Untitled Sermon

This chapter of the book of Philippians, Paul says, Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friend. I plead with you, Odea, and I plead with Syntyche, to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yoke fellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, and I will say it again, rejoice.

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. We're talking about overcoming circumstantial Christianity in the book of Philippians.

Not allowing the circumstances to dictate our attitudes and actions in our Christian walk, but becoming men and women in Christ who, when the circumstances hit, immediately... ...immediately begin to rejoice in the Lord, focusing upon Him instead of the circumstances, and seeking to allow Him to use us as His vessel, fit for His use in anything, in any particular situation. That's the book of Philippians. That's what we're learning how to do.

And I've said it before, and I'll say it again, as a Christian, that is a difficult thing to do. We have to learn to do it, because we still contend with our flesh, and circumstances will still arise, where initially you're going to think, Oh, Lord, the circumstances. Instead of, Thank you, Lord. We have to train ourselves as an athlete trains to learn how to rejoice in the Lord.

And that's what Paul is seeking to do with the church at Philippi, and all those that would read this letter subsequent to the church of Philippi. And so we saw in chapter 1 again how we're to learn to rejoice in the opportunities to serve Him. And those opportunities are every instant of every day. That way, whatever the circumstance is, it's not something that's just intended to squash me, or something that's bad.

It's some opportunity now that I have to serve. I have to learn to rejoice in the Lord, to let Him shine through me, to reflect His goodness through me in the midst of this. That's why I'm there. I'm to grow in the midst of that. I'll learn to do that. But I am specifically given that opportunity to serve Him in the midst of that circumstance, for me to live as Christ.

And Paul emphasized that in chapter 1. Chapter 2, I have the mind of Christ now. I am to learn to have that mind. And I can rejoice in the Lord as I learn to have that mind of Christ, which is submitted to Him in all things, to be His servant, however He wants to use me, even unto death, if necessary, so that in anything I will live. Learn, verse 14 of chapter 2, not to grumble or complain.

And again, that's something we have to learn. It's not something that comes easily. And so we're in the process of learning that. How to rejoice in the Lord by having the mind of Christ, not grumbling or complaining, but trusting that He knows what's right, and walking in that. Chapter 3, learning how to rejoice in the calling of Christ. As I rejoice in the opportunities to serve Him,

I realize that I can have His mind, and let Him just use me in whatever circumstance. I learn that that is part of my calling, and I can rejoice in that calling. No matter where I am, or no matter what the specific instance is, it's part of His calling on my life, to bring me into conformity with the image of His Son. And I can learn to rejoice in that. And to do that, we saw three things we had to do was learn to deal with the past.

Paul said, I consider it loss. I forfeit it. I forget it. Every time the enemy tries to bring it up, it's under the blood of Christ. It's been covered. I'm not depending upon my past for living in my present. That's like living on old manna, living on the manna from yesterday. I seek new manna for today. New feeding from the Lord. New communion with His Spirit from His Word today.

I'm not going to just live on what was yesterday. Yesterday is gone. Today is new and fresh. There are new circumstances. I need to draw fresh from the Lord today. And so I forget my past. I forfeit it. And to live in the present, we saw that we had to have a new focus. And our focus was to be on Christ. That we're set. Our hearts are set on Christ. And that's part of the five goals that we saw for living in the present.

That I want to know Christ. That's my goal for my life. There's so much to know about Him to live. There's so much to know about Him to be able to love you with the love that He wants me to love you with. I have to know Him to do that. There's so much about knowing Him to be able to walk into the situations that He has for me today or tomorrow or the rest of this week.

I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection. That power that raised Christ from the dead. Paul says over and over in his epistles. It's available to you and I. To be able to walk as He wants us to walk. To walk a holy walk. Separated unto Him. He's given us the power of His resurrection. He's given us the power of His resurrection to do that. I want to know that.

That's one of Paul's goals. That's one of ours. It should be one of ours. And the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. That's goal number three in chapter three. I want to know that. The fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. You and I are going to see an increased persecution of the church in this day and age. And in the midst of that, standing for Jesus Christ.

For the name of Christ. And we'll talk about that in a few minutes. Is going to involve some suffering. And He is granting you the privilege of sharing in those sufferings for His namesake. Paul said, I want to know that. Paul said that after being stoned and beaten with rods and whipped, flogged several times. Shipwrecked. He said, I want to know. He hadn't experienced all that he wanted to experience yet.

Of the fellowship of those sufferings of Christ. Because somehow in the midst of those sufferings, there's a communion with Him that can be found no other way. And so Paul wasn't a masochist. He just found that in the fellowship of those sufferings was a growth that you cannot experience any other way in the Lord. And he wanted to know that. And he wanted to become like Him.

In His death. Becoming like Him in His death was one of Paul's goals. And again, it's an awesome thing to think about. But surrender to the point of seeing yourself as dead. Jesus saw Himself as dead. He was going to the cross. From the time that He was born, He was moving toward the cross. Abraham, when He was taking Isaac to Mount Moriah, saw Him for three days as dead.

Because He knew He was going to sacrifice Him on Mount Moriah. That's the mind of Christ. And I need to see myself as ultimately dead in myself. And even in the flesh. Even literally, if necessary, Lord. To become like Him in that. That I don't have a hold on this life. And this life does not have a hold on me. Paul said, I want to know that. And then finally, that I might attain, somehow, he says, to the resurrection from the dead.

He was longing for the resurrection. Longing for the rapture of the church. Literally. We saw as we were in our study. That was how he lived his life for today. With a view towards the future. So he forsook the past. Forget the past. Consider it dead. Consider it rubbish. With those goals for living in the present. Seeking to live towards the future. By literally, remember the auger.

Remember pushing that past away. Forsaking it. Forgetting it. And striving towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. That time when our bodies are going to be transformed. It's coming. It's coming soon. And Paul had that as a goal that was set. And fixed. And that's what he moved towards. That's what he strained towards. Was that time when the flesh would finally be put off.

And we'd put on immortality. Now we move into chapter four. And in chapter four we see overcoming circumstantial Christianity as learning to rejoice now. In the provisions of Christ. Learning to rejoice in the provisions of Christ. What God, through Christ, has provided for you and I. In verses one through seven, the first thing he's provided is his peace. He's provided his peace.

And we saw that in our first part of our study last week. Second, in verses eight through thirteen. He has provided us with his presence. With his presence. With his nearness to us. And third, in the last part, verses fourteen through twenty-three. He's provided us with his perspective. With his perspective. Yes, things are bad. Yes, the things in Russia are strategically shaky.

