WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 When I'm 85 years old, I want to be more fiery than I am today. 2 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:06.720 You cannot have a lukewarm Christianity. 3 00:00:06.720 --> 00:00:08.800 Jesus said, I will spit you out of my mouth. 4 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:11.040 You're neither cold nor hot, but a lukewarm. 5 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:13.200 I will vomit you out of my mouth. 6 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:15.440 Lord, keep your fire in us. 7 00:00:15.440 --> 00:00:17.440 Keep your zeal in us. 8 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:24.880 God baptizes us a fresh and holy fire for all of City Light Church in Jesus' name. 9 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.560 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. 10 00:00:28.560 --> 00:00:35.520 Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. 11 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:41.360 If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com. 12 00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:44.720 That's citylightnyc.com. 13 00:00:44.720 --> 00:00:52.400 Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. 14 00:00:52.400 --> 00:00:57.360 As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God. 15 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:02.640 That you are surrounded by His grace and that He has a real hope and a future for you. 16 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:13.520 The title of my sermon is notes from the other side exposing the enemy's playbook. 17 00:01:13.520 --> 00:01:16.400 How many of you have read The Screwtaped Letters by C.S. Lewis? 18 00:01:17.600 --> 00:01:18.720 Oh, just a handful. 19 00:01:18.720 --> 00:01:20.160 A lot more in the first service. 20 00:01:20.160 --> 00:01:21.440 If you haven't, you should read it. 21 00:01:21.440 --> 00:01:23.360 It's an easy read. 22 00:01:23.360 --> 00:01:24.240 It's a short read. 23 00:01:24.240 --> 00:01:25.040 It's a fun read. 24 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:26.720 It's a light read. 25 00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:29.600 I feel like I'm doing an ad for a book of the month club. 26 00:01:30.880 --> 00:01:32.080 Reading is fundamental. 27 00:01:34.080 --> 00:01:38.960 And he, C.S. Lewis, who is a Christian writer, very prolific, 28 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:43.200 very profound, very insightful. 29 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:45.920 It was written in 1941. 30 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:52.240 And you know something is insightful and profound when it was written nearly a century ago, 31 00:01:52.240 --> 00:01:55.760 and it still matters today and it's still relevant today. 32 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:58.400 And the Screwtaped Letters are that way. 33 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:02.400 And really the premise of the Screwtaped Letters are two demons talking, 34 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.960 one, a senior demon known as Screwtap, 35 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:10.560 giving advice to young Wormwood, a junior demon. 36 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:16.640 And so it's all from the perspective of these demons revealing their strategy 37 00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:20.000 and how they entice and tempt man to fall away from Christ, 38 00:02:20.720 --> 00:02:26.320 how they attempt to blind them so that they should either never serve the Lord or stop serving 39 00:02:26.320 --> 00:02:29.440 the Lord. And I don't know about you, but I want to be on fire now 40 00:02:30.880 --> 00:02:32.640 until I get there. Amen. 41 00:02:33.440 --> 00:02:36.160 I don't want my fire to grow dimmer and dimmer by the year. 42 00:02:36.160 --> 00:02:42.720 I want it as the Bible promises for it to be brighter and brighter and brighter each and every 43 00:02:42.720 --> 00:02:43.680 successive year. 44 00:02:45.920 --> 00:02:48.640 And we're not to be ignorant of the devil's devices. 45 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:53.120 You know, I find in church people always tend to go to one extreme or another. 46 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:59.680 Either they focus completely on Satan and they become like a PhD in demonology and get all weird 47 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:06.720 and flaky, or they don't even really believe that Satan exists, that there is in a person that 48 00:03:06.720 --> 00:03:12.720 he's just kind of like an abstract force, like a negative energy. No, there is the demonic 49 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:18.800 and there is a Satan. And he has been defeated for the born again, believe in Christian. 50 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:24.400 And he's under our feet to the degree that we believe he's been defeated. Amen. 51 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:31.280 But he's always trying to deceive and trying to get us to fall. 52 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:39.040 Slowly, get us to get colder and colder until we forsake the faith if we're in the faith. 53 00:03:39.760 --> 00:03:46.400 And Paul says, don't be ignorant of his devices, of his wiles, of his strategies. 54 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:54.400 So I want to just, because it's a fun weekend, 4th of July weekend, let's go through 55 00:03:54.400 --> 00:04:02.080 attendees from the screw tape letters, from the senior demon affectionately referred to as Uncle 56 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:12.240 Screw Tape. And how he advises that demons should come to humans and how they should entice them 57 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:19.760 and cause them to grow cold and forsake the faith. Number one, noise and distraction. 58 00:04:20.960 --> 00:04:26.720 It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds. 59 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:32.320 In reality, our best work is done by keeping things out. 60 00:04:34.400 --> 00:04:41.760 So as humans, we're very aware of invasive thoughts. You are, right? Sometimes you're just 61 00:04:41.760 --> 00:04:45.920 minding your own business, all of a sudden a thought that you realize is an ungodly thought. 62 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:50.800 It just comes out of nowhere. It's really like a demon just through a projectile, a dart, 63 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:56.560 right at you and then by the way, you can't overcome thoughts with other thoughts. 64 00:04:57.760 --> 00:05:03.200 You can only overcome thoughts with words. And so we realize he does come from the outside in 65 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:10.880 and we pay attention to that. But we may not realize that also a part of their strategy is to keep 66 00:05:10.880 --> 00:05:18.480 God's thoughts out. So how do they do that with noise and distraction? Again, written in 1941, 67 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:25.040 how noisy could it have been when I think of my childhood in the 80s, even if you're watching old 68 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:32.320 80s movie or you watch an 80s movie that takes place in the 50s like stand by me. One of the first 69 00:05:32.320 --> 00:05:36.720 things, one of the first things that's so strange to me is when I think about my childhood, 70 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:42.160 it was so quiet. But there were distractions then. But how much more so now? 71 00:05:42.640 --> 00:05:52.000 And so how does God speak to us in the stillness, in the silence? I would venture to say that 72 00:05:52.000 --> 00:06:04.240 over half of my prayer is quiet prayer. What's known as soaking prayer? That a really, really I noticed 73 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:09.440 West Coast former Christian hippies love soaking prayers. It's like I'm soaking. 