Fourth Quarter Fire - Shaken and Awakened

So uh Here we are close to the Mason Dixon line, I think. So uh um little Civil War thing here. Well, I I mean I'm not gonna talk much about it. I just actually a story, a true story I want to tell you about it, but um Robert E. Lee said, we're gonna let's see if we can strike a major blow quickly. And so right after the war began, The Confederate Army started to move toward Washington, D. C. , in what he hoped might be a decisive start and maybe end. Meanwhile, on that Sunday, the ladies and gentlemen of Washington, D. C. went to church, and still dressed up, they came out to a place in northern Virginia overlooking a little creek called Bull Run and decided they would have a picnic there. They brought their little fried chicken in the basket and the tablecloths and they set up their picnic Heard there was going to be a little skirmish here. This is going to be no big deal. Well, the Union Army clashed there with the Confederate Army. thinking that it would be over very quickly, but as the battle turned, the Confederate Army prevailed And the Union soldiers basically ran all the way back to Washington. The picnic was over rather quickly, as everybody packed up and got in their buggies and headed home. The thing I can't get over is that here are people having a picnic Well, there's a battle going on down here with a blood of blue and a blood of gray mingled in the water of Bull Run Creek. And you say, how in the world can you have a picnic when a battle is going on? I kind of think Jesus would like to ask that. of some of his followers. How is it that you are continuing to have a little Christian picnic? Do you not understand? You are not living in spiritual peacetime. This is war. You can't act like it's peacetime. Picnic's over. The battle has begun You know, um the times we are living in have been so chaotic, they've been so upside-downing things. That it should be giving us, I think it gave some people here, at least, a sense of the urgency of the times in which we live. And you don't have to be a believer to see it. The current Secretary General of the UN said in his opening address to the General Assembly a year ago, the world has never been more threatened or more divided. We are on the edge of an abyss. We face the greatest cascade of crises. Boy, that's a strong phrase. A cascade of crises. Isn't that true? I mean, I'm almost afraid to turn on the news every night. We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes. We experienced, didn't we, how quickly our life can be locked down. And suddenly doors are closed, opportunities are closed. Connections are shut down, and it happened almost overnight. I think those of us who've read the end of the story. Would understand that it is time to make the most of our abilities, the most of our resources, the most of our time The most of our influence, because these, well, look, look at the little note up here in the the little inner word on your notes. While it is day You know the rest of what Jesus said. For the night is coming when no man can work. And I think you may sense the same thing that I'm sensing. Believers around the world. are getting a feeling that we might be playing in the fourth quarter of the game. And you don't play the fourth quarter like you played the first quarter. And you certainly, if you've heard the two-minute warning, go to your two-minute offense. That's why this is called fourth quarter fire, because I think that's the times we may be living in. I'm not going to name the date of Jesus coming back. I hope you're not disappointed. I was told by my Bible not to do that. And I have no idea when that is. I do have a sense that our world has never looked more like the world Jesus said he would come back to than it does right now Whatever that means. But with a growing expectancy of the king's return, these words from Jesus in Mark 13, they're in your notes. That are kind of about the fourth quarter, they go a little deeper. Be on guard, be alert You do not know when that time will come. It's like a man going away. He leaves his house, puts his servants in charge. Now Look in the mirror with this one. Each with their assigned task. If you're still breathing, it's because you have work to do. In your master's plan, there is still work for you to do. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. Your notes say the shaking of recent times, I think in part, has been to awaken us to the climactic battles that are raging around us. It's time to be battle-aware And combat ready. And you live differently then. And we're going to look as we have done. We have some biographical models. We had Simon Peter last night. This morning, we again have some kind of models of this. In uh in 1 Chronicles, I want to introduce you to them. Uh let's go to 1 Chronicles 11. This is a war between the Philistines and David. David is not yet king. David has been anointed to be the king. Saul is really not interested in retiring from being king. And obviously David is still fighting for the right to be the king. But they took their stand in the middle of the field, they defended it, and we'll see who they is in a minute, and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought a gate great victory. Who are the people that are doing this? These were the chiefs of David's mighty warriors, his mighty men. We're going to learn from them this morning. Because you would not believe their cause and our cause in our time are like this. They, together with all Israel, gave David's kingship strong support to extend it over the whole land. As the Lord had promised. David's mighty warriors or David's mighty men. Your Hebrew word there is