And, you know, when Boris Yeltsin goes into surgery, who's going to have control of the trigger? Who cares? I mean, the Lord's in control. And you see the things going on. You can, with his perspective, you just watch God moving Russia to get ready to come down into the Middle East. I mean, it's freaky, apart from his perspective. From seeing what he's doing.

Watching him move the pieces around. And so God has blessed us. He's given us not only the provision of his peace and his presence, but his perspective. So we can watch the things that are going on in the world today through his eyes and have his mindset on what's happening. Now, last time we started in the first seven verses of looking at the provision of his peace.

And there were four things that we have to realize in our own lives. There are four things that we have to do to realize his peace. Now, God's peace is available. It's available to us. It's available to us through Christ. We'll talk about that some more. But it is constantly available to us. It is up to us to appropriate that peace. God's peace is here now in the midst of everything that's going on.

In the midst of surgeries and death in the family and illnesses and pressures on the job. Whatever trial you're going through, God's peace is available. But you have to appropriate it. You have to appropriate it. And four things he shows us in these first five verses, or six verses, are necessary for us to do in appropriating that peace. First of all, we saw last time, verse one, is a need for us to stand firm in the Lord.

A need for us to stand firm in the Lord. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. And the that that he's referring to is the first three chapters. Everything that he's written up to this point. If we seek to do those things, that is how you stand firm. And you and I need to stand firm.

If there's ever been a time when the church is facing Laodicea, and the church of Laodicea, as mentioned in the book of Revelation, was the lukewarm church, the half-hearted church. The church that Jesus said, I wish you were either hot or cold. I wish you were either hot for me, or cold against me. But because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth.

In other words, a lukewarm church, that's kind of half-hearted, is vomitous to the Lord. But we see that in the age today, as one of the predominant signs of the church, is a lukewarmness. We've entered, I'm afraid, in this country. In this country, a comfort zone in the church. And there's nowhere in scripture where we're to enter a comfort zone. We're to enter into God's rest.

That's in Hebrews chapter 4. But the rest of God is the rest of no longer striving to be accepted by him. I'm no longer striving to be saved. I realize that I am saved in Christ. And I cease striving for that. When God rested after seven days of his creation, he didn't take a nap. His creation. And the purpose of creation ceased. He had created. Now he maintained.

His effort was into seeking that, developing that relationship with man. He's not rested in the sense of he's just entered this comfort zone now, so he quit. But he finished the purpose of creation. When you and I come to Christ, we need to realize our salvation is completed in Christ. And so we seek striving to be saved, but now we are called as his laborers.

His servants. The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few. Pray that the Lord send forth laborers into the harvest. Well, who is that? It's us. And part of the Laodicean attitude, the lukewarmness in the church is that we've gotten into this comfort zone where we've forgotten our purpose and our call. And we're just kind of floating. And God's calling us out of that.

It's interesting. On Wednesday nights at our home fellowship, we started into the book of Colossians. And Colossae is a little town that's located in between Ephesus and Laodicea. Ephesus, if you remember, in Revelation, was the church that had lost its first love. It was a dynamic church, a flowing church. It was one of the most powerful churches in the early church time.

Laodicea, the one we're talking about now, is a church that was lukewarm. And Colossae was the town that was just in between the two, between the first love and losing it and lukewarmness. And we've also looked at how Colossae is just like Arc City. Paul never visited Colossae. He never went to Colossae. It was somebody, Epaphras, who was part of Colossae. He was part of Paul's ministry.

He went back to Arc City. He went back to Colossae and established that church. Just like Joe Crowley, the former pastor here, was at Greg Laurie's church in Riverside and came back to Arc City to establish a Calvary Chapel to start a ministry here. Chuck Smith had not been to Arc City. Paul hadn't been to Colossae. Typical kind of cities, though. There was a lot of Gnosticism in Colossae.

A lot of people who thought they were in the know. And they wanted you to join their group or their club to be in the know. A lot of mysticism and spiritism in Colossae. We're seeing a lot of that in Arc City. But the thing I bring all this up about is because they're in between Ephesus and Laodicea. And that's where I see the church in Arc City. It's in between losing its first love and total apathy.

Just a complacency. Just a comfort zone kind of Christianity. And God's calling us out of that in these last days. And he's calling us to stand firm. And you'd see it with the tenor of the elections. There is in these elections, and it didn't begin with the elections. It started back with booting Christ out of school. Booting the Lord out of school. Remember the disciples.

The disciples in the book of Acts. And they were called into the Sanhedrin. In before the Sanhedrin. Why were they called in there? Because they were espousing the name of Jesus Christ. By whose authority are you doing these things and saying these things? They asked Peter and John. And they said it's in the name of Jesus Christ. And so they told them no longer to preach or to do these things in that name anymore.

Drop the name out of it. Now Peter and John said, well, whether it's right for us to do that or not. You judge if you want to. But we know that God's called us to do that. And it's better to obey God than it is to obey man. But the thing was they wanted the name out. So that's what's happened in school over all these years. Is they want the name out. You can do anything.

You can do Buddhism or Mohammedism or channel in school. It makes no difference. Just don't mention the name. Don't mention the name. Just leave Jesus out of it. In government. In whatever walk of life. Just leave the name of Jesus. Leave the name of Jesus out. It's supposed to be a private kind of thing. Separation of church and state and all. So leave the name out in your job.

Several of you have mentioned where they're trying to get things passed where you can't have your fish emblem on your lunch boxes. Or the crosses and stuff in your work areas. Why? Because it represents the name. You can have an ankh. Or you can have a yin and yang. The little black and white thing that symbolizes Hinduism. You can have those things. That's fine.

Just not anything that symbolizes the name. So that's what this whole thing is in the election these days. Leave the name out of it. Quit standing on the name. You're making a big deal about the name. Let's just do politics. Well if chapter 1 verse 21 for me to live is Christ. If chapter 3 my focus is Christ. If chapter 2 I'm to have the mind of Christ. I can't do that.

He is everything to me. He is my life. My decisions are based upon him. Based upon his word. I can't separate those. And so Paul is calling the church. To stand firm. If you want to experience the peace of Christ. You're going to have to stand firm in this. Because as you compromise. You will lose that peace. If you're compromising to save a job. Or to save ridicule or whatever.

You will find turmoil in your life. The Philippians were having to stand firm in the midst of Roman oppression. The oppression of the Roman government. And the Judaizers. Just like you and I so far. Are having to stand the oppression of those who say they're Christians. And yet if you mention it in this particular arena. You're a right wing radical militant commie religious.

