0:00 While your eyes are closed, I want to read you something that I was reading this morning. I want you to think about these words with your eyes closed as you listen. I was reading something that Christine had written about how 0:18 she's felt God is here. These words came to my mind. The Lord is near the broken-hearted. I I am with you, my brothers and 0:42 sisters. I sense the presence of the Lord. But it's not because we're doing things right. It's not necessarily because the teaching is right or what we're talking about or who we are. There's one principle on which God operates that he sends his help to the 0:57 ones who are broken-hearted and contrite, who feel like they're helpless. And I've talked to a few of you in the last few days, and I sense that many of you have that helpless feeling. And that's a good place to be. Very good place to be. 1:13 Cuz then God can help you. If you think something of yourself, if you think you've got it figured out and that it's you you know how to live now and you've got it all right, very dangerous. Cuz God can't send you his grace, and 1:26 you'll continue to fail as I have when I was like that. And so here, if there's one thing you remember, if you can't remember anything else from what you have heard this week, remember this. Remain broken and contrite in heart. 1:43 Remain broken-hearted. Brokenness. Brokenness. It's what I long for, oh Lord. It's what you need because only then you can work in our lives. I long for it, Lord. Show me what it really means to be broken. Thank you, Lord, when you allow us to be 2:05 broken, when you bring circumstances in our life to break us, it's because you want to help us. You're not a mean God. You're not a mean father. You're a loving heavenly father. And even when you take us through circumstances, when you take us through 2:19 failure, and it breaks us and crushes us, you're doing it because you want to do something beautiful through us. That hard rock that you allow the hammer to come down and crush, you're breaking into little bits of sand so that you could form it together 2:34 into a living being, the body of Christ. I thank you, Lord, that the body of Christ is not built from stones and hard pieces of clay and lumps of clay that refuse to be broken, but from pieces of dust that you have crushed 2:48 day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, you have crushed us and you're crushing us and crushing us and crushing us till we become like dust, that if we pick up, we could just blow away with a breath. Help us, Lord, to continue to 3:03 humble ourselves under your mighty hand till we become like dust, so that you can form the body of Christ through us. Please do that, oh Lord. It's so easy for us as young people to be tempted with pride, to be puffed up 3:18 when things go well, to judge others, to look down on others. Lord, save us from that cuz you can never help us when we're like that. Thank you. You will help us in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, we're I'm going to This is the my 3:35 last session with you, and I'm going to finish with the fourth attribute of a fourth attribute that I picked out of people whom young people whom God uses to build the church. Young people who build the church. And we looked at those who seek God's 3:50 face above everything else. That's the only thing they care about, God's face. And then those who fear him, they reverence his word out of that fear for him. And then um the third one was those who stand for God amid compromise around 4:05 amid the compromise around us in Christendom and in the world. He's looking for young people who stand for him, stand for God. And then this last one now, those who submit to God. I won't I won't say this is comprehensive, that this covers it all. 4:19 These are just four attributes that I picked out and we looked at examples in the Bible of people who lived this life and God was able to use. And that doesn't matter, you know, it didn't matter whether those people were 4:29 in the Old Testament or not. All that was different between the Old Testament and the New Testament was God's purpose. In the Old Testament, God's purpose was earthly with the nation of Israel. In the New Testament, his purpose is 4:41 spiritual and the earthly was a picture of the spiritual. That's why they could never accomplish that to the fullest extent, but now we can. And we ought to live with that purpose in mind that God can use us in our day to accomplish his purpose, which today 4:56 is building the church. So, um I want to uh use the example of Jesus especially today in talking to you about what it means to submit to God. It's perhaps the most important attribute of these four um and Phil has spent I think all of his 5:12 sessions talking about submission because it's so important and I'm glad he's doing that. Uh turn with me to Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews is one of those wonderful books 5:30 that contrast the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and especially in bringing it out in the life of Jesus. Sometime, if you have the time, read it. Read it in an in a translation that's easy for you to understand perhaps and then go 5:42 back and read it in your study Bible. But to understand what the writer of Hebrews was trying to convey to us because the old covenant, I want to I want to I want you to to listen to this especially, the old covenant sadly, as 5:54 much as God intended for it to end when when the veil was rent, when Jesus died on the cross. Remember Jesus died on the cross and there there was a veil in the temple that rent. That means God was saying, "Old covenant is over." 6:05 Unfortunately, most Christians who are living after the veil was rent are still living in the old covenant. God intended for that covenant to end, but they're still trying to live by that old covenant rules and and the and so 6:17 Hebrews is a very vital book to understand how for us who are it's so easy for us to to just fall back into the old covenant, how we can come out of that and see Jesus Christ as our way into the new covenant, way into the holy 6:30 of holies so that we can fellowship with the Father. That's what this book is about. And in that context of saying, "Do you want to come out of the old covenant where you're done following a bunch of rules, living a being a 6:39 Christian because I guess that's the rules, my parents set certain rules so I have to obey." If you're done with that kind of a life and you want to come into a love relationship, see my wife and I she helps she she made me a cup of 6:52 coffee this morning. She didn't make that cup of coffee for me because I have a rule that says, "If you marry Santos, you better make coffee at 8:00 in the morning." I have we have no such rules. In fact, we have no rules in our 7:02 marriage. And that's why our marriage is is enjoyable and and and loving and full of love. And I hope that God blesses you all with that kind of marriage someday. But you know, that's the kind of marriage God wants with us as well. 7:12 Jesus Christ wants a marriage relationship with you where you love him. And you know what? You wake up in the morning and think, "Oh man, I guess Jesus wants me to read my Bible because that's an unwritten rule in the in the 7:23 Christian life. You should read your Bible every day for at least 15 minutes, one chapter." If it's like that, then I urge you to come out of the old covenant into the new covenant. You're still living before Christ. You're living in 7:33 in in 2011 BC. You should be in 2011 AD. So I urge you to come into AD, which means say, "Lord, it seems like a rule for me, but I want to make it love. I want to open this book. I want to make coffee for you, Lord, you know, just to use that analogy 7:48 this morning because I'm in love with you. I want to do some sort of service to you this morning that's pleasing, that lift up, you know, for us maybe it's coffee. For you know what for God what it is? He says when you when you lift up 7:59 a sacrifice of praise, it's like an aroma in my nostrils. When when I smell coffee brewing, oh, I love it. I don't even need to drink it anymore sometimes. It smells so good. You know that when you lift up a voice of praise to God in the morning is the 8:11 first thing you do, that's what it smells like to him. Oh, yeah, I like that smell first thing in the morning. That's the kind of love relationship God wants with you. Where you're you want to praise him because you know it makes him happy. 