74 00:06:10.400 --> 00:06:15.600 And anybody with a Catholic background loves the term contemplative prayer, meditative prayer, 75 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:22.080 listening prayer, old-school Pentecostal, waiting on the Lord, waiting. It's all means the same 76 00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:30.800 thing. It means you're not talking. And it's very difficult to do from a human perspective. Why? 77 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:36.720 Because we like to work. We like to be busy. We like to do something. If I'm not talking, 78 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:41.840 God's going to get bored and distracted by somebody in China who is. So I got a yell and talk 79 00:06:41.840 --> 00:06:45.600 and keep going to keep his attention and you don't have to do any of that. 80 00:06:48.640 --> 00:06:52.720 In fact, Jesus cautioned against talking too much. I actually believe that some of our prayers are 81 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:58.240 too long. Jesus, I don't think you'll be heard for your much speaking. When I need something from 82 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:04.800 the Lord, like the prayer of petition, short and sweet under 30 seconds. How many different ways 83 00:07:04.880 --> 00:07:11.600 can you word? Mark 1124. This is what I need, Lord. This is what your word promises me. I believe 84 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:17.200 you that I receive this. Amen. Now, if I add more to that, I'm just kind of trying with my 85 00:07:18.080 --> 00:07:23.760 verbosity to twist his arm and to doing what I want him to do. No, I want him to do what he already 86 00:07:23.760 --> 00:07:29.600 said he would do in his word. So that leaves a whole lot of room for us to be still before the Lord. 87 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:36.800 And it's uncomfortable. But if you can press past that discomfort, you will strike 88 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:41.360 oil. I'm telling you, you will hit a gusher. Every time I've had a major breakthrough in my life, 89 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:49.280 I mean, every time like clockwork, it was always prefaced with another time of dedicated, 90 00:07:49.280 --> 00:07:54.560 still prayer, contemplated prayer, being quiet. You said, well, what do you think about? I think 91 00:07:54.640 --> 00:07:59.840 about Jesus. Well, what happens when your mind wanders? Oh, it does. I wonder it back. 92 00:08:02.400 --> 00:08:06.640 In the beginning, when you try this, you'll notice your mind is very indisciplined. After 15 seconds, 93 00:08:06.640 --> 00:08:10.720 you're thinking about your to-do list. The dog hasn't been walked. I wonder what I should make for 94 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:18.800 dinner tonight. It'd be like, there's my phone across the room calling out to me. I should just 95 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:24.320 check it just once. You say no to that. You focus on Jesus. Now, next time you make it a full minute. 96 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:30.800 Then you'll make it a minute and 10 seconds. Next thing you know, you can go 20 minutes and 97 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:39.520 you're comfortable being still. There is such a preciousness to that. Because the Bible says he 98 00:08:39.520 --> 00:08:46.400 will come to you with a still small voice. There's a reason. Do you know the majority of miracles in 99 00:08:46.400 --> 00:08:51.680 the Bible took place in the morning? Jesus sought the Father early in the morning. In the old 100 00:08:51.680 --> 00:08:56.880 testimonial, you'll see that phrase early. Will I seek you, Lord, when it's quiet? In fact, 101 00:08:56.880 --> 00:09:01.440 the Bible says to seek him while the dew is still on the grass. When there's a stillness, 102 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:06.400 when there's a quietness, when the world hasn't woken up yet, you can be still before the Lord. He 103 00:09:06.400 --> 00:09:11.680 has no problem with you. Sometimes not saying a word. Good morning, Lord. Hallelujah. And then just 104 00:09:11.680 --> 00:09:19.280 be with him. Jesus said this to Martha. He rebuked her. He said, you're so busy. Martha is indicative 105 00:09:19.280 --> 00:09:27.280 of your typical church goer. Busy, busy, busy, busy. And he said, Martha, you're so 106 00:09:27.280 --> 00:09:35.200 encumbered about. Look at Mary just sitting at my feet, hearing my word. Just to sit at his feet 107 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:39.920 and hear his word. Sometimes his word is simple like I'm with you and I love you. 108 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:46.400 But when I've done that part of being still before the Lord, then I can be somewhere where I'm not 109 00:09:46.400 --> 00:09:53.360 even seeking him. I can be driving my car. And because I've done the work of being still before 110 00:09:53.360 --> 00:10:02.800 him earlier, I'll just get a word from the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah. So this applied back in 1941, 111 00:10:02.800 --> 00:10:09.120 how much now when we have phones and we're really missing ourselves up with the distraction of phones? 112 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:15.360 I took my wife to Vegas a few months ago because we needed to double or maybe even triple our 113 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:24.480 building fund. And we just thought, Jesus, let it ride. See the people, the people who like me 114 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:34.720 sit close. So they know to laugh. I noticed nobody in the back laughed. It's almost like if I 115 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:45.200 didn't clear you out last Sunday with my talk on Israel, I will today. So praise God. 116 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:54.320 I know the joy of the Lord is my strength. No, she's never been. I've never been. I went once, 117 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:59.760 but it was through a church conference. So I never saw Vegas. So I wanted to take her to Vegas. We saw 118 00:11:00.560 --> 00:11:08.000 like the cheesy classic tourist stuff. Went to Red Rock Canyon, went to Hoover Dam, 119 00:11:08.880 --> 00:11:14.320 went to Cirque du Soleil. And then of course, I had to because he was one of the first people I saw 120 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:18.960 when I first immigrated here in 1981. A little five year old kid. He made the statue of Liberty 121 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:26.880 disappear. David Copperfield. I went to David Copperfield and he did something. It was very offensive. 122 00:11:27.760 --> 00:11:33.040 He took my phone away. He took all of our phones away. And they was on a lock box at our table. 123 00:11:33.040 --> 00:11:38.080 Nobody could have a phone. And I'm not telling you those first 10 minutes without, because I always 124 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:44.960 have it with me. Those first 10 minutes, I felt like that that Dave Chappelle meme, you know, 125 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:51.360 anybody got a phone? I mean my phone. Like a drug addict. 