And you watch. You watch over the course of the next few months. And the next year. This next year. Just to say I am a Christian. Or to name the name of Jesus Christ. Is automatically mentally going to associate you. With every radical right wing anti-government affiliation that there is. Just because of the way it's being bandied around right now. And God's calling you to stand firm.

Stand firm. Secondly we've seen in verses two and three. That there's a need for unity and understanding. Among us in the body of Christ. We need to seek to maintain that unity. Not sacrificing the name. See we can maintain unity. Among those who call themselves Christians. Just like Peter and John could have maintained unity among the Sanhedrin. Just don't mention the name.

Just keep that to yourself. Just make it a personal thing. There's a need for unity and understanding. In the focus of purpose. And that's what he says about Euodia and Syntyche. They were contenders with me at my side for the sake of the gospel. Is what he says in verse two. Or verse three. And so I plead with you. Verse two. To agree with each other. In the Lord.

To have the same mind. And we've seen in our previous study of Philippians. That means to have a one mind. Which is your focus is Christ. We saw last time that their names. Euodia means way or journey. And Syntyche means to meet or to come together. Were placed by God in this text. With the understanding that in order to have a prosperous journey. Along your way.

You need to come together. You need to meet together. And overcome those differences. By getting your mind back on Christ. So we don't know what their differences were. It was irrelevant. It was material. They were to mind the one thing. They were to mind the one thing. Which is Christ. And making him known. And as you and I do that. We're going to have differences.

Because so and so said something about so and so. And this was happening about that. And whatever. We've got to put those things aside. And mind the one thing. Which is telling people about Jesus Christ. Getting the gospel out. Because the world is going to hell in a hand basket. And it's going fast. Faster than it's ever gone before. We are in the last days.

Jesus is coming soon for his church. The clock has ticked up to the final 60 seconds. And we've got to tell them about the Lord. So there's a need for unity. In order to experience the peace of God. Thirdly. Verses 4 and 5. We need to just rejoice. He says it again. Rejoice in the Lord always. Verse 4. And I say it again. Rejoice. That's a command. Just rejoice.

Put the pettiness aside. And just rejoice in the Lord. God is so good. God has promised you so much. And he's fulfilling his promises. Just rejoice. If you're going to experience the peace of God. You have got to put the past aside. And just rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord. Just rejoice in the fact that he loves you. And he cares for you. And he's going to fulfill that.

That he's promised to do. In your life. And then finally. Fourthly. And this is where we come through today. We just started into it last week. There's a need to pray. If we're going to experience the peace of God in our lives. We need to pray. We need to be praying. We need to be praying individually. And here Paul is saying. We need to be praying corporately.

Corporately. Verse 5. He says. Rejoice in the Lord. Let your gentleness be evident to all. In the midst of all the bickering. And things that are going on in the world. And everything. Especially right now. As we see in the political scene. As Christians. We need to let our gentleness come forth. Let the gentleness come forth. The love of God in gentleness.

Let him reconcile everything. God's going to take care of it. But we need to then pray. The Lord is near. God's with us. The Lord is near. So. Don't be anxious. For anything. Because he's near. Don't be anxious about anything. And remember we looked at the word anxious last time. And it meant distracted. The whole focus from chapter 1 through 3. Up to this point.

Is focused on the Lord. I want to know Christ. For me to live as Christ. I want to have the mind of Christ. I want to know him. And the power of his resurrection. That's my focus. If some circumstance comes up. And it takes my focus off onto that. And I get worried about that circumstance. That circumstance. I've been distracted. That's how I become anxious.

That's what the enemy wants to do. As a Christian. The enemy knows he cannot kill you. That's what he'd love to do. That would be the easiest thing. Just get you out of the way. He can't do that. So he wants to get you distracted. Get your focus off of Christ. Onto the circumstance. And so. Paul is saying. In everything. Pray. Instead of in the circumstances.

Allowing yourself. To be distracted. In everything. Pray. And last time. I read a quote from Fenelon. Who wrote during the middle ages. About what to pray for. It goes beyond meals. And bedtime. It is in everything. And for everything. It's a constant attitude of prayer. Constantly. We mentioned that last time. I want to talk about that more. This time. And specifically.

In the attitude of corporate. Prayer. Praying corporately. Collectively. As the body of Christ. Now let's look at verse six. Because in that verse. We are shown. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith.

Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. Faith. such as the 23rd Psalm, to seek to just quote them or to read them as if in doing that it will alleviate my problem. If you have a Bible or if you have some special books that say, you know, it has scriptures in for the area of need, anxiousness, sorrow, crisis, or whatever, and it's got a bunch of verses listed, and then this is one of them, Philippians 4, 6,

and you go to that or Psalm 23, and oftentimes we go to that and we read it, and follow me with this. You read it with the kind of the understanding that once I read that, I'm going to be okay. I grew up in a church where we did the Gloria Patri, which was a hymn of the creed of the church, the Apostles' Creed. We recited that every Sunday in the Lord's Prayer. What did that do for me?

Nothing other than as I was able to recite those three, I felt like I was okay. I must be okay. I can do the Gloria Patri. Glory be to the Father. And to the Son. And to the Holy Ghost. I can do the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and his only Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. He was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, bled, and buried. Third

day he rose from the dead. I could do that, and I would do it that way. You know, I would practice it at home that way, so I could just shoot through it. What good did it do me? None. And oftentimes we do verses like this and the 23rd Psalm the same way. If I just read it or just say it, suddenly all these sorrowful circumstances are just going to disappear,

that's mysticism. That's biblical mysticism. That's thinking that somehow I can take this and manipulate my situation by reading the Word. That's where a lot of the church has gotten off into this, speaking the Word and controlling situations by the Word of God, and I'm speaking it, and I'm going to create this as God created. That's mysticism. That's not what God intended.

God did promise that his Word would not come back void, but as the rain is sent forth and as the snow is sent forth to water the ground, it would water the ground. It would do that that God sent it forth to do. But to think that just by reading this, I'm going to mystically change my situation is wrong. God told Joshua to meditate upon the Word. God told Solomon to meditate upon the Word. God told David

to meditate upon the Word. That's what we're to do. You take Philippians 4, 6, or you take the 23rd Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. What does that mean? What does that mean to me, Lord? You are my shepherd. Well, what's a shepherd? Well, a shepherd cares for his people. In what way does he care? Well, he takes care of his people. He cares for his people. He cares for his people.