8:23 That's a love relationship. In that context of of of this love relationship, he says in Hebrews chapter 5, this is the sign of royalty. You know, royalty. Royalty is a word that means the kings and the queens. We don't have a king or a queen here in in 8:38 in the US, but in Norway they do, in England they do, and you know, I was kind of interested by all this fascination when the prince Prince William recently got married a few months ago and there was a lot of hype around his marriage and everybody 8:50 was watching the I did too, part of it. The wedding is just fascinating. You know, we're taken up with royalty. Something special about him. I don't get caught up with that. There's there's nothing that special about them. They're 9:02 human beings just like everybody else. But we're fascinated by royalty because there's something about it. And you know, in these verses God shows us the writer of Hebrews shows us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what 9:13 does it mean to be royalty in God's kingdom? Do you want to meet a king or a queen in God's kingdom? He says here, this is how Jesus Christ became what what's called in the new covenant the priest king. See, in the old covenant 9:24 they could not have priest and kings. In fact, some kings got in trouble. Saul got in trouble for that very reason. Another king named Uzziah got in trouble because of that because they tried to be priest and king at the same time. And 9:35 the reason God forbid that, this is just in passing I'm saying that, the reason God said you can't be priest and king at the same time, because the first person who will ever come as a priest and a king is Jesus. So, it's like he was the fulfillment of 9:48 it all. The priest and the king in one was Jesus. And this priest, look at this, Hebrews chapter 5 verse 5. This priest, Jesus Christ, when he came to the earth, he's the Father said, "Hey, I'm sending you down on earth to be the 10:00 priest king." And he knew that. So, what did he do? Did he come around and act with a you know, come down with a nice princely robe and a crown on his head and a maybe a priestly kingly robe, whatever that combination of things was, 10:12 and he walked around this earth and said, "Guess what? The Father sent me as a priest king." And the reason I'm mentioning this now is because there are many people trying to build a church with that mentality. Paul calls it lording it over others. 10:24 When Jesus Christ came as a priest king to build his church, he didn't come to lord it over us and say, "I'm the priest king, you better treat me like that." No. He came as a little baby. So, look at what it says in Hebrews 5:5. So, also 10:36 Jesus, when he came to the earth, he didn't glorify himself. He knew he was the priest king. He knew that he was royalty, the son of the Father, the son of God. But he identified himself as the son of man. He did not glorify himself. 10:50 So, now that you know that you're the son of God, you've been born again, and you have the Holy Spirit within you, how are you going to act to your worldly friends? How are you going to act to the others in your church who are not born 10:59 again yet? Or the others in your church who are born again? Are you going to act like, "Well, I'm you better treat me good because I'm born again now and I'm a I'm a son of God and I've got the Holy Spirit within me." That's the wrong 11:09 attitude. It's not the spirit of Christ. So, he says, "So, Christ did not glorify himself so as to become a high priest." He didn't try to make himself a high priest. But he who said to him, "Thou art my son, today I have begotten thee." Verse 11:22 6. Just as he also says in another passage, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." So, when Jesus knew that he was a king and a priest and the son of God. What did he do? He goes on to say in verse 7, 11:35 "When he was in the flesh, as this king priest royalty, what did he do? He offered up prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one who was able to save him." We already looked at this, the fear of God. And 11:48 then verse 8, "Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things with which he suffered." So, Jesus Christ, even though he was royalty, because he was royalty, he proved, in fact, he proved that he This is the royalty in the kingdom of heaven. 12:05 I want to contrast that with the royalty in the king of in the in the kingdom of earth. In the kingdom of earth, if the if the Queen of England walked in here, uh or at least in England, if you were living in England, you'd have to kind of 12:16 bow and curtsy. There's rules uh by which you have to conduct yourself in the presence of the Queen. You got to always let her go first, you kind of bow as she passes, and and and the ladies have to curtsy and all that. That's how 12:27 they treat royalty on earth. Do you know how royalty in heaven is treated? When when Jesus Christ in heaven uh welcomes you, when you come into his presence, you know what he's going to do? He's going to come and serve you. 12:40 He's going to come and he proved that at at the um when they broke bread at the time of the the Lord's Supper, what we call the Lord's Supper. You know what he said? Here I am, the king, the priest, and he didn't have the disciples all bow 12:52 to him, "Okay, Jesus, the king." No, he said, "You know, I'm going to bow to you. I'm going to get down on my knees and wash your feet." And he serves us that way. The fact that Jesus Christ is the head of the church is proved in the fact that he serves the 13:04 church. And that's the kind of church that we want to build. That is the true church of Jesus Christ, where everybody who was a part of this head, who's connected to the to the head, has the same mentality as the head. I want to serve. I want to 13:16 serve my brother and sister. I don't want to be treated special. I don't want people to look at me and think I'm so special. I want to serve others. I want to think of others. Is there a need that I can meet? He learned obedience. And in 13:28 order to learn obedience, you know this the first the first place you learn obedience, my brother and sister, when you were was when you were a little boy or a little girl. You had to obey your parents because the Bible said, 13:38 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord because it's right." And you know that what the when the Bible says that, it's not just well because you'll be, you know, protected from earthly damage. There's a spiritual principle to obedience. The reason I 13:51 teach my son and daughter to obey me is because there's a spiritual principle of obedience that if they learn when they're young, when they're little boys and little girls, when they learn that obedience and bring that into their 14:02 born-again experience, and they say and they learn the importance of obedience. Obedience is a spiritual principle. Yes, it'll help you know Jesus the promise was that it will you will live a long life on the earth, but that's just like 14:14 extra. That's the icing on the cake. When you obey children, when you obey your parents, and I'm speaking to you especially who are still living at home now, when you obey your parents because you live at home with them, yes, you'll 14:24 get the promise of a long life according to the Old Testament, but that's the icing on the cake. The cake itself, my dear brother sister, is that you will become like Christ and you will build this church. Have you seen now, you 14:34 know, yesterday I showed you how in your workplace the diligence that you do there is critical to whether you can build the body of Christ or not. In