WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:47.060 Hey, well, good morning, church. 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:51.560 If you've got your Bibles with you, and I hope you do, go ahead and open up to Micah chapter 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:52.100 7. 00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:57.360 Just as a reminder, starting next Sunday, we will be back both offering live streaming 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:02.060 services, as well as in-person live services gathered back together at our campus. 00:01:02.420 --> 00:01:07.480 As a reminder, our live services will be at 9, 11, and 1, and we will be live streaming 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:08.920 our 11 o'clock service. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:13.160 So we want you to choose whichever service you feel like God is calling for you and your 00:01:13.160 --> 00:01:15.440 family during this season of time. 00:01:15.720 --> 00:01:20.220 Also, as you prepare for next Sunday, if you're planning on worshiping with us live together, 00:01:20.220 --> 00:01:25.000 I just want to remind you that you will need to register for the services so that we can 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:29.700 make sure that we don't have more people than we can accommodate for each of the services. 00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:35.720 That pre-registration will open up this Wednesday at noon, and you can access it through an email 00:01:35.720 --> 00:01:40.600 that Pastor Dave will be sending out, or you can access it by visiting the church's website 00:01:40.600 --> 00:01:44.980 this Wednesday at noon, all the way through on Sunday when the service starts. 00:01:45.380 --> 00:01:50.440 So as we wrap up in this series on Micah, this Sunday, we're going to go on a little bit 00:01:50.440 --> 00:01:51.420 of a ride, okay? 00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:55.280 We're going to go on a little bit of a journey as we go through this last chapter. 00:01:55.500 --> 00:02:00.840 And what's going to happen in Micah chapter 7 is this message from God through Micah to 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:01.480 God's people. 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:06.080 As it concludes, it's going to go from one extreme to another. 00:02:06.380 --> 00:02:08.740 And it's going to be a pretty drastic extreme. 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:12.000 Last summer, Aaron and I had the opportunity to go to Alaska. 00:02:12.460 --> 00:02:17.480 And when we got on the plane in Anchorage, right, we were there, we were in Alaska, even 00:02:17.480 --> 00:02:20.780 though it was summertime in Alaska, it was cold, and we were wearing our coats. 00:02:20.780 --> 00:02:25.840 And then the next time that we stepped back outdoors, we stepped foot out of the airplane 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:26.980 into Charleston. 00:02:27.420 --> 00:02:34.520 And so we went from cold temperature to extremely hot, humid, and it was a shock to our system. 00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:40.820 By the time that we got to our car, we were completely exhausted just because of the change in climates 00:02:40.820 --> 00:02:41.740 that we had experienced. 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:47.740 And what you're going to see in this chapter of Micah is it really is an extreme change of 00:02:47.740 --> 00:02:48.980 what is going on. 00:02:48.980 --> 00:02:53.840 And what we're going to start off with at looking at the beginning of chapter 7 is an area of 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:59.420 despair, a season of depression, where when we look at these first few verses, there's 00:02:59.420 --> 00:03:00.620 going to be no hope. 00:03:00.920 --> 00:03:05.500 But what we're going to get to at the end is understanding the victory, the victory that 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:07.240 is found in God and God alone. 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:12.740 And kind of the warning for us is, again, as we try to take this scripture that was not 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:18.500 written to us, but is used for us to mold us and shape us, what we're going to be able 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:25.220 to understand is that if we're not careful, that you and I can miss the beauty of the hand 00:03:25.220 --> 00:03:31.580 of God in the midst of the darkness and the despair of the world that surrounds us so that 00:03:31.580 --> 00:03:36.080 we can look out into this world, we can look out into our culture, we can look out into the 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:41.300 events that are going on, and we can become so consumed with the negativity that is there 00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:46.460 that in the midst of all of the despair, in the midst of all the suffering, we can miss 00:03:46.460 --> 00:03:52.500 what is actually happening, is that the hand of God is at work, and that's a beautiful thing 00:03:52.500 --> 00:03:53.480 to see. 00:03:54.160 --> 00:03:56.960 And so that's what we're going to see as Micah walks through that. 00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:00.560 So let's start reading chapter 7, starting in verse 1. 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:02.920 Micah starts and he says, 00:04:02.920 --> 00:04:09.700 Woe is me, for I've become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes 00:04:09.700 --> 00:04:10.840 have been gleaned. 