The sheep, he makes sure they eat because sheep are stupid. They can't find food on their own. The shepherd takes care of them. They can't find water on their own. If they lay down, they'll die because they can't get up on their own. So the shepherd has to care for his sheep. I meditate on that. I realize in the midst of this circumstance, I'm the sheep. I can't care for myself. You are my

shepherd. I have everything that I need. The minute ministers to my heart as I meditate upon it and consider who he is, what he's saying he's going to do in the midst of this circumstance. That's a same thing with Philippians 4, 6. Do not be anxious about anything, but in all things with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. What's that

saying? We've already talked about do not be anxious. That means don't be distracted about anything, but in everything with prayer. Okay, in everything, in everything. More than meals, more than nap time and bedtime, more than now I lay me down to sleep with my children, more than your devotional time. Listen, I want you to grow past. As Christians, I urge you,

grow past praying at mealtime. That doesn't mean stop. I just mean go past that. Grow past thinking that's the only time you're to pray. Grow past praying it at bedtime. Maybe you don't do that. Maybe you need to grow into that a little bit. Grow past prayer in your devotions. Oftentimes we can think, well, you know, as long as I have devotions and I pray, I'm okay for the day. That's

as mystic as reading the Word. What's the purpose of your devotions? It's to spend time with him. It's not to crank out so much, not to, you know, have so many minutes in prayer. It's to spend time with him. So grow past just praying for me or just praying at night or just praying in your devotional time to a point where you are praying all the time, where you're

constantly talking to God, where you are constantly talking to the Lord. We've mentioned that last time with Phenelon and I mentioned how, you know, you can just do that. You just grow into that by just always talking to him. And it may seem stupid. Let me tell you, there's a new commercial out for Pizza Hut and it shows a good picture. It's a good picture. It's a good picture. It's a good

picture. And he's talking about the wonderful new pizza to his dog, Max. You've seen it? And he's telling Max about all the value of this new pizza and all that stuff. And Max looks at him and says, what are you telling me? I'm just a dog. And he goes, oh, like he's just realizing that. And then he goes on like, it's no big deal. It's just, you know, and he's telling him about that while Max

was lapping up water out of his dish. Now that seems funny, right? How many of you guys have a dog or a cat or a bird or something that you go talk to every day, all day? Do you want to go outside? Are you ready to come in now? Would you like to eat, you know? If you'd like a gourmet chicken dinner, please. We don't think it's foolish to talk to our pets that way when they can't communicate back with

us. So what's so foolish with talking to God who can and who cares and who wants to talk to you in everything, in everything? And they'll go, head will go down. And that's, that's an honorable position of prayer. But you can pray without bowing your head and without closing your eyes. You can talk to God all the time. Just like you'd talk to Max, your dog, or Gracie or whatever the dog's name is or the cat's

name is. You don't go, Gracie. You just talk to him. So just talk to the Lord with worship, with worship. That involves, that involves several things. Worship involves acknowledging him for who he is. That's what, that's what worship is. And that's what, that's what worship is. And that's beginning your time with the Lord by just, just saying, you know, or singing, God, how great you

are, how wonderful you are, Lord. I know you're in charge in this particular situation. And I just praise you for that. I thank you for your sovereignty and for your love and for your empowering and for your resurrection power that you want me to know. I want to know that right now, Lord. And I just thank you for, for that, that you are a God who wants to communicate with

me. Just, just start by acknowledging him for who he is. That's worship. That's praise, praising him. Now, you have to, you have to, you have to, you have to, you have to, you have to, you have to, grow into that. See, that's why I'm saying, just reading Philippians 4, 6 is not going to make the situation better until we stop to meditate on it. Now I realize that in everything, as I begin to

worship God, of course, it's going to be okay. Of course, his peace is going to be upon me because I'm acknowledging that he's in control. Now, as I do that, another part of worship is realizing my own sin. See, I have the ability to pray without acknowledging my own sin. I really do. I mean, if I'm in need, oh God, help, you know. I just don't see how this is going to work out. Anyway, Lord, I just give it to you.

You, you got to do something because it's getting bad, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. And I've just asked God to work and help in my life without acknowledging who he is and his greatness and his ability and also realizing that I'm a sinner and that I may have done something foolishly that's wrong, that's sin, that's put me in this situation. In the day that King Uzziah died, Isaiah said, I saw the Lord. Now, Uzziah was a king that Isaiah really admired.

The reason he died was because at one particular point during his reign, he usurped his authority as a king and he went into the temple in the place of the priests and he offered a sacrifice unto God and God smote him. He loved God and God loved Uzziah, but he violated God's word. And so God smote him with leprosy and he was banned from the temple area. He was banned from any association with anybody else. He was kept in a certain portion of the palace and it was there that he

died as a result of his leprosy. Now, probably Isaiah could not even come into Uzziah's presence, because of that leprosy. And Isaiah longed for that relationship again. And then at one point, Uzziah died and Isaiah is probably in the courtyard of the temple praying that very thing. God, you know, for war and crying out to the Lord. And in the midst of that, God revealed himself to

Isaiah. God, Isaiah says that in the day that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord and he was high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. And the seraphim were around him and they were crying, holy, holy, holy. And at the noise of the Lord, he said, I saw the Lord. And he said, their praise, the temple shook, the pillars of the temple shook. And Isaiah said, I am undone.

I am a man of unclean lips. Isaiah worshiped, saw God and saw his own sinfulness. We don't see that often enough in our prayer. And if we worship God, if we're truly setting our hearts upon the Lord and praising him for who he is, as we pray, we will, we will see our own sinfulness. God will reveal that to us and we'll, we'll confess that to him. But again, to do that,

in the midst of a crisis situation, to begin just by praising him, you have to learn that. You have to have your mind transformed, Romans 12, Romans 12, verses one and two, lest it will be conformed to the ways of the world. The other day, Lisa and I were headed home from worship practice, I think, and we were coming down Parker Cemetery Road and it was dark. And we were just coming up over this little rise past Tim and Carrie's house. And we came right up on a

deer, a buck, a big buck, four point buck. There's a maize field off to the south of the road right there. And this buck was standing out in the road. And we were just coming up over this little rise and he was standing broadside in the road, looking back at us like this, you know, so he was covering this side of the road. That's interesting because it's right before we came up over the

crest of that hill, Lisa and I were talking and I looked up and I had moved over to the left side of the road. Later, I realized it was the Lord that moved us over, but I'm over there and I'm going, Oh Lord, you know, if something comes up over that rise, we're dog meat. And so I started pulling it back over just as we crested the top of that. And there was that buck and I slammed on the brakes and we stopped. We're over to the side. There was nothing coming. We're already over enough

to the left side that when we stopped, if we'd have been in that lane, we'd hit the buck. But we were about 10 feet from him off to the side and he just looked at us for a minute. And then he just bounded off into that maize field. And I just started off, praise you Lord, you know, praise you for having moved us over. Praise you for having a stop. Now, if I'd have been in the world,

I wouldn't have been saying that. I know what I said. You know what I said. You may have said it once or twice in your lifetime. But I've been growing in that and concentrating to just begin to praise the Lord when the situation looks bad. To just praise you Lord. Thank you God that it's starting to come natural when I come into this situation. Not all the time, but I'm growing into that. That's what he's asking us to do.