the word for champion. David's champions. The rightful king. Not yet enthroned. And their cause, their passion, their lives were on the line to enthrone the rightful king all over the land. There are models, and we're going to spend some time with them We'll get into the I like the I'm just going to read the first line because I can't pronounce the next guy. This is the list of David's mighty warriors, and it goes on to name them and their exploits. We'll come back and visit some of those in a few minutes. Jeshu Beam, that's it, didn't it? Here's what's the same As in David's day, the enemy forces are fully deployed 1 Chronicles 14, 8 says, when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they went up in full force to search for him. But David heard about it and went out to meet them. Notice that enemy forces, when God's moving. . And when things are about to change and when there is activity, not with the King David, but with the son of David, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. He starts moving in. Represented by the Philistines, you have full mobilization by the enemy to stop the advance of God's kingdom. I think that's the way it is today. I personally, this is my feeling, my observation, I have never seen a time when the devil has played all his aces like he is right now. It's like he's he's kind of played this part and this part, but it's like it's like he feels like he can get away with anything. What's the name you got? I need some of your parents to help me here. The new TV show, the children's TV show. That is is it called Little Demon? Is that what it's called? Do you know? I'm glad you don't know. Brad, you know what that is? Any of our moms? I can't remember. I think it's called something a little demon. Is that what it's called? Yeah, their daughter's name is Antichrist. The little girl in the story is Antichrist in this new animation feature being streamed on a major network. Just an example of how out in the open he feels he can be today. It's like I don't have to hold back. And uh there are literally dozens of television shows that have supernatural themes. You see their ads all the commercials for them all the time. It's just a it's a little hint of a fully deployed enemy. Now, are we going out to meet the enemy or are we just staying in our cocoon? You remember with what it says about David and Goliath? It says he ran to the battle. I hope you are. Good night. With all we've had poured into us, we're like over-blessed. We're like overfed. Who, if we don't run to the battle, who will? We're spiritually rich, the people in this room. I certainly am Run to the battle, not run from the battle. We're going to see here that in the days of David's mighty men, most of the army was retreating. There were a few people who stayed for the battle. They were David's mighty men. Remember what President Zelensky said shortly after the Ukraine war started and we offered to get him out of there because of assassin squads looking for him? He said, I don't need to ride out. I need ammunition. I love that. This is not a time to be be uh hiding from the battle. This is a time for ammunition We're not going to look this up. Just trust me, I won't make up Bible verses, but in Numbers 32, a little fascinating example. It's time to go in and take the land. It's time to go in. They still have to fight for it, even though God's giving it to them. And there are two and a half tribes that have already been given their land. on the east side of the Jordan. So they they're like, we've already got ours. We don't really have to go fight for ours. We've already got ours So they went to Moses and they said, Mr. Moses, we have an idea. How about we stay here? We kind of got to get our, you know, get our land, get our house in order, get settled. Could we kind of stay here with our wives and our children and get settled? And in Numbers 32, 6, you won't see it on the screen, he asks a question that is goes right to the soul. Moses says, shall you sit here? Well your brothers go to war. And there are people all over this world who are brothers and sisters in Christ who worship the same savior, take the same elements for communion, get baptized, get dedicated, love the Lord, and they are, they know there's a war. Shall we sit here while our brothers around the world go to war? When there's a combat going on, staying in your comfort zone is a sin. And you know how I know that? Did you ever hear this verse? Be sure your sin will find you out Do you know where that is? It's in Numbers 32. Because that's David said, or Moses said, if you stay here in your comfort zone when the war is going on. Be sure your sin, what sin? The sin of choosing to stay in your comfort zone when there's a battle going on. Be sure that sin will find you out. Powerful stuff. We talking about these superpowers that that God is trying to give us by shaking our world. And I changed Brad's, and one Brad that, you know, I want to go back and use what he used. I said it was a it was a a uh a new sense of of uh responsiveness. I like his word listening, listening to the Holy Spirit. Last night we talked about a new surrender. And today is a new urgency. There is accelerated activity right now on both sides. of the eternity battle. The forces of light and the forces of darkness are fully mobilizing. Look at Revelation chapter 12. Actually We we should not be surprised. Speaking of this of Satan, they triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb. By the way, you want to know how to how to Crush the devil? Two things. You tell him about what Jesus did on the cross and what Jesus did for you. Those are your two anti-Satan weapons right there. The blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony, your hope story. That's why we're devoting resources of this ministry to help and equip you to know how to do that. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Look at this next part. Rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them, but woe to the earth and sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with fury. Why? Because his nose, his time is short. You can be sure our enemy believes every word of the Bible. He's a fundamentalist. He believes it all. He knows it's true. He knows his destiny. And he's got his eye on the game clock. And if it's the fourth quarter, you can be sure he's playing fourth quarter offense. Are we? So there is a full mobilization, I think, from hell. Look at Matthew 24. Let's look at God's people. Here's what Jesus said about God's people. Because of the increase of wickedness. My people will become active and militant. No? Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most, he's talking about Christians, the love of most will grow cold Well, whoa, there's something very wrong with this. Because there's an explosion of wickedness, you say, well, hasn't there always been wickedness? Of course there has. This means in the Greek rapid multiplication. Right now you can find any sin anywhere, anytime, anywhere in this world. That has not always been true. But because of technology, what sin would you like Find it anytime anywhere in this world. The rapid increase of wickedness. And what will will it cause God's people to go, wake up call, let's go, guys? He said, not most of them. Most of them are going to go to sleep. They'll become numb to things that are actually awful Love will go cold. Bad news fatigue. You know, um I was back in the eighties, um Which apparently Doug and Brad still live in from things they've said today. But those uh we have 80s people in the room. There's such nostalgia. Listen to this. This song was very popular in Christian circles. You've probably never heard it, but I found it very convicting. There's peace and contentment in my father's house today. Lots of food on his table. No one turned away. There's singing and laughter as the hours pass by, but a hush calms the singing. As the father sadly cries, my house is full, but my field is empty. Who will go and work for me today? It seems my children all want to stay around my table, but no one wants to work in my fields. Push away from the table. Look out through the window pane. Just beyond the house of plenty lies a field of golden grain. And it's ripe. And to harvest. But the reapers, where are they? They're in the house. Oh, can't the children hear the father sadly say, my house is full, but my field is empty. But there is accelerated activity on this side of eternity, of the eternity war as well, because Jesus said in Matthew 24, 14, And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come simultaneous with the explosion of sin is going to be an explosion of gospel, which means there are going to be two groups of believers, one big, one small. Big group, the cold, small group, the bold. Choose your side. You are cold or you are bold. Jesus did not offer a third alternative. When time is shortening, when the fourth quarter comes, when it's getting closer and closer to his return. The cold and the bold. And that means that there will be an explosion of sin, but also an explosion of gospel. I want to be in that part, don't you? With everything I could possibly throw in passion, money, time, energy, creativity, everything I can, that's what I want to be involved in. Acts 2. 17. In the last days God says, I will pour out my spirit. I think there's a spirit move coming that there's never been on this planet before. It is yet to come. It is being saved for the fourth quarter. Maybe it's coming. Maybe it's coming now. In the last days I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams. I made it. I met with the young men. What were you thinking? You know what I love about this? It seems to say that young men and women are going to be in the lead of this great spirit move. Isn't that encouraging? I see some of it at that back table right back there Young men and women will lead the charge. But look, look at this. Look who's also involved. And the old men will dream dreams. John Glenn had had a pretty pretty uh notable life, wouldn't you say? First orbital flight, John Glenn. If you know the name of an astronaut, you know probably, you know, Neil Armstrong and John Glenn. Then later elected to the United States Senate. Now, you know, and now he was at a point where he was 78 years old He said, I want to go back to space. What? What? You 78, man. You know what he did? And here goes 78-year-old John Glenn. Up in one more mission, the shuttle discovery. There he goes. I will tell you. Some of us whose bodies aren't doing everything they used to do, who are uh saying, I'm I'm constantly reminded these bodies are not made for for eternity. They're just for our visit here. And you've got some limitations. But listen, you may be older. But I have never heard of an athlete who slows down for the last part of the race You get you got some you find reserves. You go for it as much as you can you go for it the closer the end of the race gets And there's a temptation in America to just say, well, I've done my time, I've served my time, and I'll let younger folks down. God still has one more mission for you like old John Glenn had one more mission. You got at least one more mission, my brother, my sister. Don't quit now. You may have to slow down. You may have to find some new ways to do it. But you have at least one more mission It's a time for all of