00:04:10.940 --> 00:04:16.440 There is no cluster to eat, no first ripe fig that my soul desires. 00:04:16.820 --> 00:04:22.860 The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind. 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:29.380 They all live in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. 00:04:29.380 --> 00:04:33.520 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well. 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:39.920 The prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:40.160 soul. 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:42.140 Thus they weave it together. 00:04:42.700 --> 00:04:48.260 The best of them is like a briar, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. 00:04:48.760 --> 00:04:54.820 The day of your watchmen, of your punishment has come, now their confusion is at hand. 00:04:54.820 --> 00:05:00.900 Put no trust in a neighbor, have no confidence in a friend, guard the doors of your mouth 00:05:00.900 --> 00:05:03.020 from her who lies in your arms. 00:05:03.400 --> 00:05:09.380 For the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the 00:05:09.380 --> 00:05:11.800 daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 00:05:12.140 --> 00:05:16.380 A man's enemies are the men of his own house. 00:05:16.380 --> 00:05:23.840 So we see from the very beginning here that Micah begins to share with us the despair as 00:05:23.840 --> 00:05:29.420 he looks out over his people, as he looks out over his country, God's chosen people, 00:05:29.640 --> 00:05:34.540 the despair that he sees as he looks out into a world that is broken. 00:05:34.860 --> 00:05:36.720 And what he sees are two things. 00:05:37.080 --> 00:05:42.380 He sees a lacking in one area, and he sees an abundance in another area. 00:05:42.380 --> 00:05:46.540 The first thing that Micah sees is he sees a lack of godly fellowship. 00:05:46.740 --> 00:05:52.960 Now Micah paints a picture of a vine and a fruit tree, a vine and a fruit tree that were 00:05:52.960 --> 00:05:55.960 once ripe with the fruit in which they would bear. 00:05:56.380 --> 00:06:02.600 But then as the season wears on, that vine and that fruit tree had been stripped of the 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:04.020 fruit that they had produced. 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:09.100 And so now Micah describes a time of great hunger that he's experiencing. 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:14.640 And as he goes back to those same vines, what he doesn't find are the grapes, what he doesn't 00:06:14.640 --> 00:06:16.180 find are the figs. 00:06:16.440 --> 00:06:19.640 What instead what he finds is bear is nothing. 00:06:19.900 --> 00:06:27.600 And he says, this is exactly what it's like to find godly men and godly women in Israel. 00:06:27.960 --> 00:06:28.980 This is what he sees. 00:06:29.200 --> 00:06:34.920 A people who were once ripe and abundant in their desire and in their faith for the Lord have 00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:40.940 now gone and left and what Micah sees is nothing left behind. 00:06:41.140 --> 00:06:44.660 And he desires it and he needs it and he craves it. 00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:48.720 So he looks out at his world and he thinks to himself, where are the faithful? 00:06:49.280 --> 00:06:50.240 Where are the believers? 00:06:50.960 --> 00:06:53.080 Why have they all left? 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:55.820 He sees a lack of godly fellowship. 00:06:56.360 --> 00:06:59.600 But he also sees an abundance of deep-rooted sin. 00:06:59.860 --> 00:07:02.740 He describes the best are like briars. 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:05.220 The best are like hedges of thorns. 00:07:05.220 --> 00:07:12.420 So even those who are the best are still inflicting pain and suffering of those around. 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:16.900 And he says, look, this goes all the way up to the top levels of influence. 00:07:17.080 --> 00:07:19.460 The people who are supposed to fight for justice. 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:24.500 Remember all the way back to what he said before of the injustice that is happening and has taken 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:30.420 place, that it's there, it's lacking, that it's not found in the prince, it's not found in the judge. 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:37.600 And he describes a situation where a powerful, wealthy man wants to take advantage of a man 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:42.940 who's found in poverty and so he bribes and he influences those who are supposed to stand up 00:07:42.940 --> 00:07:48.340 for those who cannot stand up for themselves and instead what is found is corruption. 00:07:48.880 --> 00:07:54.280 And Micah says, look, this is the norm and this is the world where Micah finds himself. 