In everything, by prayer, by worship, by acknowledging his graciousness, instead of just jumping in and asking for stuff. Worship him for a minute. Just acknowledge him for who he is. Then by petition, by prayer and petition. The word petition, if you're reading King James, you probably have supplication. It means presenting him the matter of urgent need of

urgent need. And that's usually all we pray for. Unfortunately, in most of our walks, that's all the further we get is maybe we get the first part down. Lord, I worship you. And I thank you, God, you're in control. And here's this one. You know, how am I going to get out of this? Or what in the world is going to happen with this? Or God, I can't stand the weight of this.

That's a supplication. That's a petition. And he wants to hear that. He wants to hear that right after he hears you're telling him that he's sufficient. Because in your telling him that, and then you're lifting up your supplication, what are you going to understand? That he's sufficient to handle that supplication. He doesn't want you not to tell him about it. He wants you to

start off acknowledging the fact that he is sovereign, that he is in control, that he does care for you, that he does love you, that his grace is sufficient, that his mercy is new and fresh this day, that you can know the power of his resurrection in this particular situation, that he won't leave you and forsake you, but that he indeed has ordained the path for you to walk. And this is part of that. This is part of your calling. And he's going to carry you through that. He's going to bring you through that. You can

trust him. So, Lord, here's this one. That's our petition. That that is most pressing on our heart. That's an easy one. Okay, now I'm going to switch a couple around here. We're going to finish with thanksgiving, but I'm going to go to requests because that requests is another part of our praying. Requests, the word requests, mainly, simply means to ask. So it is our askings. It's

everything beyond our supplication. Okay, you've thrown in the big one. Okay, now here's the rest of my life. You know, here's the rest of the askings. Lord, you know, pray for Lexi and the tumors. Pray for John Mark and his legs. Lord, pray for my car because it's dying. Pray for, you know, my husband because he's talking to dogs and whatever the askings are. There shouldn't be

anything you cannot ask. James tells us that you have not because you ask not. There is a fallacy that has gone through the church before that says you bring a petition to God and you leave it there and never go, never ask it again of the Lord. Because if you ask, God something the second time, it demonstrates your lack of faith that he's able to handle it.

And yet, Matthew chapter 6 tells you to ask and keep on asking, to seek and keep on seeking, to knock and keep on knocking because to him who asks, he receives. So you ask, and then Jesus uses the parable of the unjust judge, the widow and the unjust judge, as an example of that. Judge said, no, he kept asking, she kept asking, kept asking, kept asking, kept asking. Continue to bring those things before the Lord.

That's the askings. The only reason we ask, we have not, and then we ask not, and then we ask amiss because we want to consume it upon our own lusts. There are times, and if you do this, if you worship in your prayer, you seek to set him first, and then the supplications, the big things, and then the askings, then we're tied all in with Thanksgiving here in a minute. Your askings, all of a sudden, God will move those askings around to conform them with his heart. You see,

I've started off before with askings of smite him, God, you know, smite this one. They don't deserve to crawl, you know, just smite him. Let him see the force of your justice. And I'll pray. I prayed that for several times in a row, and then it's through continuing to pray and continuing to worship and continuing to grow in that, that God moves my heart around to, well, God, don't smite

him. You know, don't hurt him too bad. Just let him come to the point that they know you. Break him in whatever way so that they come to know you. And then he's even brought me around to those that I prayed that he smite, that God bless him, God raise him up, God strengthen him, God let him, let him be a vessel fit for your use. What, what a handiwork of God to thwart the enemy. If God would take one in the enemy's camp,

take him from that camp, turn him around and make him a vessel fit for his use. Wow, what a defeat for the enemy. But see, I had to keep asking for the Lord to turn my heart around to get that perspective because initially smite him, I'm done with it. You know, it's out of my life. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry.

I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. I can cry. That went off my journal and pray for something now. So he wants us to ask, to keep on asking, to continue to ask. That's part of our prayer time. Keep a journal. I don't care how you write. You don't write. You don't keep a journal. Start purposing to keep a journal. Even if you miss a

day or a week or a month, I've gone and not kept a journal for a year at a time and gone back and started again, started again. And it's amazing what God does as you write down requests. With thanksgiving, present your requests to God. The word with just couples in with all, in all praying, All of it has to be with thanksgiving. All of it has to be with thanksgiving.

In order to realize the peace of God, you have to pray with thanksgiving. I don't understand why, Lord, in the midst of this, but I thank you. I thank you that you know that you're in control. I don't understand, but thank you, Lord. Just begin to do that. In everything that you do, in everything that you talk to God about, just thank him. You're in control.

I know you're here. I know you're in control. I thank you for that, Lord. Thank you for doing what you're doing. Even if right now it appears you're doing nothing, I thank you because you're in control. You're doing something. Present your requests to God. Too often, and I shared that earlier, about too often people think they pray and they don't pray about it again

because that shows a lack of faith. But present your requests to God has the idea of presenting them to God without having to present them to everybody else first. You see, often we do that. I have a prayer request. I want everybody to know I have this need for $500. Then I'll ask God and somebody gives me $500. Well, praise God. Where did that come from? Well, you told me you needed $500.

What a blessing it is when you go to the Lord and say, God, I need this. I don't know where it's going to come from. When God moves somebody's heart and they come and say, I don't know, but I've just been impressed to give you this check for $500. Wow, God moves mighty ways. Present your requests to God. And the peace of God, verse 7, it transcends all understanding,

will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus. The peace of God. It doesn't say the peace with God. So you have to have peace with God to have the peace of God. And before you come to Jesus Christ, you are at war with him because Jesus is the only way to God. Jesus himself said that. I am the way and the truth and the life. And no man comes to the Father

but by me. So until you go through Christ, until you go through the cross, until you say, Lord, forgive me for I'm a sinner and based on the shed blood of your son, Jesus Christ on the cross, cleanse me from my unrighteousness and draw me into that fellowship. Until you do that, you are still at enmity with God. You're still at war with God. But when you do that,

you all of a sudden are no longer at war with God. You are at peace with God and can now experience the peace of God. You see, the world prays, but only Christians can know peace from prayer. Everybody in the world prays, but only the believer can know the peace of God as a result of prayer because it's the peace of God which can only come to those who are at peace with God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding.