the same way your obedience at home to your parents is important because it's the 14:45 principle of obedience. And where God sees, here's a young boy, a young girl who is serious about building the body of Christ, and he obeys mommy. And she obeys daddy. And they're obedient in the home, and they obey and 14:57 they and they and they live in submission to their parents, then he says, "Hey, you're you're like Jesus." Jesus himself had to learn obedience. And I'll tell you this, it's the opposite of the world. The world says a king shouldn't 15:09 have to obey anybody else. A queen shouldn't have to obey anybody else. In the kingdom of heaven it says, "The king obeys. The queen obeys." You know that the proof that you're a king or a queen in God's kingdom is is you obey your 15:20 parents, and you obey the authority over you, and especially for you children, or for you young people who are still living at home, you prove that you're a king or a queen in God's kingdom by your obedience to your parents whom whom 15:30 you're where you're living at home with. And it says there that he, verse nine, he became perfect in that obedience. You know, he kept obeying, kept obeying, kept obeying, kept obeying, kept obeying. Wherever God gave him the an 15:42 opportunity to obey, he obeyed and obeyed and obeyed, and he became perfect in obedience. That perfection that Christ attained through this earth, he was always perfect, never sinned, but it says he having been made perfect, the 15:55 Father made him perfect in this obedience. When you think about Christ's perfection, what do you think? Do you think of perfect glory, perfect love, perfect joy, and perfect peace? That's all true. But have you seen perfect 16:07 obedience as the sign that Jesus Christ was made perfect on this earth, and as an example for you and I, as a man living on this earth, fully God, but as a man living on this earth, tempted in all points as we are, come in the flesh, 16:20 he ate he was made perfect by his obedience. His obedience became perfect. So do you know that it you don't have to stop obeying after you leave home now? After you leave home, God's going to give you other opportunities to obey 16:32 somewhere. And when you're at home, it's to your daddy and mommy. When you leave the home, it's going to be to other circumstances. At any point, if you stop this path of obedience, then you're not becoming more like Jesus. You have not pressing on towards 16:47 your destination like we heard in that first message that only preached. That our destination is to become like Jesus. He got to where he is in perfection by obeying all the way till he died. In fact, in Philippians 2, he says you he 16:59 he obeyed to death unto the point of death, even death on the cross. That was the ultimate sign of obedience that he even gave up his life in obedience to his father. And so, don't think obedience is just for the children who 17:12 are living at home, or I'm 16 now that Ephesians 6:1 doesn't really apply to me. Then we've missed it. But if we get a hold of this that Christ at the age of 33 was still walking this way of obedience so that he could make a 17:24 perfect way to walk. And it doesn't matter how old you are, God is going to give you opportunities to prove that you're a king or a queen in his kingdom by your obedience. You know, it says in 1 John chapter 3 that when we see Jesus, we too will 17:39 become perfect. We too will be made like him. Our perfection, the perfection, this journey that we're on will be complete when we see him. And that, you know, I I'll tell you honestly, I whenever I think of that, I think, "Oh, wow. That means that when I 17:50 see Jesus, I'm going to be shining in glory like him and I'm going to maybe be able to fly through the air like he was in his res- he is in his resurrected body." And all these fanciful things which are true that we like to think 18:01 about. But do you know that when I'm made like him, when I see him, it also means that I will have completed that path of perfection and I will have completed my course of obedience that God gave me in following Jesus. And if 18:13 I'm not And so he says, he if 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not yet appeared what we shall be." Think about it in the context of obedience. It hasn't yet appeared how obedient I'll be at the end of my life. 18:27 I don't know yet how amazingly obedient I'm going to be at the age of 80. Have you thought about that? That at the age of 80, you're going to be even more obedient than when you were 4 years old. Is that the journey you're on, my dear 18:38 brother sister? Are you more obedient today than when you were living at home with your parent If you've left home now, if you're when you were 6 years old or 8 years old when you obeyed your parents, now at the age of 18 or 28 or 18:50 whatever you are, are you more obedient? It may not be to your parents, but are you more obedient to God and to his word and to the opportunities to obey he gives you in your life now, then you're becoming like Jesus. We know that even 19:02 though we don't know what how obedient we'll be at the end. We know that when we when he appears, we shall be like him. And God will be able to say about us, "We obeyed unto the point of death, even death on the cross, even if we don't go 19:13 through that physical death. We shall be like him in obedience because we shall see him just as he is, perfect in obedience. And everyone who has this hope, I hope you'll make it your hope to be obedient like Jesus until the end. Everyone who has this 19:27 hope fixed on him purifies himself. I have never seen these verses in the context of obedience until I compared it with Hebrews chapter 5 and so that's one what one aspect of perfection that that's lacking in my life, Lord. I don't 19:41 seem to want to chase after perfection in obedience as much as I chase after perfection in love. That's a good thing to chase after perfection in love. Perfection in joy. Who doesn't want to be happy all the time? Well, even the 19:52 worldly people want to do that. That's why they get high and they drink. They want to be happy all the time. But a perfection in obedience, that is the true spirit of Christ. And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself as he is pure. And 20:05 for us, brothers and sisters who are walking this way of purifying ourselves of any disobedience. That means I'm getting rid of all disobedience in my life. Purifying. Purifying means I'm sending it through the fire. Sending it 20:15 through the fire. Is there more disobedience in some area in my life? Am I disobeying somebody that I should be obeying, Lord? Show me. I purify, purify. One day Christ appears and we're perfect in obedience. That that path of 20:26 obedience has been complete. So those the the church, this is the church. This is the message for us who are part of the church. The church consists of those who are being made perfect in obedience. The church is those who are being made perfect in 20:43 obedience. Now, you know, it says in Hebrews chapter 12, let me show you this verse. Well, before you go there, let me let me um let me go back to Hebrews chapter 5. You know, after he talks about that, I didn't read the next part of the verses, 21:01 but he says in verse 12, Hebrews back in Hebrews chapter 5 verse 12, he says, "Though by this time you ought to be teachers." In other words, he's saying if you haven't got this obedience thing, you you've been a you've been a 21:12 Christian for 10 years. I don't know how long these Hebrews the Hebrews were Christians or born again. He says, "You've been you've been born again for long enough now that you ought to be teaching others how how to live this 21:23 life of obedience. Instead, you're still having to learn obedience. You're still struggling with basic obedience. Just basic obedience. You've been You're You're 20 years old and you're still sitting in kindergarten." That's what 21:34 he's saying here. Imagine a 20-year-old me, you know, 20 25 years old sitting in kindergarten on those small little tables, you