126 00:11:53.680 --> 00:11:59.600 But you know what I noticed after 10 minutes, I was fine. After 15 minutes, I was better. It didn't 127 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:10.640 take that long to detox. My wife is free. She'll go on whole entire walks and leave her phone at 128 00:12:10.640 --> 00:12:22.640 home. I'm like, no babe, I need mine because it counts my steps. But one day I'm going to be like 129 00:12:22.640 --> 00:12:35.040 you hopefully sooner than later. I'm encouraging you to resist these distractions. There are people 130 00:12:35.040 --> 00:12:39.920 really. There are people that are terrified to be alone. You see it all the time. People who 131 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:50.320 their minds now are so gooey, like a lava lamp, just like a crack addict. If they can't have it 132 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:54.400 in front of their face, they're so terrified of being alone with their own thoughts for even five 133 00:12:54.400 --> 00:13:03.360 minutes. If this is you, there is help. Now 1-800-no, there is help. It's not a number. His name is Jesus. 134 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:10.800 But it will help you tremendously to be. It's excruciating. Before for our phones where you 135 00:13:10.800 --> 00:13:17.040 bickwit, it was excruciating then. When I first started to study meditative prayer, contemplative 136 00:13:17.040 --> 00:13:24.880 prayer, listening prayer, it was so lonely. Because during that prayer you're not talking. You're just 137 00:13:24.880 --> 00:13:31.440 being. You're being a human being and not a human doing. And then Satan comes and attacks you and 138 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:36.240 says, oh, you're doing this wrong. Or you're doing nothing. But you're doing everything. You're 139 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:42.720 sitting at his feet and just waiting to hear his word. And if you're going to go and attempt this 140 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:48.000 and you never have, be ready for the first five, six times for nothing to happen. And you're going 141 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.080 to feel like you wasted your time in Satan. We'll tell you that you wasted your time. But do it 142 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:57.920 again the seventh time anyway. Then do it again the eighth and you will hit a gusher in the Holy 143 00:13:57.920 --> 00:14:02.480 Spirit. It will be such a joy and a delight to you as you go to just meet with the Lord and just 144 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:15.600 be with him. Be amazing. Hallelujah. Number two. Anxiety. From the screw tape letters, there is 145 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:25.120 nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against God. How many of you have 146 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:32.560 ever felt anxiety getting everybody? In fact, just yesterday, right? And the day before, 147 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:39.120 nobody, what a bold bunch of lions you are. And by lions, I don't mean the animal. I mean, 148 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:49.680 you're a lion. This is the thing people have anxiety. I had quite a moment yesterday. That was 149 00:14:49.680 --> 00:14:55.840 just yesterday, Saturday morning, because Friday, we left for Manhattan because I've lived in 150 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:01.280 New York City for 44 plus years. And then two years ago, we sold out and moved to Long Island. 151 00:15:04.160 --> 00:15:07.440 I have to say that way because that's what I always thought about people who left New York City. 152 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:13.280 What a sell out. You need to suffer in New York City and live in a shoebox. 153 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:21.520 Stick one of the kids in a broom closet. Now, we moved to Long Island. And the funny thing is, 154 00:15:21.520 --> 00:15:25.840 while I live for those 44 plus years in New York City, my greatest goal on Fourth of July was to 155 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:30.000 get out of the city. And then we get out of the city and we're like, hey, let's go into the fourth 156 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:36.080 of July into the city. So it's a wonderful day. We're walking everywhere because in New York City, 157 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:40.320 there's this thing called walking, which Long Island doesn't have. And we're walking everywhere. 158 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:47.280 And we got a hotel for the night in the East Village. And actually had a view of the East River. 159 00:15:47.280 --> 00:15:53.040 We saw the fireworks popping off. And then we woke up early Sunday morning and we were just a few 160 00:15:53.040 --> 00:15:59.200 blocks from Tomkin Square Park, which is just half a block away from City Light Church in the East 161 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:06.240 Village, where we had a location for 17 years. So I said, let's grab breakfast and go eat it in 162 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:12.320 Tomkin Square Park. So now it's, it's guys, do you know what July 5th looks like in Manhattan? 163 00:16:13.680 --> 00:16:20.080 It was like less dense than COVID than the height of, I mean, it was like the trumpet had sounded 164 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:25.760 everybody went up. And I'm, nobody there. And I'm sitting now, but this is what I want to, 165 00:16:25.760 --> 00:16:31.520 when I want to tell you, I'm sitting on the bench. So I was 26 year old, 26 years old when I 166 00:16:31.520 --> 00:16:40.560 founded City Light, with no denominational support, with no sponsorship alone, and nearly died in 167 00:16:40.560 --> 00:16:48.320 the process. It was such time, my mid-20s riddled with anxiety. So now I'm here with my wife. 168 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:57.520 I'm in the most blessed season I've been in up until now, experiencing his goodness, that song, 169 00:16:57.520 --> 00:17:04.080 his faithfulness. And I'm sitting there and I'm looking at a park where I used to walk and pray 170 00:17:04.080 --> 00:17:13.440 in that park full of anxiety. I mean, I had every dark season of my 20s and my 30s, I experienced 171 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:19.120 in Tomkin Square Park. And now I'm 49, I'll be 50 and half a year. We're having a party, you're all 172 00:17:19.120 --> 00:17:24.160 invited. Can't wait to see you there. You know, by the way, you know what we rented, 173 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:30.400 terrorists on the park. We rented that. I've never had a party, never talked about my birthday, 174 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:38.800 we're usually fasting right in the middle of my birthday. Before my 50th, we're gonna have a time. 175 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:47.520 But anyway, my mid-20s, oh my early 30s full of anxiety, and I had to learn how to handle that 176 00:17:47.520 --> 00:17:53.280 stuff, because it was like a broken record in my head. You're gonna lose. You're gonna fail. You've 177 00:17:53.280 --> 00:17:58.800 wasted your future. You're nothing. This will turn to nothing. Quit. Quit. Just quit. Why aren't you 178 00:17:58.800 --> 00:18:02.640 quitting it? Quit, because you're such a loser. You're such a failure. Quit. I don't know none of you 179 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:11.840 have ever heard these thoughts before. Now, how do you overcome anxiety? One thing in particular, 180 00:18:11.840 --> 00:18:16.320 I can tell you 20 things that will work, but one thing that I've just found helpful to me, 181 00:18:16.320 --> 00:18:21.040 maybe it'll be helpful to you, is found in 1 Peter chapter 5, I believe verse 7. 