00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:59.600 People who have broken their fellowship with each other and they've broken their fellowship with God. 00:07:59.840 --> 00:08:06.120 People who no longer stand for what's right and for what's true, but who seek after what they want 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:09.560 in their desires, what they long for. 00:08:10.200 --> 00:08:13.980 Now, I'll be honest with you, church, as I've worked through this passage of scripture, 00:08:14.580 --> 00:08:19.980 as Micah looks out into the world in which he sees, I'll be honest with you, there's a lot of 00:08:19.980 --> 00:08:25.600 similarities as I step back and as I look out into the world in which we live and a world in which 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:32.260 we face. What Micah sees is he sees injustice and division. And oftentimes when I look out into the 00:08:32.260 --> 00:08:38.480 world that awaits us, the world in which I raise my kids, the world in which I find myself, I find 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:45.280 some of those exact same divisions. It's a different world and it's a different time, but the sinful 00:08:45.400 --> 00:08:51.740 heart of man is still there. When I look out in the world, I see that we are a group of people who have 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:58.400 now moved beyond simply disagreeing with each other. We've moved beyond people who simply disagree 00:08:58.400 --> 00:09:04.660 with those who vote differently than we do. And instead we move from disagreeing to hating those 00:09:04.660 --> 00:09:12.120 who do not follow alongside in every step, in every stride, in our political positioning or in our 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:18.740 political agenda. I see a world in which we live where many of us have moved beyond caring about 00:09:18.740 --> 00:09:26.300 tragedies and injustices that happen in the world in which we live. Where innocent lives are lost or 00:09:26.300 --> 00:09:34.140 taken because of color of skin or socioeconomic divides that exist. And many of us are simply okay 00:09:34.140 --> 00:09:40.820 with that. We live in a world where we don't even know what's factual and happening in the world 00:09:40.820 --> 00:09:47.860 because the news is reported, is all too often based and rooted in the opinions of what they interpret 00:09:47.860 --> 00:09:56.720 them to be, but not an actual fact of what's taking place. And we find ourselves living in a sense 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:03.580 of division. But it's not just within our world, it's oftentimes even within the church. Both the 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:11.220 church universal, amongst all believers, and maybe even for some of us, the church local for us. 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:17.440 And so what we choose to do is we sit on the outside and we look in, maybe at our church or 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:25.180 at other churches, as we pick apart every decision made by a pastor, another church in an uncertain time 00:10:25.180 --> 00:10:30.960 when we have never been where they are and we don't understand the battles that they're facing. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:38.240 Even right now, as we face this time with COVID-19, we take the opportunity to call each other 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:46.060 fearful or faithless as we think someone has taken too many precautions. And we call each other ignorant 00:10:46.060 --> 00:10:53.040 and reckless if we think someone has taken too few precautions. And this is what we have. 00:10:53.800 --> 00:11:01.720 And if I'm not careful, this is where I find myself. If I'm not careful, this is where I go. This is the 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:08.180 despair that I find myself in. But I want to continue on as Micah continues. Let's keep reading in 00:11:08.180 --> 00:11:16.680 verse seven. Micah says this, but as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my 00:11:16.680 --> 00:11:24.760 salvation. My God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy. When I fall, I shall rise. When I sit 00:11:24.760 --> 00:11:32.560 in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned 00:11:32.560 --> 00:11:39.960 against him until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light. 00:11:40.060 --> 00:11:46.760 I shall look upon his vindication. Then my enemy will see and shame will cover her who said to me, 00:11:47.140 --> 00:11:54.220 where is the Lord your God? My eyes will look upon her. Now she will be trampled down like the mire of 00:11:54.220 --> 00:12:00.920 the streets. And so what Micah does here in this moment in verse seven is what I have to remind 00:12:00.920 --> 00:12:06.180 myself to do. Micah makes the decision. When I look out in the world and I see the brokenness, 00:12:06.420 --> 00:12:11.960 when I look out in the world and I see the division, when I look out in the world and I see the effects 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:17.320 of sin that are continuing to surround me, when I see people wandering away from the God who created 00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:22.920 them and the God who loves them, when I see people rebel against each other and I see hatred and 00:12:22.920 --> 00:12:30.140 violence spew from man toward man, where do we position ourselves? In discouragement or in faith? 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:39.200 And my heart oftentimes wants to go toward discouragement, but Micah chooses faith. I want to be honest 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:45.860 with you. The last 10 weeks as we've gone through this have led me to some dark places. And I want to tell 00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:53.480 you church, it's not because of fear of COVID because I don't have fear. It's not because of being isolated 00:12:53.480 --> 00:13:01.840 at home because I've not struggled in isolation. It's when I place my faith in the people of this world 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:10.060 and not in God. That's when I find myself discouraged. And so I want to glean from this what I see from 00:13:10.060 --> 00:13:15.840 Micah as Micah looks in these verses and what he points to is faith. So I want to 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:22.020 