us to have some vision about changing a world Neither the young nor the old are excused from the great work of the Holy Spirit. So real quickly, let me give you five imperatives for God's warriors. who live in decisive times. That's us. Here's the first one. Fight the right battles. We don't always. Here's what I love about the uh David's mighty men. Let's go to 1 Chronicles 11 again. Realize, look at their cause Strong support to extend David's kingship over the whole land. Chapter 12, verse 18 Then the Spirit came on Amazai, chief of the thirty, and he said, We are yours, David. We are with you, son of Jesse. Success, success to you, and success to those who help you, for your God will help you. So David received them. and made them leaders of his raiding bands. Day after day, men came to help David. Now they've got momentum There's passion, there's momentum until he had a great army, like the army of God. Verse 38. All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the Israelites were also of one mind. to make David king. There is no more important battle than to enthrone the rightful king in human hearts. That's our mission. To enthrone the rightful king who should be king over every heart. These men threw everything into the cause of enthroning the rightful king. I would like to be like that I was um I saw several years ago on September 11th uh I think it was a PBS special. And uh they interviewed it was just, I don't know why it was unusually compelling. I've seen other things like it, but the interviews were just um you were you couldn't turn yourself away. There were people who were in the building who escaped. There were people who lost people. There were rescuers that went into the building and so on. But the one that really stuck with me was a British young woman who worked for a brokerage firm High up in the in Tower Two. And when they heard about the attack They were given a choice of what to do by their management. And there was a lot of buzz in the office about whether to stay or whether to go, and she made the right choice. Many of her fellow workers did not. And she was pretty calm telling this, and she got out in time. But then she began to remember her best friend in the company who didn't leave. And that's when she was no longer composed. She really broke down and she just said So wish I'd asked him to come with me. And then she wept. Be anybody like that for you? So wish. I'd asked him. I so wish I had asked her to come with me. When I'm in heaven with you. That's the battle you ought to be pouring your energies into. Not some of the other battles the Christians are fighting. That means you'll see right here being unintimidated by an overwhelming force. Let's go to 1 Chronicles 11, 11. Let's look at the mighty men again David's mighty warriors, okay? We have a Hakmonite, was chief of the officers. He raised his spear against three hundred men. What? Whom he killed in one encounter. Yeah, mighty men, I guess. Champions, I guess. Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the three. He raised his spear against 300 men whom he killed, and so he became famous, as famous as the three Benaiah, oh, this is really, what is this? This is a pronunciation test. Son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab's two mightiest warriors He also went down into a pit on a snowy day. Oh just Mo I'm a little bored. I think I'll go down and kill a lion while I'm at it He struck down an Egyptian who was five cubits tall, although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver's rod in his hand, Beniah went against him with a club. He snatched his spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. This is, I know it's violent, but good night. I mean, it it is war and this This is amazing, these guys. You see what's going on here? They are up against overwhelming odds. And so are we in many ways Today's attack, cultural intimidation, the cultural intimidation of Christians. C. S. Lewis said this. When the whole world is running toward a cliff He who is running in the opposite direction appears to be the one who has lost his mind. It's like everybody's heading for the cliff. You're like, well, I gotta go where everybody's going. One guy's going the other way, like what's wrong with that? What a he's crazy, that guy. He's you know, he's gonna be the one that's gonna be alive. Let me just tell you, there's a lot of folks running toward the cliff Isn't it becoming lonelier and lonelier to stand for Christ? Within my lifetime, you've gone from being the good guy to the bad guy. And the devil has rebranded so many things that are Christian that it's really easy to be against them Don't be surprised. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Mark this. There will be terrible times That word terrible has a lot of translations. Stressful, dangerous. There will be terrible times in the last days. And then it goes on to give all of you this is like reading a newspaper Lovers of themselves. Lovers of money. Boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents. Let me just tell you this about it. When you put an A in front of a Greek word, it means without. And so if you read this into Greek, you see several of those Greek A words, eight words in this description of how people are going to be in the last days. It's not dangerous because of nuclear weapons. It's not dangerous uh because of crime. It's dangerous because of what people are like. And eight of those words are A words, are without words. People will be without love, without gratitude, without a willingness to make a truce, without self-control, without a love for the good, which is What you're trying to love, that's just an