If you're reading King James or another version, you may have the word surpasses all understanding. It literally means to hold above your understanding. In other words, as we do these things, as we seek to stand firm and maintain unity and rejoice in the midst of everything and pray the peace of God, which is above our understanding, comes. You've experienced it more than likely.

You've gone through some real heavy circumstance, maybe the loss of a family member, and God has sustained you. And people come to you and say, how have you been able to do that? How have you been able to exist with all this pressure and stress? And you say, it's just the Lord. And you mean that because you can't define it. I can't tell you. I don't know. It's beyond me.

It's beyond my understanding how in the world that's happened. I just know that I've just trusted the Lord in this and there's a peace. There's an understanding that he's in control, a knowledge that he is in control of this. The peace of God, which surpasses your understanding, which transcends that, it's beyond your mind to be able to figure it out, will guard your hearts and your minds, will guard your emotions and your thought life.

The word guards, there's a military term, garrisons. I mentioned that last week. When Ann and I were in Israel, we went to the top of Masada. Masada was a fortress that 900 plus Jews fled to from Jerusalem during the time that the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was burned in 70 AD. They resisted the Romans for two or three years up there until the Romans built a siege ramp

up to the top and came in to overcome Masada. And the night before they were ready to break through and overcome, the 964 or however many Jews there were there took an oath together and they selected 10 men from among them and those 10 went among and with the sword they killed everybody. And then finally, among the 10, they drew a straw and the one man killed the other nine and then he fell on his own sword. So when the Romans came into Masada that next day, they found nothing but corpses.

Because the Jews refused to allow themselves to be slaves of the Roman Empire again. But you can go to Masada now and you can stand up there and you can look down at the bottom of the mountain and you can see these circles that were fortresses literally that the Romans built around the base and their troops were garrisoned there. They were stationed there. It was literally impossible for you to come off the mountain and go out or to come into the mountain because the garrisons were stationed around there.

And what an interesting picture to think about God's peace garrisons your heart and your mind in the midst of this. Satan wants to make you anxious. He wants to distract you and bring your mind off of Christ and onto the situation. But as you're seeking to stand firm, as you're seeking to rejoice in the Lord, as you're seeking to maintain the unity of the body and the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace, as you're praying and lifting these things up, the Lord garrisons your heart and your mind from the attacks of the enemy.

He guards it. Nothing can get through. Nothing can distract you. But see, each one of these four things are things that we have to do. God's called us to do those. You just don't read the verse and it happens. We have to respond in doing that. Now, quickly, as we close, I know we're running a little bit late. Paul is talking about this to the church in Philippi

and telling them to do this corporately. Now, I believe this is something individually we should be doing. Yes, that's something individually as Christians we should be doing. But he's calling for this corporately. Listen, brothers and sisters, we are in a time of national crisis. Our country is really going downhill fast. The morals and the values that we have known

growing up are eroding. The basis for our morals and values as Christians is God and Jesus Christ and his word, the Bible. Those things we have been told not to mention anymore. Just go ahead and live. Just don't mention the name anymore. Just be tolerant and just keep it to yourself. And we are at the point where there's going to be literal persecution for standing up

for your faith in Jesus Christ. In the midst of this, I really believe as Christians we need to maintain a Christian dignity, if you will, that our gentleness needs to be made known to all, that the love of Christ needs to flow through us to all. That's difficult to do in these times when you are identified, when you just say the name Jesus Christ with a radical anti-government movement. It's really hard to do to let your gentleness show forth.

We need to pray for our nation corporately. Call the prayer. You're in Philippians or you should be in Philippians. Go to your right just a few pages. You'll go through Colossians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians and go to 1 Timothy, which is the next one. 1 Timothy 2. 1 Timothy 2. Paul's writing to Timothy at the church of Ephesus. And Timothy's having a rough time

at the church of Ephesus. Things are going bad. They're losing their first love. Timothy's frustrated. Things are getting tense in Ephesus with the government and all. And Paul writes to Timothy, I urge them, first of all, verse 1, chapter 2, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving, same basic order we had in Philippians, be made for everyone,

for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peacefully and quiet lives in all God's love. Godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God, our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Paul says to Timothy, pray for the authorities, for the king and for all those in authority that as Christians we might live in peace for God wants all to come to a knowledge of the truth.

In other words, that the gospel might have free course. Remember, we prayed for that in Thessalonians. That the gospel might have free course through us. We need to be doing that. We need to be doing that as a church. Here in Philippians, again, Paul is, urging the church to do that. There have recently been two calls to national calls to a time of prayer and fasting.

One is coming up the 14th, 15th and 16th of November. Bill Bright is heading that up, the leader of Campus Crusade for Christ. This is the third year I think they've done it. They will be meeting specifically in a specific location and if people can come there, there are speakers that are going to be speaking and leading the congregation of the group that comes there in prayer.

I think American Family Radio has been talking about that one. They're going to have satellite dish centers set up where you can go and participate in the seminar and all but it's going to be, and we'll talk about that more the closer we get to the 14th, 15th and 16th of November. Again, a national call to prayer and fasting. But there's a second one that I want to talk to you about.

This summer, this past summer at the Southern Baptist Convention, their national convention, there was a pastor named Ronnie Floyd who's a pastor of the largest church, coincidentally, in the state of Arkansas and he was one of the main speakers, one of the keynote speakers and he called for all of the 40,000 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention to do, to do something this fall. The first thing he called for the churches to do, the congregations, was on Sunday, October 27th, today. He called for all the pastors in all these 40,000 churches to speak, to share about the need for prayer and the need for fasting and asking the fellowship to commit to one day between today and Wednesday the 30th as a time of personal fasting

and prayer before the Lord for revival. That God would move in our nation, in our city, in our church and in our nation to do something with revival. That we pray for our leaders. That we would confess our sin. That we would ask God to show his mercy and to bring his mercy upon us as individuals and as a nation. That we would fast together and pray for that

at least one day during this week between now and Wednesday the 30th. Yes, in preparation for the elections and we'll do something again next Sunday, but specifically that the body of Christ in these Southern Baptist churches might be drawn together for this. That's all he was talking to was the churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. The churches all over the world are now wanting to do this.