know, trying to fit in the little table, trying to write. And here's all these little four five-year-olds around next to me. And 21:44 I'm here I am, 20 years old, left back for 15 years because I I don't get it. Unfortunately, there are the the the kindergarten of God's kingdom is filled with 25, 30, 35-year-old men and women who are struggling with basic things 21:59 like obedience. That's what he's saying here. And I'm not I'm not judging any of you. Please understand. I speak to myself. I I sat in kindergarten for many years, and I got sick of it. I says, "Lord, please help me to get to 22:10 first grade. I just want to get to first grade. Help me to learn these lessons. Give me grace." Cry out to the Father for the Holy Spirit, and he will give you grace, and you will grow. But he says, "By this time you ought to be 22:20 teachers. You have need for someone, but yet you have need for someone to come and teach you the elementary principles." I think he's talking about obedience. The same old thing about you need to obey your parents, young people, 22:30 when you're living at home. You need to obey this circumstance. You need to be in submission to God. And yet you have to keep learning it, keep learning it, never learn that lesson. And then he compares it with milk and food, you 22:39 know, it's like again, what if I I I brought my milk bottle here with the little you know, tip and then I sit here drinking I'm sucking on my bottle. What would you think? Here I am over the age of 30, and I'm still drinking a little 22:50 milk bottle because meat I look at meat and think, "Man, I can't I can't digest that. I have teeth, but I don't know how to use them." And here I'm still drinking milk. That's what he's saying. He's like, "You at the age of 30, 35 spiritually, you should be 23:02 drinking solid eating solid food, and instead you're still drinking milk. In what context? Obedience. And so, we want to we want to mature. So, it's a sign of maturity, it's a deeper level of the Christian life when you're learning more and more obedience. 23:16 As you're growing in obedience, you're becoming more and more mature. So, it's time to get off the bottle. It's time to to start eating solid food in this area of obedience. See, um in Hebrews chapter 12, he talks about 23:27 the love of God. It's a very interesting way in which he presents the love of God. I don't know how you think about the love of God. When you think about the love of God, how you think about it. When you you know, for most Christians, 23:37 I'll tell you the majority of Christians that I met, and it was like that for me for many years as well. The proof that God loved me, I know God loved me because he sent his son. John 3:16. People love to hold signs saying John 23:47 3:16. Go to a sports event, go to the street, any event, you'll see a sign saying John 3:16. It's a popular verse. One of the first verses we learn as children. And we love to think about that fact, but you know what? That's 23:57 baby love. That's a baby love, and I'm not saying we should ever grow it should grow old for us. Yes, God loves us, and he loves us by sending his son to forgive us of our sins. But like we heard on Wednesday night, I think it was, that 24:10 that that forgiveness, that constant need for forgiveness is never going to bring us into the kingdom of God. We haven't understood what it means to be born again if I'm always saying, "Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me. 24:20 Forgive me. Forgive me." Always coming to the same old sins and asking for forgiveness. The deeper level of love is what he talks about in Hebrews chapter 12. A mature love. We have gone from drinking milk to eating solid food. If you have 24:32 understood that when God gives you a spanking, he loves you. Have you Did you get that? You hear that? When God gives you a spanking, when he brings takes you into the corner and takes out a stick and whips you, however he does that in the 24:44 circumstances of your life. I do that with my children. I feed my children. I would die for them. I would give up my life for my children, my physical children. I would do anything for them. If they have any needs, I'll 24:54 take care of it. I will love them, and I will forgive them. I will do all those good things for them, but you know, the ultimate proof of my love for my daughter and my son is that when I see them doing something that will hurt them 25:04 as they grow up, I take them into the corner and I discipline them. And God does that with us. He says that in Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 4, he says, first of all, he says, "You have not resisted. You have not obeyed even unto 25:16 the point of death shedding blood yet in your striving against sin." But you've And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons and daughters, "My son, my daughter, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord." And so, when 25:29 the Lord spanks you, don't take it lightly. Don't try to get away from it. Don't get resentful at God when he allows you to go through a circumstance in your life because of a sin in your life that he's trying to get rid of. 25:40 When he allows people to speak a word of rebuke into your life or a correction, don't get a resentful attitude towards that person. That's what you That's That's like the child rebelling against that discipline and refusing to receive 25:51 it. Now, my child My children may be too young to understand that, but you and I, young people, we are We are old enough now, he's saying. You You should be maturing into these things that when the Lord disciplines you, and I I'll tell 26:02 you, I've never had the Lord lean down from heaven and, you know, spank me with a stick. He does it through others. He'll allow somebody in my life to speak a word of correction, a word of encouragement, a word of discipline into 26:12 my life to set me on the right path. And how I respond to that proves whether I'm still a baby drinking milk, getting resentful resentful over those things. When your parents tell you something that you did wrong, and you have the 26:23 opportunity to get resentful of that and rebel against that, you have a choice there, my young brother and young sister. Are you going to build a church? Because the church is built out of those who have learned to submit and and to 26:34 submit themselves and to receive gladly the the reproof of the Lord. And I know So, now I know that God loves me. As I've matured, I've become older now, I I know that God loves me in the fact that he spanks me. You know, I look 26:47 back now at my childhood years when I was disciplined by my parents, and I know that they loved me. What they were doing for me was loving me. Every time they they disciplined me in whatever area it was however they did that 26:58 discipline, when they disciplined me, it was a sign that they loved me. If I had grown up and I and I my testimony was, you know what? My dad gave me lots of food to eat, my mom gave me took care of all my needs and when I was sick they 27:08 gave me medicine, but I never got a spanking once in my life, never got disciplined. I would be the most rebellious, uh hard, hateful, proud young man there was. And God doesn't want us to end up like that spiritually because it'll send us 27:20 to hell. And it is out of his eternal love for us and for our eternal destiny that he says, "I need to discipline you. You're headed in the wrong direction. I need to correct you a little bit so that you learn a lesson and walk this 27:31 straight and narrow path." So, you know that in in the in the book of Revelation he speaks to many many different church, seven different churches. And there's only one church to whom he uses the that word, "I love you." 27:43 And it's to the church that was the worst. The church in Laodicea, he says, "I to those those that I love, I rebuke." He doesn't say that to any of the other churches. This was to the worst. He says, "I love you so much." He spoke 27:55 some stern thing. He didn't even say one good thing to the Read it in the end of Revelation chapter 3. He couldn't say even one good thing about this church, Laodicea, but he says, "You know why? It's because I love you that I'm 28:05 speaking these hard things." And sometimes if you feel like your dad or your mom, "Why couldn't you say something nice?" Or or when somebody says something harsh to you, you says, "Could you have put it a little more a little bit more 28:16 nicely?" Now, that's up to them to figure that out, but you, my dear son, my dear daughter, receive it as a as a sign of God's love to you. When you hear God speaking strongly and convicting you in your heart, receive it as a sign of 28:28 God's love. And that's a sign that you've matured. Now, the power of brokenness is is something that's misunderstood. It's it's it's not uh the world doesn't get it. This you know, we prayed for brokenness, we sang about it. I think it was last night. 