example, a sampling. Without, without, without all the things that hold the world together, love and a love for the good and peacefulness and self-control without without without without without that's a dangerous world so don't be surprised But here's the thing about the being in this over having an overwhelming force. It makes these warriors who will stand up against it. disproportionately valuable because they are making up for the people who haven't stayed for the fight. But remember what the fight is. The fight is to enthrone the rightful king in human hearts. It's rescue. The other thing is to fight the right battles, you've got to be undistracted by lesser battles. It's not that they're not. Legit battles. It's not that they're not important. It's just there's only one battle that determines the destiny of a human soul for all eternity. The mission of Jesus in a world that had a lot of messed up problems in a violent world that he came to. The Son of Man came to look for and rescue the lost. Look for, rescue, seek and save the lost. Remember. We fight to get Jesus into human hearts as their king. You want what to fight for? Fight for hearts. That's the battle to be in. And may I suggest to you one battle particularly that is the right battle today? I got to the cove early last time I spoke there a few months ago. I said if we if we can get there a little early, we can hear Jim Cimbala from Brooklyn Tabernacle, because he was wrapping up a pastor's conference there, and Nick was with me And I don't think either of us will forget how he closed the meeting. He said, I know that some of you, as pastors and wives, he said, I know that some of you have concern over a son or daughter who's um away from the Lord and he said if if that's you and and you would like prayer for them uh why don't you just come on up Nick and I were sitting up top or in the back row where we could see everybody. It was a tsunami of pastors and their wives. Uh a lot more people down there than there were still left in the seats. I wasn't surprised. Part of the uh evidence of the full deployment of the enemy is this all-out attack on the Christian family and the sons and daughters of people of faith. Everywhere I go, people say, please pray for my son. Please pray for my daughter, my grandson, my granddaughter. Like I've never seen before. It's like an epidemic. Make sure that you're fighting that battle, but fighting it the right way. Not by nagging them. But by going to the one who is the great heart changer, I'm going to give you five ways to pray for a prodigal in your life. I'm sure there are 25. But these are some ways that I pray for people. Oh, there's a bonus here. I found there's six. Lord, frustrate their sin. Frustrate their sin. In the book of Hosea, Hosea is Told to ask that God would put a hedge of thorns around them so they'd reach the point where their, quote, other lovers would not satisfy them. Pray that their sin will fail them So they will return to looking for a real answer. Secondly, Lord, get their attention. You know how to get their attention And you know how to bring somebody into their life that they might listen to. They might not listen to me, but you know somebody like them that knows you. They would let do whatever you need to do to get their attention. Thirdly, block their exits. Lord, block their exits so that they They reach a point in their life where there's nowhere to look but Jesus. There's one door left unlocked, and Jesus is standing in that door Block all the other though they're gonna try this and try that and try to try to you know put stuff this in their heart block their exits Then remind them of Jesus. This is so important. Mostly the young men and women who are away from the Lord, they will tell you it is because of something Christians did The church did. Religion did. Christianity did. None of those, Jesus never said follow my followers. He never said follow my religion. He never said follow my leaders. He said, follow me. It's all about Jesus. Pray that somehow they will come, they will begin to realize again that They are not turning their back on Christianity or their parents' faith or the hypocrisy they have seen. There's only Jesus to turn your back on. It's all Jesus. This whole thing's Jesus. Not his system, him. Remind them of Jesus. There was probably a day they sang and meant, Jesus loves me, this I know For the Bible tells me so. Lord, bring them back to where they know it's all about you. And then Lord, here's kind of a risky prayer. Do whatever it takes. That's a little scary prayer. Karen taught me to add some words to that prayer. She said, I feel more comfortable praying that way. Lord, do whatever it takes within your perfect will. I got no fear of his will. Do whatever it takes. And what it takes may be some pain for you and for them. But there's a soul involved here. It's worse than pain for them to get home to Jesus. And then Lord, bring them home. That's what it says on the front of your book, doesn't it? Bring them home. A couple ways to pray for yourself. Lord, show me whatever might be broken between me and them. That might be keeping them from coming back to Jesus. Show me whatever is broken between me and them. Help me see their needs that are behind their deeds. Help me see what you see. Now this is not on the screen. Help them help me see what you see when you see them. Help me love them like you love them. And keep me trusting you. Because the temptation is going to be for you to try to get in and make it happen. And if you push on them, you will push them away. I hope that helps. That's a r that's a right battle to fight for them. By the way, there's an interesting story in Luke 