182 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:31.040 It's something you gotta do. Casting all your care upon him for he cares for you. There's hundreds 183 00:18:31.040 --> 00:18:37.040 of scriptures that tell you don't be afraid, don't worry, don't be anxious. But this one, especially 184 00:18:37.040 --> 00:18:44.000 in the amplified Bible, it says, casting the whole of your care once and for all on him, 185 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:48.320 once and for all, because what happens when you cast your care on the Lord? Somehow, you sneak 186 00:18:48.320 --> 00:18:56.400 it back 30 seconds later. I miss it. Where did that giant trash bag full of my cares go? I'm so used 187 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:04.640 to carrying it around like an anxious Santa Claus. So, picture yourself with that bag of cares. You're 188 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:09.520 hurling it at his feet. Now, tell you why I didn't want to do this, because the way I was brought up, 189 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:16.640 I was taught to be very, very responsible. And if I just cast my care upon the Lord that seemed 190 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:24.160 irresponsible to me, because I had people in my life who were like Akuna Matata Christians, 191 00:19:25.280 --> 00:19:30.160 like, I don't have a worry, and I'm thinking, you kind of should. Like, you haven't even filed 192 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:36.320 your taxes in three years, and you're just like, Christians will do crazy stuff and go, 193 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:43.280 Bible says, don't worry. No, for that. Maybe don't worry, but be concerned in a godly way, 194 00:19:43.280 --> 00:19:48.480 like, handle your business, do what's right. So, to me, not worrying was the same as not having 195 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:52.800 responsibility, but I'm not talking about Akuna Matata, just don't worry, because, you know, it all 196 00:19:52.800 --> 00:19:58.080 will all work out. No, you're, you're existing with God saving your behind, all you're living for 197 00:19:58.080 --> 00:20:01.840 miracle to miracle. What's wrong with it? I don't want to live for miracle to miracle. 198 00:20:01.840 --> 00:20:06.480 There's actually a better way, even higher, where you don't need a miracle every two weeks. 199 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:10.560 Amen. You're just living in his peace and his provision, his abundance, and he's like, 200 00:20:10.560 --> 00:20:17.120 oh, they're asking me how he came through again. You know, I prefer not drowning, but walking 201 00:20:17.120 --> 00:20:23.840 on the water. Hallelujah. So, take your trash bag full of anxieties, right? You're getting 202 00:20:23.840 --> 00:20:31.120 overwhelmed. You're getting overcome and put it at the Lord's feet. And if you're just new to 203 00:20:31.120 --> 00:20:37.920 this, you'll notice after about 30 seconds, you stole it back. So, then out loud stop again. 204 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:45.200 I said, Lord, these anxieties, these worries, these cares. I put them at your feet. I cast them 205 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:50.720 on you. You're big enough to handle them. I'm not. You're not intimidated of that bag. I am. 206 00:20:51.600 --> 00:20:56.240 I'm not doing this in a way where I'm being irresponsible, but it is an act of faith. I'm 207 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:00.720 inviting you into this problem. And that's the key difference. I'm not just saying, oh, I don't 208 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:07.120 want to think about this. I'm saying, Lord, I can't handle this. You can. Every single time you do 209 00:21:07.120 --> 00:21:13.920 that, you'll notice you get more rest in between the next batch of anxiety until you can live an 210 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:20.560 anxiety-free life. Hallelujah. And when problems come and they will, they don't cause anxiety, but 211 00:21:20.560 --> 00:21:26.320 you face them from a place of peace, calmness, hallelujah. Knowing the Lord will give you the 212 00:21:26.320 --> 00:21:33.840 victory. Amen. Number three. Is this blessing you? All right. Self-hatred. 213 00:21:37.600 --> 00:21:40.560 Which, you know, if you've been coming to city light, I'm big on this. 214 00:21:42.800 --> 00:21:48.560 And some people, I haven't been criticized for it, but I've seen the nature of some people online 215 00:21:48.560 --> 00:21:52.480 where they would say, oh, you're, you know, are you pastoring one of those feel-good churches? 216 00:21:53.280 --> 00:21:58.640 Were you just tell the people over and over again that God's a God of grace and that He loves them 217 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:03.200 no matter what? Yeah, yeah, because that's what I see in the Bible. And what they're really saying 218 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.600 is, but you need to belt them over the head here and there. I mean, don't let them feel too good 219 00:22:07.600 --> 00:22:13.520 about themselves and what Jesus has done just occasionally, just to remind them after all, this is 220 00:22:13.520 --> 00:22:21.200 church. And you should feel miserable about your existence from time to time. But that's not God's 221 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:29.120 way. Jesus said to Peter, feed my sheep, not beat my sheep. But it turns out, self-hatred was a 222 00:22:29.120 --> 00:22:38.800 thing in 1941 too. And in 1841, and in 1741, and you'll find that man, universal man, since the dawn 223 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:47.600 of man and every continent has struggled with these demons that come, these demons of self-deprecation, 224 00:22:47.600 --> 00:22:53.600 where you're told you're not enough, you're not good enough, and one of the key things people 225 00:22:53.600 --> 00:23:02.560 struggle with is self-hatred. That's why we lift up Jesus because He wipes that away, because 226 00:23:02.560 --> 00:23:07.920 there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Amen. We lift up the blood of 227 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:13.680 Jesus because it's via the blood of Jesus that you are wiped squeaky clean. God doesn't just love 228 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:24.240 you. Do you know He likes you? With all your stuff, with all your brokenness, He loves you through 229 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:33.200 into holiness. Maybe you don't enjoy you, but God actually enjoys you. I'm speaking of Christians 230 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:39.440 here. If you're not a Christian, become one. I highly recommend it. We don't have a six-week 231 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:47.840 class fort. Confess your sins to God. Tell Him you are a sinner. And say, Jesus, I trust in you 232 00:23:47.840 --> 00:23:53.200 for my righteousness. I trust in you. I look to the cross. I want a relationship with you. 233 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:58.000 Congratulations. Now you're a Christian. And now God the Father looks at you through a filter of 234 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:03.840 the blood of Jesus and cannot find one thing wrong with you. Now you're approved and you're accepted. 