28:44 Brokenness is what you want for Brokenness is what I need. I don't know if you of you sang that lightheartedly like, "Oh, yeah, it sounds good. Brokenness. Brokenness is what I long for." Have you thought about what it means? Brokenness, you know what you're 28:55 saying brokenness? That means you're asking God to just come and snap your body in half. What if I said, "Okay, here's a big strong giant." And I says, "Here, break me, man." And he comes and just takes my body and snaps me in half. 29:05 Broken. There I am, broken. But that ought to be the cry of a heart. And I hope you mean it when you say those words, when you sing those words. And when you pray, "Lord, break me. Lord, crush me under I I in your in your 29:15 hands." And and and you you pray for that and he will if you're really serious about it. And sometimes out of his love he'll do it for you whether you like it or not. And thank God he loves us that much that he that he breaks us. But the reason 29:27 this is so important is because the man or woman that God uses must be broken. There are plenty of examples of people who have tried to be used by God both in the Old Covenant and in the New Covenant and today who have never been broken and 29:39 they're a destruction to the work of God. They're a hindrance to the church. It's better that they leave the church. If you refuse to be broken, my dear brother and sister, you will be a hindrance to the church that you're in. 29:49 Instead, at a young age, if you can learn the secret of being broken before the Lord, he can use you as a strength and it doesn't matter whether you're a man, a woman, or how old you are or how young you are. Because God What God 30:00 uses, what God can pour his power into, which is no respecter of persons, is a broken man or woman. And when he can break you through the circumstances in your life cuz he sees that that response, that submission to him, he can 30:12 use such a man or woman. I don't know if you thought about, you know, I'm I'm going to break down Moses' life here. For the first 40 years of Moses' life, he was, you know, he was born, you know the story about the bulrushes and how he was taken into 30:23 Pharaoh's palace and he lived there and he was raised, educated with the highest education. Egypt was the best country in the world right then. They had all the knowledge and they were the superpower of the world and here was Moses growing 30:34 up as the son of the king in this most powerful country of Egypt. So, he had all the knowledge. He was a powerful man. He was strong physically. I mean, he punched a guy so hard once it just flat out killed him. You know that 30:45 story, right? In the book of Exodus chapter 2, I think it is. That's how powerful he was. Handsome young man, had could have asked had any of the girls he wanted in Egypt. He was the son of the the king, and strong mentally, smart, 30:57 well-spoken, and he's like, "Okay, I'm going to go and fix this mess." You know, he was looking He still knew that these Israelites were his people. Those That was Moses at the age of 40. And I wonder if you've thought what 31:07 Moses looked like when he held the the rod over the Red Sea. You know, have you pictured Moses? You know the story of the Red Sea, Moses standing there with his staff and the Red Sea parts. Have you pictured a Moses that looks like this? You know, so 31:20 that's from that movie, The Ten Commandments. He's like, "Ah, Moses, the strong man. I cast I make make the sea pa- part in two." I've always pictured Moses like that. But you know, the reality, if you read the book of Exodus, was the Moses that 31:32 stood there before the Red Sea was a completely different man. Didn't look anything like that. Honestly, I tried to find a picture of Moses that looked weak and broken. It doesn't exist, one. Because it's contrary to the spirit of 31:42 the world. The world doesn't see that a weak, broken man who's who who's got a stammer. It says that Moses had a speech impediment. I I picture him saying, "S- S- stand still and see." And he's holding his his rod like that. 31:59 We don't picture that kind of man being used by God. A man with a little lisp and a stammer. But that's who he was. In fact, he was so embarrassed about this, he's saying, "Lord, you you're going to use me with my lisp and my stammer and 32:09 and the way I speak, and and you're going to use me with a with that power to stand before Pharaoh? I don't know how to speak, Lord. I don't even know the language, and I I'm just like I I get mixed up when I stand in front of public." Do you feel like that? 32:20 I hear it from young people all the time. "I don't know how to give the gospel. When I stand when I'm with my with my friends, I don't know how to tell them that Jesus Christ loves them. I want to." And if you will allow the Lord to break 32:31 you. See, the reason Moses got to the point where he was broken was because it says, you know, in Hebrews chapter 11 as an example of faith that he took the reproach of Christ. He understood before Christ even came what it meant to 32:42 identify himself with Christ. And this powerful strong man who could kill one an Egyptian with his fist just with one sock to his face became a broken man and with a stutter he said, "Lord, I if you'll if you want to use me, okay. 33:01 Let Aaron speak for me." He was He didn't have that much faith, I guess. But this man Moses was the one who stood at the age of 80 years old with his rod over the the the the Red Sea. Now it wasn't the powerful prince of Egypt 33:15 standing there with the saying, "Waters cast." And my dear young brother, dear young sister, the only way that you will be able to get rid of the mountains in your life, to part the seas that God wants you to cross over to get into the promised 33:28 land, to get victory over the sins and the lust in your flesh, to come to that area of victory, the only way he can do that is if he first sends you into the wilderness for some period of time. For Moses it was 40 years. 33:39 It took 40 years for God to turn this strong powerful well-spoken articulate young man into a broken sta- stammering young old man. Now he was actually middle-aged at the age of 80. They lived till 120. But he was he was broken. That's the key. 33:56 And I'll tell you it it shouldn't take 40 years for you to be broken. It is as much as you allow God allow allow this path of obedience to become a reality in your life that God will be able to break you. And you might sound 34:08 sound like a stutterer at the end of it and the world would think, "Really? God's going to use that? Her? Her? I mean she she can barely put a sentence together. Him? He can't speak very well." And God says, "No, but she's 34:21 broken. She allowed me to break her through life. He's broken. God I crushed him. Oh, you could have seen the way I crushed him. I took him I took her through circumstances that you don't even know the first thing about. 34:32 We don't know what all happened to Moses in those 40 years when he was just hanging out with the sheep, living in his father-in-law's house for 40 years. And we don't know what all happened. He doesn't record it, but we know it 34:42 crushed him. Cuz what came out of it was a was a man who says, "I I can't I can't rescue your people." He thought he could at 40. 