7. Jesus is coming into a community. There's a funeral procession coming out. I assume headed for the cemetery. And a lady who's already lost her husband, she's a widow, has now lost her only child, her son. It's the funeral of her son. Jesus comes up and touches that young man and brings him back to life. And I love these words. It says, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Jesus is still doing miracles like that. Giving a son or daughter who seems so lost right now back to their mother or dad. Whole, alive, and restored. Hang on to your hope. It is well founded. Okay, breathe for a second. Fight the right battles. This will be quick. Fight the right enemy. Fight the right enemy. Now don't get mad at me for bringing up this example. I might as well risk it all. I got a call from a native pastor. He pastors actually an all non-native church. Been there for 17 years. Church has uh reached its peak of effectiveness and impact on the community and growth among the people, and then came COVID. I was sitting on my front porch and and he called me one day. Brokenhearted. I hadn't heard from him for quite a while. We talk every once in a while. He said, Ron, are everything we prayed for was happening in our church? He said, the nun. Masks. Because of COVID. And I have no idea. We didn't even talk about who was on what side of the issue, so I don't know. He just said half our church is gone In many cases, our best people for masks. Will it matter in heaven? That church reaching into its community, that'll matter in heaven. We can get drawn very quickly. into battles that are nowhere near as significant eternally as fighting to get Jesus as the king in people's hearts. Did you ever hear that little poem? To live above with saints we love. Oh, that will be glory. To live below with saints we know. Now that's a different story. So listen, the right enemies, not each other No army has ever prevailed when they form their firing squads in a circle. Ready, aim, fire. At who? My brother, my sister? The culture is not the right enemy. Oh, there are battles to fight, but it's not the ultimate battles. It's not a battle for votes, it's not a battle for members, it's not a battle for likes, it's not a battle For shares It's a battle for hearts. Win the battle for win a heart, not an argument. We change so much that we do online just to realize that's what we need to do. Here's the battle Veteran missionary statesman wrote, the evangelization of the world is a desperate struggle with the Prince of Darkness. That's who the enemy is. And with everything his rage can stir up in the shape of obstacles, vexations, oppositions. Hatred, whether by circumstances or by the hand of man, it is a serious task. Oh, it should mean a life of consecration. Make sure we're fighting the right enemy, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Right? We get we've we wrestle against the rulers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. The battle is not against each other. In uh the latest, the the most recent, probably never the last, Star Wars movie I'm sure they'll find somebody else to do make it about. But the grant the fight is coming now against the massive forces of the emperor. And Finn is talking with Landel Kalrizian, who they resurrected from the first Star Wars movie, and he's back here for this one. And the old veteran and the and the new warrior are talking and Finn makes this statement. He says, they've taken enough of us. Now we will take the war to them. I like that. The forces of darkness have taken enough of us. Let's take the war to them And that war is over the eternal destination of a human soul. That's the war. That's the battle that's worth all the energies we've got. Thirdly, fight with target fixation. Fight with target fixation. I was um I was watching a newscast several years ago, I think it was Denver I was in, and um as I remember there was a um A violent criminal who was trying to elude the police and he was there was a car chase and he was the the traffic copter guy decided to forget the traffic report and he was monitoring, he was keeping an eye on this guy so they could catch him And uh at one point um the reporter says, uh uh I I I think he's it looks like he's pulling into a uh a lot over here. At which point, this former combat pilot Starts to a steep dive down to take this chopper right down there where this armed felon is. And the reporters go, what are you doing? And he couldn't even get his attention. And he landed that thing. And it turned out at that point, even though there was gunfire and everything, the felon died. And everybody was safe on the chopper and the cops came and all of that. But the point was this. They talked to the pilot afterwards and said, what what possessed you? You weren't you weren't even armed. What were you doing? He said, listen, when we're in combat, it happens. They call it target fixation. And you get your target in mind and you don't really care what happens to you You just go in whatever it takes. All that matters is getting to that target. He said target fixation took over. Well, I like that. We should be guilty of target fixation, knowing that our target is to laser our influence. our priorities on the lost. Isn't that where our Savior's efforts are focused And we laser on the lost. We live with intentionality to not leave them lost. To realize that every person here has been divinely placed where you are. Because God thought you should be the lifeguard on your stretch of beach. You say, well, there's people who know more verses and I'm quiet and I'm God put you there You're his chosen ambassador to that location. And that's the war to fight. with target fixation. I