235 00:24:05.040 --> 00:24:09.440 I have to say approved and accepted because those are the words that the Bible uses. Because the 236 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:14.800 big thing today in PC culture is, well, you're accepted. Everybody should be accepted. So, 237 00:24:14.800 --> 00:24:19.200 God, yeah, great. You're accepted. Fine. But are you approved? But through the blood of Jesus, 238 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:24.880 you're also approved. The Bible says you're justified, which means that you're pronounced not guilty, 239 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:38.320 hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. I'm having the time of my life. I really am. Because the Lord has 240 00:24:38.320 --> 00:24:48.000 done a work in my heart recently that I didn't even know needed to be done. It really, really began 241 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:58.560 in 2020 during COVID, where some of those other remaining elements of performance were taken away. 242 00:24:59.760 --> 00:25:04.800 And even for pastors, any pastor worth their weight in salt, they want to be the best pastor they 243 00:25:04.800 --> 00:25:09.760 can be. The best pastor, the God has called them to be. But our wires can get crossed because when 244 00:25:09.760 --> 00:25:15.120 you see other successful pastors, you might want to be like them. But I can only be who God has 245 00:25:15.120 --> 00:25:23.280 called me to be. And when I made my peace with that, I became an even healthier version of who 246 00:25:23.280 --> 00:25:29.840 God called me to be. And I'm saying, oh, this for you. Because your job is not to be somebody else. 247 00:25:29.840 --> 00:25:34.160 It's not to fulfill somebody else's calling. It's to find out what the Lord has for you and then 248 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:43.600 just do that. No more, no less. And there is such a peace and a rest in that. Hallelujah. Number four, 249 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:56.960 lukewarm faith. Here's what uncle screw tape said to Wormwood, a moderated religion is as good for 250 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:03.200 us as no religion at all and more amusing. I find that hilarious and more because demons are even more 251 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:11.120 amused with the lukewarm Christian than the total non-Christian. I just made a decision when I was 252 00:26:11.120 --> 00:26:16.960 16 years old and those kids, those other teenagers were witnessing to me. I made a decision. I'm going 253 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:23.840 to go all in or I'm not going in at all. If you're at city light, I'm pretty confident that you made 254 00:26:23.840 --> 00:26:31.360 that same decision. Well, are you a fundamentalist? No, I just kind of decide what I like the Bible to say 255 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:35.760 and then the parts I don't like, I just cut those out. Yeah, I'm a fundamentalist. 256 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:44.480 You see how other Christians treat you, you know, cultural Christians, 257 00:26:45.840 --> 00:26:52.640 treating parts of the Bible like their suggestions. No, no, he gave his life for me and he wants me 258 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:58.800 to give my life for him and his life is worth a lot more so I'm getting a good deal here. What's 259 00:26:58.800 --> 00:27:05.200 my life worth? Nothing. He gave his life for me. All he wants is my life in return. But I want to 260 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:10.720 fire. For the sake of my children, I want to fire. For the sake of my children's children, I want to 261 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:17.280 fire. When I'm 85 years old, I want to be more fiery than I am today. You cannot have a lukewarm 262 00:27:17.280 --> 00:27:22.640 Christianity. Jesus said, I will spit you out of my mouth. You're neither cold nor hot, but a lukewarm. 263 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:28.480 I will vomit you out of my mouth. Lord, keep your fire in us. Keep your zeal in us. 264 00:27:30.320 --> 00:27:37.600 God baptize us a fresh and holy fire for all of city like church in Jesus name. 265 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:43.920 Hallelujah. You can always test your fire. You know what a good measure of your fire is? 266 00:27:44.320 --> 00:27:52.720 Your generosity with people in your giving. You show me a stingy person. I'll show you somebody who's 267 00:27:52.720 --> 00:28:03.040 got a cold heart. Hallelujah. Also the Lordship of Christ. When your whole heart attitude is Lord 268 00:28:03.040 --> 00:28:07.840 all I want is what you want for me. That's a good measure that your fire is at a good temperature. 269 00:28:08.560 --> 00:28:14.080 Cold lukewarm Christians. They act like they can do anything. I can't do anything. I'm 270 00:28:14.080 --> 00:28:20.720 hopefully one of the freest people you'll ever meet. He sent me free. But I can't go anywhere I want to. 271 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:26.880 I can't do anything I want to. I'm on a short leash and I wouldn't have any other way. Paul said, 272 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:32.160 I'm a bond servant. He said, I'm a slave, but in chains of love. In other words, a bond servant 273 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:36.960 was someone who actually wanted to be attached to a better house and was willing to serve there 274 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:45.920 but so that they could be in the master's household. Hallelujah. Number five, wasting time. 275 00:28:47.600 --> 00:28:55.600 You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption my time is my own. 276 00:28:55.760 --> 00:29:08.240 I found that on average Christians are praying less but they have more free time than ever before. 277 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:13.920 Does anybody really believe there was busy as we pretend to be? We're really not. 278 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:20.480 It used to take 90 plus hours a week to keep a regular normal household going. 279 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:28.240 And I'm going to talk about 500 years ago. I'm talking about the turn of the 20th century in the early 280 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:38.560 1900s. I had a glimpse into that growing up in former Yugoslavia as a kid and going back there 281 00:29:38.560 --> 00:29:44.320 every summer because my grandparents were constantly moving and working just to keep a small household 282 00:29:44.320 --> 00:29:48.240 going. They had to go to the market every day because their food doesn't have preservatives 283 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:53.040 like ours does. So they had to get milk every day. Can you believe that? The next week the milk 284 00:29:53.040 --> 00:29:59.840 would stink. They had to get a loaf of bread every single morning. You wait two days. It was like 285 00:29:59.840 --> 00:30:06.480 hard as a brick. Our bread you can drop a slice behind your couch, find it five years later. 