40 years later, after the period of breaking, he says, "No, Lord, you can't use me. I'm not worthy." And then he says, "No, now 34:55 you are." When you've reached that place of realizing, "Not me, Lord." And if you go away from this conference thinking, "Lord, you can't use me. I'm so full of weakness and and and and I'm just unworthy, Lord. I don't have I 35:07 don't have the power." And you say, "But Lord, if you if you will give me your power, I'll I'll make myself available to you. I don't have gifts. I look at others and they all seem to be able to do this and do that and they're well 35:16 spoken and I'm so shy and I I'm just uncomfortable in in group settings." And and you say, "Lord, but will you use me?" The stutter today may not be a a physical stutter. It could be an Whatever. Whatever you think is a 35:28 hindrance to God being able to use you. And I tell you this, if you will surrender that to God's almighty hand, he will use that. Instead, if you're proud of the gifts and the fact that you know the Bible and you can sing or do 35:38 all these other things. If you're proud of that, God has to send you into the wilderness for about some period of time to break you. Let him break you, my dear brother and sister. You might feel like you're in a wilderness right now at home, living 35:49 under your parents' authority. Or in the workplace. You might feel like you're in the wilderness. But I'll tell you God is doing something through that wilderness experience. God is Let me say that again so you remember 35:58 it. Write it down if you have to. God is doing something through my wilderness experience. If you have faith for it. And you don't know when that wilderness experience will end and when you'll become a leader of God's people in some 36:11 realm or the other. But God has to take you through that wilderness experience. And if you quit at any point, you will regret it for all eternity. Imagine if Moses had quit at some point allowing the Lord to break him. Imagine if he had refused to leave Egypt 36:26 and just stayed in the Pharaoh's palace and stayed the strong young man. He'd have looked back and thought, "Man, I could have been the one that God used to re- lead about two, three million people into the promised land. 36:36 And I missed it." And here you are, my dear brother, sister, and we I I I hope that you get gripped with this This This is a greater calling than taking the Israelites out of bondage into the land of Israel. This is taking people around you into 36:48 eternity. Into the promised land, into a victorious Christian life on this earth. To enjoy a life of happiness and peace and love and joy and freedom from sin. Don't you want to lead others around you, your younger brothers and sisters 37:01 who are at home? Don't you want to be an example to them? God can use you. It has nothing to do with your limitations. And so Moses, after the 40 years of of being broken, came and then for the next 40 years led his people as a bold, 37:14 strong leader. But you know what it did? When somebody else came and they and they had a need, I bet the first thing Moses when when somebody came and and uh you know, one of the Israelites, let's say, had a problem, he says, "Man, I have I'm 37:26 always fighting with my wife." Let's say somebody came and says, "Moses, I don't think would have judged them that quickly." Cuz he remembered what he was like when he was broke, when he was going through that breaking. He remembered what it was like 37:37 to suffer. You know, in fact, Moses, his love for the people was so great, he says, "Lord, you you take me. Kill me. Let Let the people survive." When we have reached that point of brokenness, where we would rather God take something away from us, even our 37:52 life, for the sake of the church, then you're ready to build a church. Then you've been broken so much that you've lost sight of yourself. He says, "Lord, I want your purpose to be accomplished. If it means that in order to establish 38:02 your name and your testimony here in this town, I have to die for it, then I'll do it." And it's not just Moses. Look at the history of the martyrs that have done that. Why did these martyrs die for their faith? Because they believed in 38:15 God's purpose. They didn't say, "Lord, please keep me alive. I want to build your church. I want to build your church. I want to build your church." God doesn't need you to build your church. He needs you to submit to his 38:24 purpose and he will build his church. It doesn't matter whether you're around for it or not. And so if you have a faith, think about this for a moment. If you have a faith that extends beyond your life, a faith that says, "Lord, I'm willing to 38:36 die now in faith knowing that the that the purpose of that death will be accomplished long after I'm gone." That's how Jesus lived. You know that when he died, he didn't get to see the church. The The reason he died was for the sake 38:49 of the church. You know that, right? But when he died, he didn't get to see the fruit of that sacrifice. This fruit of that sacrifice is still being developed now and he's watching it from heaven. But when he died, he says, "Father, I 39:00 don't see how it's all going to work out, but I into your hands I commend my spirit." And he died knowing that the Father would accomplish his purpose through this sacrifice. And so you may not be able to see how God is building 39:12 the church through you in that little sacrifice you make in the workplace or at home where you deny yourself, but you have to put your faith in God that he is and he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. He's fulfilling his 39:24 purpose in your life. When you have that faith, the faith of Christ that outlives your life, then you've understood the spirit of the body of Christ, the spirit of Christ itself. Submission begins with faith and this is 39:39 the last point I want to make here um in order to really believe this principle, you won't hear it in the management books. You won't get If you go to Borders or Barnes & Noble, you can't find a book that will tell you that the 39:52 way to get power on this earth is through submitting. There's there's there's very you know it it probably is a Christian book if there's anything written about it. But that's the secret of the of the Bible and the word of God. This is the only 40:05 book that really shows us that when I submit into a particular situation and I don't get resentful and I don't rebel against the instruction I'm given, there's a power that God gives me, a spiritual power. You know, there's only one time that I 40:18 know of that Jesus commended somebody for their faith. He usually said, "Oh, you have little faith. I wish you had more faith." And he'd go to somebody else and they they'd be unbelieving. He says, "Oh man, I wish you had more 40:27 faith. I could do so much for you if you have faith." Somebody else, "I could do so much for you if you have faith." But then one time he says, "Man, I've never seen such faith." That's in Matthew chapter 8. I want to show that show you that real quickly. 40:39 And I want to show you the context in which he says, "I've never seen such faith." This is the kind of faith we have. It's It's a faith that results in that that understands and and gets revelation on submission and the power of submission. 