will say that this ministry is guilty of target fixation. You just talk to anybody in our office And it's all about rescue. By the way, avoid anything that might be a hindrance to someone on their way to Jesus. Here's how Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 9. We put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. He said, I am not going to let anything get between a person I know who's lost on their way to Jesus. Whether it's in my life or whether it's it's an issue that is not going to affect their eternal soul, don't put any, don't encumber the gospel of Jesus. was something that is not part of the gospel of Jesus. That's part of target fixation. This is the cause for which our master died. And listen to, I've shared this with you one other time. Matthew chapter 9. You've seen these verses. But man, I saw them in the Greek and I was like, now prepare yourself for almost disgusting translation I'm going to give you, but it's real. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them. And the Greek word means he felt it way down in his guts. That's what it means. It's a very colorful word to say the least. He had felt deeply when he saw them. He didn't see Republicans or Democrats or left or right or Baptists or Pentecostals or Catholics or Jews or Greeks. He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. The Greek words harassed and helpless, fasten your seatbelt. are translated harassed I wrote it down skinned alive But it's a violent word. He said, I I see them like they're skinned alive. Oh, and then helpless? means thrown away. He had compassion on them because they were torn apart and discarded. The vividness of that description, he says, like sheep without a shepherd. Should let our Navajo friends talk right now. They know a whole lot more about sheep than I do. But I did talk to an 82-year-old Navajo shepherdess when we were just getting started with our Nagle's wings. in Window Rock and and I asked her, I said, Elizabeth, can you tell me what happens to a sheep? Because she'd been taking care of them since she was a little girl. So what happens to a sheep when they get away from the shepherd? And she just gave a one-word answer. She squinted kind of like she was thinking, and she said. Torn apart. thrown away. Lost. That's what Jesus saw. What do you see with your lost neighbor, your lost family member, your lost coworker, your lost fellow student. What do you see? Would you dare to pray, go ahead, God, and break my heart? And help me see what you see I'll tell you what, that'll fixate your target. You know the next thing Jesus said? The harvest is running and I can't get my people to go. My house is full. But my fields are empty. Just a couple other things. Refuse to retreat. Look at 2 Samuel's account of the mighty men. This is important. Eliezer is my new hero, by the way. Not a you know one of the top ten Bible stories, but Next to David was Eliezer as one of the three mighty warriors. He was with David when they taunted the Philistines. Remember they're outnumbered? This seems like a very bad idea. No, no, no, no. I mean They taunted the Philistines gathered for the battle. Then the Israelites retreated. So are many of our fellow soldiers. Right? But let's go on. But Eliezer stood his ground And he struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. What a picture. I can't you should put your sword down now. I can't. I can't. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eliezer, but only to strip the dead. Oh great. Welcome back, guys. It's over now. Where were you? refusing to retreat. 70%, according to George Barna, of born-again Christians. 70% believe that people can get to heaven other ways by other religions and other than Jesus. 70% of our brothers and sisters. That's a pretty significant retreat. No matter how many people give ground, no matter how many compromise. You stand with the sword. Meld it to your hand. You can't get this out of my hand. And meld it to your heart. The battle is won by modern day eleazors. Doesn't mean you have to be mean about it. Doesn't mean you have to be judgmental about it. Jesus, it says, came with grace and truth Truth wrapped in grace, but truth uncompromised, unedited. I want to have my hand frozen to my sword. How about you? 2 Timothy, Paul said to his protege, after he's talking about all the false teaching and everything, but as for you, You continue in what you've learned and become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it. And how from infancy you've known the Holy Scriptures, they're able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God breathed. And it's useful for teaching and rebuking and correcting and training in righteousness. And so the man of God, I know, goes on to say, will be thoroughly furnished for good works. But you see what he's saying? Everybody else is going to be moving away. You don't move. You plant your feet I alluded to this earlier. This is a story of disproportionate heroism. Disproportionate heroism. A few people who will not move, who will fight for the cause no matter what. Somebody said, you've made snowman, right? Sure. Well, um you get the little we used to really do it up, get the carrot nose and the buttons and everything. But as soon as the sun started warming up That thing was really a masterpiece, I thought. Started turning to mush. It's too many spiritual snowmen these days. As it gets hotter They get mushier. Like the spiritual snowmen. The battle will be won by model modern day aliasers. Last thing. Live for life-saving opportunities. Ephesians 5. 