286 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:12.560 Still soft and fluffy. You ever drop a McDonald's French fry in your car? 287 00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:22.480 My kids drop one back in 2016. I found it the other day was still gold and perfect. Tasted the same 288 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:34.080 too. No, just kidding. Today your dishwasher can be connected to your phone via Wi-Fi. 289 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:42.480 But because we don't even... I don't know. I used to spend my Saturdays waiting in line. 290 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:47.120 Anybody over 40 you remember Saturdays were for shopping and for waiting. Everything was waiting. 291 00:30:47.120 --> 00:30:50.800 I'd be like, wow it's 5 p.m. There goes my Saturday. I was just waiting in line the whole Saturday. 292 00:30:51.520 --> 00:30:55.760 I don't remember the last time I waited in line. You have to wait in line in Starbucks. You can 293 00:30:55.760 --> 00:31:00.960 have your drink waiting for you. Everything is delivered. What am I saying? We have plenty of time. 294 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:07.200 We're not that busy. But we need to store it at that time. And just say, Lord, now you don't 295 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:12.640 be busy. I know there's a hustle culture. You've got to be... No, you can rest in God. But if you 296 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:21.600 rest in God, do it intentionally. If you just want to just... Just dawdle around your house, 297 00:31:21.600 --> 00:31:28.080 but do that intentionally. But don't allow time, which is one of the most precious commodities you 298 00:31:28.080 --> 00:31:35.200 can have to just escape you. Amen. Number six, encouraging extremism. 299 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:46.240 The senior demon training the younger demon says, all extremes except extreme devotion to God 300 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:54.560 are to be encouraged. Politics, fitness, even religiosity itself become corrupt if devoid of 301 00:31:54.560 --> 00:32:00.480 charity and the love of God. So make sure that you are passionate and extreme in your pursuit of 302 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:04.800 the Lord. And there's other things that if you become too extreme, they can become an idol in 303 00:32:04.800 --> 00:32:15.920 your life. Amen. Especially politics. Even great noble pursuits like health. All right, 304 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:23.440 got two amends on that one. So I'll go to number seven. It's just because we're not in that wave 305 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:30.880 right now. But if we were in a wave, because people are so easily programmed. And when they start 306 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:36.320 pulling the levers and then you start getting your programming via social media and other sites, 307 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:40.320 all of a sudden you start caring about stuff that you never thought about before. Then all of a 308 00:32:40.320 --> 00:32:45.200 sudden you become an extremist about something you never even cared about before. And don't realize 309 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:50.720 that you've been programmed now in just a matter of weeks. Hallelujah. Amen or oh me. 310 00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:56.640 Some of you, you really had the heavy barbecue on Friday, huh? You're still recovering. 311 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:10.960 Number seven, destroying sexuality or biblical sexuality. Healthy sexuality. From the book, 312 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:17.200 it is the business of demons to produce in every age a general, they're so poetic. 313 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:25.760 It is the business of demons to produce in every age a general misdirection of what may be called 314 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:30.800 sexual taste. So poetic, you almost don't know what in the world he's talking about. 315 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:37.920 It was so proper in the 40s that the, you know, today I'd say, well, I won't even say what I'd say. 316 00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:41.760 Let's leave it to see as Lewis to do the good talking, amen. 317 00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:53.440 But sexual taste means a monogamous marriage. Amen. Sex is powerful. Sex is a portal into 318 00:33:53.440 --> 00:34:02.400 another realm, literally. Paul said that in Corinthians, who you're joined too sexually, 319 00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:10.160 you're joined too spiritually. Sex is so powerful and so deeply spiritual that God put guardrails 320 00:34:10.160 --> 00:34:16.560 there for our protection. He doesn't punish us when we go outside of those guardrails. We punish 321 00:34:16.560 --> 00:34:21.680 ourselves because we're no longer under his safety and protection. And that's why there is such 322 00:34:21.680 --> 00:34:28.880 an attack on healthy sexuality, monogamy, biblical sexuality, monogamous relationships. 323 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:36.560 Thank you, Maurice here. Thank you. 324 00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:54.640 I won my son about pornography when he was, when he was finishing up the first grade. 325 00:34:57.120 --> 00:35:00.720 And I didn't, when I said I warned my son, you know, because when I said this in the first 326 00:35:00.720 --> 00:35:05.920 serve as somebody in the congregation, I don't know what they pictured when I said I warned my son. 327 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:10.240 Maybe they were warned. They're not more, I just said, listen, on this thing called the internet, 328 00:35:11.040 --> 00:35:17.360 you might see pictures of naked people. If you do tell dad right about it, he'll never be upset at you. 329 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:22.720 And you know why I did that? Because I saw pornography before there wasn't internet when I was six 330 00:35:22.720 --> 00:35:30.000 years old. And I remember what it did to me. I remember very clearly. A bunch of us kids, we got 331 00:35:30.720 --> 00:35:36.800 I lived in parking towers in Forrest Hills at three big red buildings right across the 112th 332 00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:42.400 precinct. And we would all play in the playgrounds around the buildings and then we're the, 333 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:48.240 the handyman were. We got into one of their closets, just mischievous kids, this is the 80s where 334 00:35:48.240 --> 00:35:52.800 we would, our parents let us roam like cattle. And we just had to come back home before the street 335 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:59.040 lights came on. And we got into a box filled with magazines. And I remember opening up those 336 00:35:59.040 --> 00:36:06.640 magazines. I remember feeling like like hot lava was pouring through my body. I remember seeing 337 00:36:06.640 --> 00:36:11.760 things. I knew that I shouldn't be seeing these. No one talked to them about those things with me. 338 00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:18.240 I knew that I was being defiled. I knew that those images would stick with me for a long time. 339 00:36:18.240 --> 00:36:27.520 They would burn. You know, if God, God, if God had his way, God's way. He actually designed us to 340 00:36:27.520 --> 00:36:34.160 when we see a naked body for that image to be burned on our mind. So ideally, you're married, 341 00:36:34.160 --> 00:36:40.080 young, you're virgin, you see your wife, you see your husband, they're naked. And that's the image 342 00:36:40.080 --> 00:36:44.320 that's burned into your mind. And that's what stays with you forever. But now we have this perversion. 