40:50 He says, Matthew chapter 8, let me summarize the story. The centurion had a sick servant and he came to Jesus saying, "Jesus, please heal my servant. He's sick there and I care for him so much." This is a Roman ungodly not worshipping Jehovah 41:02 God Jehovah God. This ungodly Roman centurion comes to Jesus and says, "My my servant is sick. Will you heal him?" And Jesus says, "Okay, sure. I'll come to your house. Let's go." And he says, "Oh no, Lord. I'm not even worthy for 41:13 you to come into my house. I'm I'm a sinful man. I'm I'm a Roman. But I'll tell you what, I know that you can heal the sickness all the way. It's It's like 2 miles to my house. You just stand here. I know they can hear you." 41:25 See, what the centurion understood was that there's a spiritual uh there was a spirit behind the sickness. There was a spiritual power that was required to cast out that sickness. It's not Sickness is not something you can, you 41:36 know, punch punch it out of somebody's body. If I had a fever, you couldn't hit me hard enough to knock the fever out of me. It's a spiritual power that comes in that that is the power of healing. And the centurion knew that the spiritual 41:46 power was something that Jesus had because, he says, in verse 9, "I too am a man under authority with soldiers under me and I say to this one, 'Go.' And he goes. And to another one, 'Come.' And he comes. And to my slave, 42:04 'Do this.' And he does this." Let me paraphrase what he was saying. He says, "Jesus, I know that you can stand over here 2 miles away and cast out that spirit or or cast out that sickness from my slave's body, because you have 42:16 authority. And the reason you have authority, Jesus, is because you're under authority. Read that care- You see that carefully? That he says, "I know that you have authority, Jesus, because you're under authority." Let me say it again. He knew that Jesus 42:30 had the power to cast out that sickness from that slave all the way in that distance, because Jesus was under authority. What sense does that make? He If he says, "Well, Jesus, I know you're a magician or something like that, you 42:41 have power in yourself to cast out that sickness," that'd be different. There's no faith needed for that. If somehow Jesus was some kind of Superman, like we heard the other day, if he could somehow just fly over there, heal the slave and 42:51 come right back, that's Superman. But this is a different Jesus. This is a Jesus who stands where he is, looks like a man, looks like he's just very ordinary, but he has spiritual authority all the way over there. And that is the 43:02 spirit on which in which the church of Jesus Christ is built. But to have that authority, God doesn't give that authority to anyone. We must be under authority. See, let me give you an example to highlight this. If I drove in my little car, and pulled 43:14 up behind you, and and tried to get you to pull over, saying I'm the police, saying I shout through a bullhorn, "I'm the police, pull over, pull over," you wouldn't pull over. But the moment I have a car that says state patrol, I've got some lights on 43:24 top, and I'm dressed in a uniform with a badge and a gun on my holster, I say pull over, you won't even think twice about it. You pull right over. What's the difference? It could be just It could be be me me in the same body. 43:35 All I got to do is put on the badge of the state of Colorado, get in those cars, and now I have authority. What is the difference? There's nothing that's changed in me. What has changed is I am now representing the state of Colorado. 43:46 The color- The state of Colorado has given me a badge that says, "You're a policeman, and you have the authority to pull people over because they're speeding, and kill them if they're in danger to to their own lives or society." That's the authority the state 43:56 of Colorado gives. The same person, when he takes off his police clothes, takes off his police badge, puts the gun down, now he's just Joe, you know, Joe Smith. He's He's hanging out with his kids playing that and if he tried to pull you over without 44:10 the uniform, you'd be like, "Who are you, man? I don't know what you're talking about." Trying to pull me over? And then he puts his uniform on, the badge on, and now you'll you'll stop cuz you fear the authority that he 44:20 represents. It's the same thing spiritually. The demons are afraid not of you because they know they can handle your flesh. You're going to die sometime. But what they're afraid of is the man who conquered them on the cross, that is 44:31 Jesus Christ, the son of God. They're afraid of him. And because you're under his authority, because you submit yourself to the authority of the Father, you have authority in your life. And I'll tell you, my dear brothers and 44:43 sisters, you'll hear more of You've been hearing about this from Phil, so I don't have to belabor it for too long, but that authority is critical for us as young people. When you get married as a man, you will need to have authority in 44:54 your home, otherwise your home will will become a mess. As a woman, when you get married, you will have to have authority in your home, otherwise your children will be will be a mess. And the only way to get this authority 45:04 is not to assert myself. I didn't automatically get authority when I became a father. I got delegated authority, parental authority, that's different. I'm talking about spiritual authority, spiritual authority that you can mold the spirits of your children. 45:18 You want to do that, don't you? You want to be able to, as you grow up, to be a godly mother and a godly father? You want to mold the hearts of your children. In order to do that, you have to have spiritual authority. And 45:27 unfortunately, there are many Christians fathers and mothers walking around this earth trying to beat their children into the kingdom of heaven, and it's not working. Because you can't physically beat your child or even just read the Bible to 45:39 them and have daily prayer time and get them into the kingdom of God. You must have spiritual authority. And it's the same principle in the church. There are pastors and leaders of churches trying to force their their their flock into 45:50 the kingdom of heaven, and it's not working because they lack spiritual authority. And God will only give his spiritual authority. Listen to this. This is so important. I'll tell you, it's a truth that I it sunk so deep in 46:00 my heart that I I had no option but to leave where I was and move and come here to Colorado and say, "Lord, I you I need you to put me under authority." In my case, that's how it worked out. That's what brought me here. Says, "Lord, I 46:10 need to be under authority. I need I need to have elders over my life whom I can submit to, whom I allow them to speak into my life and I don't get resentful when they speak some hard things to me. I need parents cuz I was 46:19 an old man I was an older man. I was not living at home anymore. I needed somebody that I could look up to." Have you seen that? Have you seen a young peo- a young person leave home and then say, "I need some other home to be under 46:29 sub- mission, too. I need some elders to care for me." That's the spirit of submission. And that's the spirit That's the person whom God says, "You're under authority, I'll give you authority now." And see if circumstances don't work 46:41 themselves out. All of a sudden your work prospers. The work that you do for God's kingdom prospers. When you share the gospel with somebody, they get revelation. The spirit of God ministers grace into their lives. It's so important for us to get this. 46:53 Otherwise, what we will do is just we could beat people into becoming our followers. We could beat our children into becoming, you know, prim and proper and looking cookie-cut, sitting in there in the front pew, but it won't be the 47:03 church. It won't be the spirit of Christ. Instead, if you have authority because you, my dear young brother, young sister, are living in under authority, God will give you your authority and you will have authority. You know, that's 47:16 the authority under which demons are cast out? If If a demon was to come in If If a man demon-possessed man was to come in here, what would be your response? What would be your response? Would you Would you tremble in fear? 47:27 I hope you wouldn't. I hope that you're walking in authority and walking in submission to authority that you know, "Lord, my life is completely yours. There's no sin in my life. You have my whole life. Uh you have I have sins in 47:38 the past, but you've forgiven them all. I have a clear conscience with you and I'm walking in submission to you. I uh I I'm under your authority and I'm under the authority that you've given me on this earth and you've placed me under." 