16. Making the most of every opportunity. Because the days are evil. In other words, the darker it gets doesn't mean that you do less. But you make the most of every opportunity. That's why we teach people to pray the three open prayer. Lord, open the door. Open the door. Raise up, give me natural opportunities to bring up you. Open the door. Then Lord, open their heart. And then Lord open my mouth. Pray that three open prayer. And don't pray if it be your will, God. It is his will. I guarantee you. To open the door, to open their heart, to open your mouth. Be intentional about rescuing people like your Savior was. Did you ever notice in Acts 1. 8 One version of the Great Commission. You should be my witnesses. Remember in Jerusalem, Judea, the uttermost parts of the earth. Did you notice what it doesn't say? It doesn't say go witness It says be not go do be my witness. Witness is not an activity. It's an identity. It's who I am. So I don't go off duty. I don't say, oh, I'm going to go witness now. You am a witness. All day, every day. Always representing Jesus. When you get that in your mind that we are to be a witness, not do witnessing, then you live a life that says, Lord, I'm looking for opportunities. I'm going to try. I'm going to ask you to even help me create opportunities to bring up Jesus. I want to get that rightful king on the throne of as many lives as I can. Was at a conference. I think I might have met Carissa back at that conference, Carissa. Did we meet at the conference? I think we did. And one year when I got there, they they said, Rodner, you should know something. Some of these kids don't know if they're gonna have a house to go home to. And the reason was there was a place called Slave Lake up in northern Alberta And uh and they were coming from a reserve up there, and there was a massive fire and was approaching many of the homes that everybody had been told to evacuate. That word has new meaning to me. And they were, and so they didn't even know if they'd have a house going back. I saw a story when I got back to the airport. I was about to fly out of Canada and there was a story of a lady from Slave Lake. And it said that she got the evacuation order and she started to look around. She had a truck and she's looking around for what she wants to save. She's just got a few minutes And then she didn't save any of it. All of a sudden it dawned on her, she said, no. I'm going to fill it with people. And she got as many people. She had some single moms, she had children, she had a lot. She just had that truck jammed with people. He left all her stuff to the fire. And she was speaking in a church there where survivors were gathered and evacuees and and this was quoting her, this article quoted her as saying, I just remembered that it's people that matter. So what do you want to carry out? Stuff? Or people It's people that matter. And that matter for all eternity. So like the mighty men I suggest you live for Coronation Day. And it's coming. It's coming. When the rightful king shall reign Forever and ever. Second Timothy 4. 8, Paul says, There is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but but all those who have longed for his appearing. I have stood on Temple Mount in Jerusalem And looked over at the Mount of Olives, which I had just come from, coming down the mountain, down through Gethsemane, and in through the eastern gate to the city. And I stood there on the Temple Mount, looking at the Mount of Olives and thinking of this scripture. On that day, his feet, he's landing there will stand on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will be split in two. From east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north, and I'm picturing this, half moving north, half moving south. Then the Lord my God will come, and with him all the holy ones. On that day, living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea, half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter. The Lord, say it with me, read it with me. The Lord. No, no, no, no. No. Victoriously. You ready? Here we go Boldly. The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day, there will be one Lord and his name the only name. Whoop! Live for that day, but live to get other people ready for it. To enthrone in their hearts the only one who should ever be king. I was honored to be invited to Billy Graham's funeral and surprised. All three, all five of their children stayed behind to talk to people as long as they wanted to talk, even though they were going to bury their dad that day. And Ann Graham Lotz, they kept the TV cameras going. And Ann Graham Lotz was approached by a man who started to tell her all the things he wanted to do. to reach people when he got home. And here's what Ann said. She interrupted him. She said, do it. But hurry up. Jesus is coming. We'll leave you with that challenge. Do it. But hurry up. Jesus is coming. That's why we've been shaken. And awakened. Let's pray So Lord, help us see what you see. Lostness is awful. Lostness is unacceptable for us to accept. Lord, you know that our lives are busy. We are confused by a cacophony of voices and choices. But what matters to you? Is the never-dying souls of people your son bled to save His cause was rescue. May that be our magnificent obsession. For all the days we have left. For it is people that matter That's what we want to take out with us. There's a lot of influence in this room. Just individuals that like us that would listen to us. We dedicate that influence, we dedicate those connections, we dedicate those relationships, those activities, those locations we are in. We dedicate that to you For you have shaken us to awaken us to a new thing. An urgent heart. for the greatest cause on the planet. Thanks for reminding us today. In Jesus' name. Amen.