343 00:36:45.120 --> 00:36:49.840 And the enemy comes in. And so we see these other images. And instead of being the one we love, 344 00:36:49.840 --> 00:36:54.000 that we're going to spend the rest of our life with, another image, another images, 345 00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:59.120 nothing that the blood of Jesus can wipe away, nothing that the Holy Spirit can cleanse, 346 00:36:59.680 --> 00:37:04.640 it just, you may struggle a bit. And I want to give my kids a head start so they don't 347 00:37:04.640 --> 00:37:10.000 need the deep cleansing that I need it. Amen. Shouldn't be a controversial thing to say. 348 00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:20.000 Because if I could stumble upon it in the 80s and most of us kids did, now you carry the whole, 349 00:37:20.080 --> 00:37:25.040 and it's really crazy when you think about it that every kid that's 12 years old in Long Island, 350 00:37:25.040 --> 00:37:32.080 they have a phone. So they're carrying the library of the world smut in their back pocket. 351 00:37:33.040 --> 00:37:37.200 And I want to keep the doorway of communication open. So because I know one of these unsafe 352 00:37:37.200 --> 00:37:44.080 kids is going to go to my son and go, hey, look what I saw. You see it too. And that image will be 353 00:37:44.080 --> 00:37:48.960 burned and I want to be there for him. I want to help him navigate through that because it is 354 00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:55.920 powerful. With point number seven, I just want to tie it together with point number two, 355 00:37:55.920 --> 00:38:01.920 or three, which was self-hatred. Because people who start coming to the Lord and realizing they need 356 00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:09.680 a cleansing in the area of sexuality and how they relate to the topic of sex, there's a lot of 357 00:38:09.680 --> 00:38:15.920 self-hatred that can come in and may that not be you. No, you're not filthy, you're not dirty, 358 00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:21.280 you were born, brought up into a fallen world. You keep your eyes on the Lord. 359 00:38:23.120 --> 00:38:30.640 You reach out to him. Read his word, you know, in the Bible it says, your word is like a 360 00:38:30.640 --> 00:38:35.920 fuller's soap. You know what a fuller is, a launderer. Your word is like a launderer's soap. 361 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:40.400 You read his word and it acts like a giant cleanser. Read more of his word. It'll cleanse you from 362 00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:54.160 the inside out, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Number eight, gradualism. The safest road to hell 363 00:38:55.120 --> 00:39:01.360 is the gradual one, says Uncle Screw Tape. The gentle slope soft underfoot without 364 00:39:01.360 --> 00:39:11.040 sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. Be aware of small innocent compromises. 365 00:39:11.040 --> 00:39:15.760 One of the strange things about being a pastor, it's strange because I don't know of other 366 00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:21.200 professions where you can stay with people for years and years and years in a spiritual way. 367 00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:26.880 So I've seen people, I've seen people make it, I've seen some people not make it, 368 00:39:27.520 --> 00:39:33.440 and I'm able to draw some conclusions. And for those that don't make it, I pray they can come back, 369 00:39:33.440 --> 00:39:38.960 but those who are forsaken the Lord, they're forsaken the faith, how do they end up that way? 370 00:39:38.960 --> 00:39:45.200 Oftentimes people will point, look, he did XYZ. He didn't start off doing XYZ. 371 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:51.440 You're just seeing the straw that broke the camel's back and you want to make a big deal about 372 00:39:51.440 --> 00:39:56.480 that last straw, but there was a thousand other smaller pieces of straw before that final one 373 00:39:56.480 --> 00:40:01.600 broke that camel's back. Little compromises, little compromises. Satan doesn't come at you right 374 00:40:01.600 --> 00:40:08.720 away with a level 10 temptation. He gets you to just compromise a little bit. Say no when you should 375 00:40:08.720 --> 00:40:14.640 say yes, just at one time until he comes knocking on the door again, all he wants is a finger to grab 376 00:40:14.640 --> 00:40:19.600 your hand, to grab your whole arm and sin will always take you further than you want to go and keep 377 00:40:19.760 --> 00:40:27.360 you longer than you want to stay. And by the way, the answer to any sin problem is grace, 378 00:40:28.640 --> 00:40:33.680 is receiving more the love of God. If you're struggling with sin right now, I'm not advocating 379 00:40:33.680 --> 00:40:40.800 for you to toughen up and try, try, try really harder. You won't do it. You're not strong enough. 380 00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:47.440 So what are you saying and I should do? I'll tell you exactly, die. It's die. 381 00:40:48.720 --> 00:40:55.120 And die to self, die to your pride, die to thinking that you can work on yourself and help 382 00:40:55.120 --> 00:41:02.160 you fall into the arms of a loving savior, fall into his grace. But what if I mess up again? 383 00:41:02.160 --> 00:41:08.720 I could almost promise you you will, but keep at it. You may not be sinless, but you'll 384 00:41:08.800 --> 00:41:17.280 sin less and less and less. I received major deliverances in my life. Not everything is a 385 00:41:17.280 --> 00:41:23.040 deliverance. Sometimes it's just over time and that gets cleansed. And sometimes he just does it in 386 00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:30.320 total deliverance. But each time I received a deliverance, it wasn't ever because I was focusing 387 00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:36.320 on the sin. I was focusing on Jesus. And then I was like, wait, that addiction, that thing, 388 00:41:36.320 --> 00:41:40.960 that the thing I couldn't break, the Lord just did that. And I wasn't even thinking about it. I 389 00:41:40.960 --> 00:41:48.080 was consumed with him. And then he just did that, Jehovah Sneaky. He just did that. I was like, 390 00:41:48.080 --> 00:41:59.360 worshiping him and then, wow, what a great God. Nine. Oh, this is a good one. Disordered pleasure. 391 00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:08.160 Man, how do they write this stuff in 1941? Were there pleasurable things back in 1941? 392 00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:17.680 When we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy form, we are in a sense on God's ground. 393 00:42:17.680 --> 00:42:22.560 Listen, this is important. Al just Huxley, the science fiction writer. 394 00:42:22.560 --> 00:42:31.440 I stumbled upon one of his essays several years ago during a time when I was starting to feel 395 00:42:32.240 --> 00:42:41.200 for whatever reason, empty, starting to feel like I had a scratch. I just couldn't, 396 00:42:42.560 --> 00:42:47.280 like something was broken. And here's what he said. Listen to this. 397 00:42:47.440 --> 00:42:58.000 He wrote that the problem with modern society isn't that it seeks pleasure. It's that it settles for 398 00:42:58.000 --> 00:43:03.680 pleasures that anesthetize the heart. So this was basically the premise of his essay. 