to the reform in the sight of God, and He will lift you up.

39:25

I'm going to ask the music people to come. Guys, honor takes change. Honor takes sacrifice.

39:32

And if we have not learned anything from history, we are doomed to repeat it in the history of what we just talked about today is this, that God will punish our sin, but grace says there's a chance to rebuild.