And I received a letter from one of the pastors of one of the churches in our community the other day sharing that he was encouraging us as pastors to do this. I see it as a need. And so I'm calling us together to do that. Now, I mentioned at the beginning that I was going to talk about revival. I believe that the situation and the circumstances that we're in

is evident of Paul's prophecies concerning the last days that he talked to Timothy about in Thessalonians and in 2 Timothy chapter 3. That things are that bad. We're that close to the Lord's coming back. We're that close to the Lord's coming back. But again, there can be a complacency in that that says, yo, come on, Lord. You know, I'm ready. My neighbor may not be.

My father may not be. My wife or husband may not be. But I'm ready. Come on, let's get out of here. That's a complacency. That's Laodicea. There's an emphasis that burns with the first love that says, Lord, I'm ready for you to come. Yet, there's this one here, Lord, that needs to hear. And so it's a revival not that is seeking to say, well, I don't believe

the rapture's that close. It's a revival that's seeking to say, this may be the last move of God's Spirit in the hearts of people that creates an opening for the gospel to be shared before we're taken out. And that's what all of these churches are praying for right now is the move of God's Spirit in this way for the last draining before we're caught up and out of here. And so I would like to challenge you between now and Wednesday to set aside some time to just fast and pray for this nation, for the leaders, for this church, that God would move in a mighty way and bring revival and get us off of our Laodicean fence and back into a burning first love with the Lord.

Now, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6 verses 16 through 18, when you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do for they disfigure their faces to show men they're fasting. I tell you the truth, they've received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father who is unseen and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Now, Jesus didn't say if you fast.

He says when you fast. It was an assumption that the believers would be fasting Now, you may say, oh, well, this was this was Jesus speaking in Matthew to the Jews. So it's just the Jew because the Jew was used to fasting. It was part of his heritage. He fasted a lot and prayed. So this was just specifically to the Jewish believer. Oh, really? Well, this was before

the church was born. So we could just say, well, that was just to the 12. No, no, I think it's to all of us as a church. It's assumed that there will be times that we fast, that we will be fasting. So when you fast, he said. So the idea of fasting and prayer, when was it? Don't, don't, don't tell me. Just think, when was the last time you fasted and prayed?

When was the last time you prayed other than at meals or at bedtime or in a devotional time? When was the last time you just set apart some time to just pray? Your fasting is between you and the Lord. I would ask that you purpose to do this with us as a congregation and with these brothers and sisters around the world. I know several may have health problems

and you can't fast for a day. Maybe you can fast one meal. Maybe you can't. Fine. If for health reasons you can't, just pray. Just take some time to pray. But if you can, if you can purpose to fast for one day, traditionally, it will start sundown the one day to sundown the next day. So you could finish, you could finish a dinner, eat an early dinner on Monday

and then have dinner again on Tuesday. And you're not going to die from not having a couple of meals. And again, don't focus on the food you're not going to eat. You will eat again. But use that as a time. What are the goals? Chapter three, focus on Christ. He's the focus of my life. I want to know him. Every time, you have a hunger pang one of these days this week

during your fast, pray. Just make that reminder to pray, to know him, to pray for this country, to pray for his hand on the outcome of the elections, to pray for the church that it's strengthened, to pray for hearts that they're open to hear the word of God. Pastor Floyd also called for a time of corporate prayer for tonight, for this evening. And so all of the churches in the 40,000 church Southern Baptist Convention will be getting together tonight specifically to have a convocation on Sunday.

A time of prayer, a time of confession of sin, both individually and corporately for the nation crying out to God for his mercy, thanking God for his care and for his blessing. And so tonight, I've talked to Andy and normally at 7 o'clock we have our evening service. For tonight's 7 o'clock evening service, we'll have a convocation of prayer. We'll gather together.

It's just going to be a time of going before the Lord in prayer, confessing our sin, recognizing his sovereignty, asking for his mercy. And I invite you, I encourage you to join us tonight at 7 o'clock if you can. We'll be joining together with believers around the world as we do that. Then next Sunday we'll talk about and have some prayer time during the main service for that week for the elections and all.

Another familiar verse. Stand with me if you would. I know we're ready to close.

2 Chronicles 7, verse 14. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Another verse that we often quote at times when we're calling for prayer. Again, it's meaningless unless we think about what it's saying.

If my people who are called by my name, somebody could say, well, that's Old Testament. God is speaking specifically to Israel, specifically to the Jews. Those were his people. They were called by his name. Is that right? What are you? Are you a Christian? By whose name are you identified if you're a Christian by the name of Christ? So if my people, who are called by my name,

will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, those are four things that we're to do, but they're all joined together. It's not if they will humble themselves, comma, and pray, comma, and seek my face, comma, and turn from their wicked ways as if those are four individual, independent things to do. No. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, you see, it's like talking to Max the dog in that Pizza Hut commercial.

If you will humble yourself and pray, that means if you will take the time to do it and seek my face, that's what you do when you pray, and turn from your wicked ways, that's the result of worship and you see your own sin and you repent of it. See, all that's joined together. If you humble yourself to do that, then, he says, well, I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land. I think this applies today.

I don't think as we do this, it's just going to turn the nation around to where everybody's going to become a Christian. I think, again, we're in the 2 Timothy 3. We're in the 2 Thessalonians 2. We're in the last ticks of the clock. And it's like asking God to hold the weight of the hammer up, Lord, just a little bit longer so we can let your spirit move and bring in the last bit of harvest

before you bring your judgment. I ask you to join with us and with brothers and sisters around the world to do that.

To be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Paul says to Timothy, pray, for the authorities, for the king and for all those in authority that as Christians we might live in peace for God wants all to come to a knowledge of the truth. In other words, that the gospel might have free course. Remember we prayed for that in Thessalonians. That the gospel

might have free course through us. We need to be doing that. We need to be doing that as a church. Here in Philippians, again, Paul is urging the church to do that. There have recently been two calls, national calls to a time of prayer and fasting. One is coming up the 14th, 15th, and 16th of November. Bill Bright is heading that up, the leader of Campus Crusade

for Christ. This is the third year I think they've done it. They will be meeting specifically in a specific location and if people can come there, there are speakers that are going to be speaking and leading the congregation or the group that comes there in prayer. I think American Family Radio has been talking about that one. They're going to have satellite dish centers

set up where you can go and participate in the seminar and all. But it's going to be, and we'll talk about that more the closer we get to the 14th, 15th, and 16th of November. Again, a national call to prayer and fasting. But there's a second one that I want to talk to you about. This summer, this past summer at the Southern Baptist Convention, their national convention,

there was a pastor named Ronnie Floyd who was the pastor of the largest church, coincidentally, in the state of Arkansas. And he was one of the main speakers, one of the keynote speakers. And he called for all of the 40,000 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention to do something this fall. The first thing he called for the churches to do, the congregations, was on Sunday, October 27th, today.