399 00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:14.720 That you cannot get pleasure without first having struggle. That's the way we're wired as 400 00:43:14.720 --> 00:43:20.480 humans. And I believe this with all of my heart. You cannot have pleasure without the first being 401 00:43:20.480 --> 00:43:24.480 not just suffering, but some kind of struggle. In other words, you know, a farmer who's been working 402 00:43:24.480 --> 00:43:31.120 to feel the whole day now goes inside and has a meal sits down and then goes to sleep. And 403 00:43:31.120 --> 00:43:36.640 that's very pleasurable to him because the reward was prefaced by a price that he paid. 404 00:43:37.600 --> 00:43:46.080 But in modern society, that price has come much cheaper. So we get cheap pleasure, cheap dopamine. 405 00:43:46.080 --> 00:43:51.440 So I found myself in a place where the Lord really, really has blessed us and prospered us. 406 00:43:51.440 --> 00:43:55.680 And my whole life has been nothing but struggle. But then all of a sudden the Lord just turned that off. 407 00:43:56.640 --> 00:44:04.400 Now all I have is pleasure with almost no struggle. Like I don't have to, like Uber Eats comes 408 00:44:04.400 --> 00:44:09.920 and reigns food down on you. I have to explain to my kids that we used to see a trailer for a movie 409 00:44:09.920 --> 00:44:16.800 and have to wait for it. Now you just watch whatever you want at any time. It's a bad pleasure, 410 00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:22.080 pleasure pleasure. Pleasure is raining down on you without any struggle. You know what that's 411 00:44:22.080 --> 00:44:28.560 a recipe for an empty soul and depression for everybody. But I'm going to, I will say especially 412 00:44:28.640 --> 00:44:34.400 for men. I will, for everybody across the board. But men, you need to schmitz, you need to sweat, 413 00:44:34.400 --> 00:44:39.840 you need, there's a, you know, there's a saber too tiger that you need to kill. Hey, men. 414 00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:50.720 So now my struggle is that I have to find that introduce struggle into my life. 415 00:44:50.880 --> 00:44:54.880 Taken the long way back, you know. 416 00:44:57.360 --> 00:45:02.400 Dropping give 20 pounds before you eat that meal. Hey, man. No, I'm saying whatever you need to do. 417 00:45:03.680 --> 00:45:06.480 Someone's like in the past. I got so much struggle. Don't worry. I'm good. 418 00:45:12.160 --> 00:45:17.760 But I find any, any, any pleasure that comes cheaply and anesthetizes the heart. It's not a 419 00:45:17.760 --> 00:45:24.400 pleasure of God and actually leaves you emptier and before. Hallelujah. And I will say this. I've been 420 00:45:26.640 --> 00:45:32.000 gesticulating to my wife a lot, but she is the master at not cheap pleasure. She's like from 421 00:45:32.000 --> 00:45:37.280 another century. I don't know how I'm still at all. It's been 13 years. I still study her. I'm like, 422 00:45:37.280 --> 00:45:46.400 you like, she's a munkette from not a munk, you know, a munkette from another century. She's 423 00:45:46.400 --> 00:45:51.040 happiest. She could not have, I'm trying to coax your phone. She's like, oh, I was a gardening. 424 00:45:51.040 --> 00:45:59.920 My phone. I hadn't seen it in five hours. And number 10, worship team, you can come on up. 425 00:46:01.360 --> 00:46:10.080 Despair. My past, my pastor tells of a vision that he had. 426 00:46:10.080 --> 00:46:18.960 And this is important. I just mentioned this because if, if somebody's having 16 visions today, 427 00:46:18.960 --> 00:46:23.840 I tend to doubt that. When somebody's had three visions in their life and this is one of them, 428 00:46:23.840 --> 00:46:28.000 I'm going to listen up, especially when their life is fruitful and the bearing the fruit of a 429 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:32.800 surrendered Christian life. And he tells of a vision, a dream, actually, sad, but he said it was so 430 00:46:32.800 --> 00:46:37.600 intense. He didn't know whether to call it a vision or a dream, but he went in, I'm going to have to 431 00:46:37.600 --> 00:46:44.080 give you the quick version. When he went into the devil's domain and he saw Satan with a giant bag 432 00:46:44.080 --> 00:46:51.520 of tools, different tools that he came to use against the people of God. Very similar to the 433 00:46:51.520 --> 00:46:58.400 screw tape letters, but he said, this is my most beloved tool of all, and it was discouragement and 434 00:46:58.400 --> 00:47:04.800 despair. Isn't my number my most beloved tool of all and sitting in Tomkin Square Park yesterday 435 00:47:04.800 --> 00:47:12.880 reminded me of that despair is even like a demon. It'll come in a rip hope out of your bosom if 436 00:47:12.880 --> 00:47:19.520 you let it. And the Bible says hope deferred will make the heart sick. You have to command yourself 437 00:47:19.520 --> 00:47:26.880 like the Psalmist did to yet hope in God. Do not allow, do not even play with despair. How does 438 00:47:26.880 --> 00:47:31.760 it become despair? You start meditating on discouragement and you don't nip discouragement in the 439 00:47:31.760 --> 00:47:39.040 butt of it'll turn into a ugly Medusa monster of despair. I pray for you today. I pray that the 440 00:47:39.040 --> 00:47:46.000 Lord would increase his fire upon you. I pray now, if you're dealing with discouragement and despair 441 00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:51.040 and hopelessness, I put the blood on you and I command it to fall off for you right here in this 442 00:47:51.040 --> 00:47:59.120 place in Jesus name, that heaven's assistance come to you, that the Holy Spirit and His transforming 443 00:47:59.120 --> 00:48:03.680 power would overtake you in Jesus name. I speak and prophesy break through over you, 444 00:48:04.720 --> 00:48:10.000 that the goodness of the Lord would come upon you. I decree and declare that your enemies come 445 00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:16.240 against you one way but they flee before your face seven different ways. It's not over for you. 446 00:48:16.240 --> 00:48:25.520 You're not done. God will be glorified in your life in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Give the Lord a 447 00:48:25.520 --> 00:48:36.080 big shout. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Fall into the arms of a loving Savior. Ministry team won't 448 00:48:36.080 --> 00:48:42.160 you head on over into the ministry area. If you want prayer for anything at all, our team would love 449 00:48:42.160 --> 00:48:47.360 to pray with you and for you. You can go at any time right to that area. Even if you're new, 450 00:48:47.360 --> 00:48:51.200 this is your first time that area that's lit up, blew over there. You're going to find some loving, 451 00:48:52.160 --> 00:48:57.600 gentle people who love Jesus and who love people and they're going to pray for you. 452 00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:03.360 Let's all stand. If you need to go, go have a blast in your summer discipleship groups this week. 453 00:49:04.160 --> 00:49:08.160 And if you want to stay and let's worship the Lord with this one last song, sing it with all your 454 00:49:08.160 --> 00:49:14.400 heart. Be blessed, City Light. This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part 455 00:49:14.400 --> 00:49:19.360 of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in City Light 456 00:49:19.360 --> 00:49:28.640 Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person 457 00:49:28.640 --> 00:49:34.480 anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today. 458 00:49:34.480 --> 00:49:39.680 That you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. 459 00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:45.120 Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you 460 00:49:45.120 --> 00:49:51.120 find your favorite podcasts worldwide.