47:49 So, on the basis of that, I have authority to cast that demon out. The authority by which you cast out a demon is not the fact that you're a 60-year-old man who's walked with God for 30 years. Now, there's some people who try to mess 48:00 with that. You can read about it in the book of Acts and they got in trouble. So, this is this is a this is this is spiritual power we're talking about. It's like electricity. You don't mess with it if you don't know what you're 48:07 doing. Don't stick your finger and mess with those wires uh behind the wall if you don't know if you're not an electrician. And the electricians in God's kingdom who know how to connect with God's almighty spiritual power are 48:19 those who have been to the school of electricity, which is the school of submission. They've learned you you be careful this. You walk in submission. You stay within your boundaries. You never go beyond that. You obey where God gives you the 48:31 command to obey. And when he sees that you're somebody who's trained in submission, he's somebody who's trained in how to live under authority, I'll give him my authority and he can fix the lights and give this this place the 48:41 power that it needs. That's the basis of spiritual authority. And my dear brothers and sisters, my dear young people, we need this authority if we're going to build a church. Without it, we're powerless. You could try and try 48:51 and try and get a bunch of people together in your home and have a little house church and then do some songs and look you know, do whatever you want. None of it will come to anything unless we tap into this power of God, which 49:01 comes only to those who have submitted to authority. God only gives spiritual authority to those who are themselves under authority. And that's faith. That's the faith that Jesus commended. When he saw faith in the Centurion, it says, "You 49:14 recognize that I have authority because I'm under authority. You have faith. I've never seen such faith." It's almost like he's saying, "This is the greatest level of faith." And my dear brothers and sisters, if you can uh 49:23 get revelation on this, this faith that when I remain under authority and submit to authority, God gives me his authority. Now, I'll just run through that real quick. Jesus submitted to his parents, you can see that. To church leaders, to the 49:37 Pharisees. It's I think Phil brought this out that he sat there listening to the Pharisees. Before he called them a brood of vipers, he allowed those Pharisees to teach him. How did Jesus learn the scriptures, the Torah? From 49:46 the Pharisees whom he would later on call brood of vi- vipers, you hypocrites, you whitewashed tombs because God gave him the word to say that. But those same Pharisees were one under whose authority he submitted for those 30 years that he was attending 49:58 church in in in Nazareth and in other places. He submitted to these He knew they were hypocrites. He knew they were whitewashed tombs. It's not It's not like they changed all of a sudden. But these same whitewashed tombs hypocrites 50:08 He's The Father told him, "You need to be under submission to those hypocrites." And when God puts you in a circumstance where you have to be under submission to your hypocrites, whether they're your parents or others in the church or your 50:19 boss, and you still submit, then God says, "One day you'll be able to help them and set them free." One day and you'll be able to build my church. And 1 Peter 2, that verse I have there, it says, "This is a sign that you're 50:31 free is that you're a bondslave of the Father. Act like free men," he says in verse 16 of 1 Peter 2. How do you act like a free man? Does it mean that, "Oh, I can go out and sin and I can dress however I want. I can just do whatever I 50:43 want." That's not a free man. A free man and a free woman is one who's a bondslave of God. Read that verse sometime. You prove that you're free You prove that you're a free man or a free woman if you're a bondslave of God. That 50:53 means you're answerable to God. You're under his authority and by reflection of that, under the authority that he places in your life. That's a free man. So, the most free young boy or young girl, listen to this, the most free 51:05 experience you can have in your life is if you submit to your daddy and mommy. You obey them because you're living at home. If you're living at home and you obey them, you're a free man. If you disobey them, if you rebel against them, 51:16 you're in bondage. It's the opposite of the world. See, the world thinks, "Oh, I can't wait for my freedom to get out of the home. I can't wait for my freedom where I'm not under authority anymore." It's the opposite. The kingdom of heaven is this, that my 51:27 freedom comes from being under authority. Prove that you're Act like free men, he says, by being bondslaves of God. These are the four that we looked at. Young people who build the church are those who seek God's face, those who 51:40 fear God, those who stand for God and compromise, those who submit to God. I pray that God will make us that. Oh, he wants to build his church. He is building his church. I should rephrase that very carefully. He is building his 51:51 church. Whether you or I are part of it is up to us now. If we will submit ourselves to these these teachings. And I'll tell you now I was having a conversation with somebody yesterday where I was like, "We've heard a lot and we're going to try to help 52:02 you, you know, maybe give you tools that'll so you can have it with you and look back on, but if you feel like you you missed it all, this is the essence. It's what I prayed at the beginning. You come broken-hearted to God. If you 52:13 forgot all all that we taught you Sometimes I feel like we packed in so much. But remember this. This is the most important thing to remember that that God wants to speak to you continuously. When you go back on Monday morning and you you're not sitting in a 52:29 teaching session, God wants to speak to you. And he will if you're broken-hearted. If you're contrite in spirit and you just come to God and say, "Lord, I I think I kind of understood it, but I missed a lot, but I just want 52:39 to live for you. I want you to build your church through me. Will you take this stammering, broken, failed man, woman in contriteness of spirit when you come to him, God will pick you up. And he'll use you. Heavenly Father, use us, I 52:53 pray. Oh, that's the cry of my heart, Lord. I know the devil has plans for these young men and women sitting here. He's making mighty plans of how he's going to distract them, but you've given us power, Lord, and in the church you've 53:04 given us authority to prevail against the gates of hell. And in this, Lord, we pray and I pray over the lives of all of these children. Will you protect them, preserve them in love and in endurance until the very end? Oh, Father, protect them. Protect 53:17 them, I pray, Lord. Thank you that you you will, Lord. Your Holy Spirit is is able to come into our lives and strengthen us and give us both the desire and the ability to do this. Oh, fill us with your Holy Spirit, I pray, 53:28 Lord. I pray that each of these young men and women will hunger and thirst for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for that anointing power within, that power that's greater than anything they've ever experienced. Not an emotion, not a 53:38 tingling down the spine, but a power that gives them the the ability to submit and to obey, to choose that path of obedience and to stand for God, stand for you in a day of compromise, to fear you, to reverence your word, Lord, and 53:51 to seek your face at all times. Please do that, I pray, heavenly Father. Thank you. We trust you to do it. We give you praise and honor and glory. We praise you for the work you are doing and will do. You are faithful who began 54:03 the good work in us to complete it. In Jesus' name. Amen.