He called for all the pastors in all these 40,000 churches to speak, to share about, the need for prayer and the need for fasting and asking the fellowship to commit to one day between today and Wednesday the 30th as a time of personal fasting and prayer before the Lord for revival. That God would move in our nation, in our city, in our church, and in our nation with revival. That we pray for our leaders. That we would confess our sin.

That we would ask God to show his mercy and to bring his mercy upon us as individuals and as a nation. That we would fast together and we would pray for our leaders. And pray for that at least one day during this week between now and Wednesday the 30th. Yes, in preparation for the elections and we'll do something again next Sunday. But specifically that the body of Christ

in these Southern Baptist churches might be drawn together for this. That's all he was talking to was the churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. The churches all over the world are now wanting to do this. And I received a letter from one of the pastors of one of the churches in our community the other day sharing that he was encouraging us as pastors to do this.

I see it as a need. And so I'm calling us together to do that. Now, I mentioned at the beginning that I was going to talk about revival. I believe that the situation and the circumstances that we're in is evident of Paul's prophecies concerning the last days that he talked to Timothy about in Thessalonians and in 2 Timothy chapter 3. That things are that bad.

We're that close to the Lord's coming back. But again, there can be a complacency in that that says, yo, come on, Lord. You know, I'm ready. My neighbor may not be. My father may not be. My wife or husband may not be. But I'm ready. Come on, let's get out of here. That's a complacency. That's Laodicea. There's an emphasis that burns with the first love that says, Lord,

I'm ready for you to come. Yet, there's this one here, Lord, that needs to hear. And so it's a revival not that is seeking to say, well, I don't believe the rapture is that close. It's a revival that's seeking to say, this may be the last move of God's spirit in the hearts of people that creates an opening for the gospel to be shared before we're taken out.

And that's what all of these churches are praying for right now is the move of God's spirit in this way for the last draining before we're caught up and out of here. And so I would like to challenge you between now and Wednesday to set aside some time to just fast and pray for this nation, for the leaders, for this church, that God would move in a mighty way and bring revival and get us off of our Laodicean fence and back into a burning first love with the Lord. Now, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 6, verses 16 through 18, when you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they're fasting. I tell you the truth, they've received their reward in full.

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father who is unseen and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Now, Jesus didn't say if you fast. He says when you fast. It was an assumption that the believers would be fasting. Now, you may say, oh, well, this was

Jesus speaking in Matthew to the Jews. So it's just because the Jew was used to fasting. It was part of his heritage. He fasted a lot and prayed. So this was just specifically to the Jewish people believer. Oh, really? Well, this was before the church was born. So we could just say, well, that was just to the 12. No, I think it's to all of us as a church. It's assumed that there will be

times that we fast, that we will be fasting. So when you fast, he said. So the idea of fasting and prayer, when was it? Don't tell me. Just think, when was the last time you fasted and prayed? When was the last time you prayed other than at meals or at bedtime or in a devotional time? When was the last time you just set apart some time to just pray? Your fasting is

between you and the Lord. I would ask that you purpose to do this with us as a congregation and with these brothers and sisters around the world. I know several may have health problems and you can't fast for a day. Maybe you can fast one meal. Maybe you can't. Fine. If for health reasons you can't, just pray. Just take some time to pray. But if you can, if you can purpose to fast

for one day, traditionally it will start sundown the one day to sundown the next day. So you could finish, you could finish a dinner, eat an early dinner on Monday and then have dinner again on Tuesday. And you're not going to die from not having a couple of meals. And again, don't focus on the food you're not going to eat. You will eat again. But use that as a time.

The goals, chapter three, focus on Christ. He's the focus of my life. I want to know Him. Every time you have a hunger pain, one of these days this week during your fast, pray. Just make that reminder to pray, to know Him, to pray for this country, to pray for His hand on the outcome of the elections, to pray for the church that it's strengthened, to pray for hearts

that they're overshadowed, to hear the Word of God. Pastor Floyd also called for a time of corporate prayer for tonight, for this evening. And so all of the churches in the 40,000 church Southern Baptist Convention will be getting together tonight specifically to have a convocation of prayer, a time of confession of sin, both individually and corporately for the nation crying out to God for His mercy, thanking God for His care and for His blessing. And so tonight, I've talked to Andy and normally at 7 o'clock we have our evening prayer.

For the 9th, 7 o'clock evening service we'll have a convocation of prayer. We'll gather together. It's just going to be a time of going before the Lord in prayer, confessing our sin, recognizing His sovereignty, asking for His mercy. And I invite you, I encourage you to join us tonight at 7 if you can for that. We'll be joining together with believers around the world

as we do that. Then next Sunday we'll talk about and have some prayer time during the main service for that week for the elections and all. Another familiar verse. Stand with me if you would. I know we're ready to close. 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,

then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Another verse that we often quote at times when we're calling for prayer. Again, it's meaningless unless we think about what it's saying. If my people who are called by my name. Somebody could say, well, that's Old Testament. God is speaking specifically to Israel, specifically to the Jews.

Those were his people. They were called by his name. Is that right? What are you? Are you a Christian? By whose name are you identified if you're a Christian by the name of Christ? So if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Those are four things that we're to do that they're all joined together.

It's not if they will humble themselves, comma, and pray, comma, and seek my face, comma, and turn from their wicked ways as if those are four individual independent things to do. No. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray. You see, it's like talking to Max the dog in that Pizza Hut commercial. If you will humble yourself and pray,

that means if you will take the time to do it and seek my face, that's what you do when you pray, and turn from your wicked ways, that's the result of worship and you see your own sin and you repent of it. See, all that's joined together. If you humble yourself to do that, then he says, well, I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land. I think this applies today.

I don't think as we do this, it's just going to turn the nation around to where everybody's going to become a Christian. I think, again, we're in the 2 Timothy 3. We're in the 2 Thessalonians 2. We're in the last ticks of the clock. And it's like asking God to hold the weight of the hammer up, Lord, just a little bit longer so we can let your spirit move and bring it back.

We're in the last bit of harvest before you bring your judgment. I ask you to join with us and with brothers and sisters around the world to do this.