move my mindset out of discouragement and I want to move my mindset toward faith in God. And so what 00:13:22.020 --> 00:13:30.600 does Micah teach us in this? What is faith? The first thing that he says is look for God. Look to 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:37.260 God is what he says. He says, I will look to the Lord. Colossians 3 verses 1 through 3 says this, 00:13:37.520 --> 00:13:43.260 then if you've been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the 00:13:43.260 --> 00:13:51.140 right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you 00:13:51.140 --> 00:14:00.540 have died and your life has hidden with Christ. J.B. Lightfoot, a theologian, he's a English Anglican 00:14:00.540 --> 00:14:06.440 bishop who lived in the 1800s, said this about what it means to set your mind on God. You must not only 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:14.600 seek heaven, but you must also think heaven. You know, when I read that, it struck me that it simply 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:23.360 moves us past what we long for in the future and heaven becomes what consumes us on a day in and day 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:30.360 out basis. But when we find ourselves in despair, too many of us, and I include myself in this, we look for 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:38.580 anyone else or anything else other than God and other than heaven to not only for us to long for, 00:14:38.740 --> 00:14:46.400 but that consumes us. That that captures our mind and in doing so, captions our heart. And so church, 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:52.100 I want to ask you a question that only you can answer for yourself right now on what are you setting your 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:57.900 minds on? A quick test that you can take for yourself right now. And it's going to be found in a time 00:14:57.900 --> 00:15:03.560 allocation for what you do. Because I have a feeling that so many of us are setting our minds on other 00:15:03.560 --> 00:15:10.040 things that influence us greater than setting our minds on heaven. What's your time allocation between 00:15:10.040 --> 00:15:17.740 your social media and your time with God? Take a moment and look back at that, of what I'm exploring in 00:15:17.740 --> 00:15:24.700 one versus what I'm diving into in the other. What's your time allocation between your news programming 00:15:24.700 --> 00:15:31.260 that you watch and your time with the Lord? Are we spending more time allowing what influences us to 00:15:31.260 --> 00:15:38.120 be what we find on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter or Fox News or CNN? Are we setting our mind on those 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:44.840 things or are we finding ourselves rooted in what we long for with God? You see, church, when we fill our 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:51.680 minds with the world, what we come away with is discouragement. But when we fill our minds with 00:15:51.680 --> 00:16:01.160 God, what we come away with is faith. So look to God. The next one that we want us to begin to see, 00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:09.540 the next example for this, Micah says, is to wait for God. He says, I will wait for the God of my 00:16:09.800 --> 00:16:15.880 salvation. Now here's what waiting for God means. Waiting for God means this, I trust in his timing. 00:16:16.280 --> 00:16:22.580 Now how many times do we say that we want to trust in God's will, but we trust in God's will as long as 00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:28.740 it happens in the time of man. God, I trust that you are going to do what you're going to do as long as 00:16:28.740 --> 00:16:36.260 it happens in the predetermined time that I have set for myself. I know what I want and I know when I want 00:16:36.260 --> 00:16:48.700 it, God, I want it now. But that's not waiting for God. Waiting for God means that I trust not only in his plan, but in the timing of 00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:57.740 his plan. Where Micah is, he wants it to end and he wants it to end now. But his faith says that he waits on God's timing 00:16:57.740 --> 00:17:05.360 because God's timing is perfect. God's timing will never be early. God's timing will never be late. God's timing will 00:17:05.360 --> 00:17:15.720 always be perfect. But also to wait for God means I rest even when he delays. So I, what does it mean? 00:17:15.840 --> 00:17:22.680 Do you, do I wait for God and rest or do I wait for God and stress? Here's what I can tell you. 00:17:22.680 --> 00:17:31.460 If I wait for God, if God is delaying, it's because God is still working. Church, God has never forgotten. 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:37.580 He has never taken a break. He does not sleep. He does not eat. He does not pause. Even when we look 00:17:37.580 --> 00:17:43.020 back at creation and the scripture tells us that on the seventh day, God rested. Do you know what God did 00:17:43.020 --> 00:17:50.160 as he rested? He blessed. That's what our scripture tells us. That even in the resting nature of God, 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:57.100 what he does is he blesses his creation. And so we can wait for God. The next thing that we can see of 00:17:57.100 --> 00:18:03.620 what faith looks like to not fall into despair, but as we can cry out to God, I love Micah's words, 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:13.360 my God will hear me. Here's what Micah knew. Micah trusted that he could go to God. Micah believed 00:18:13.360 --> 00:18:21.200 that God would hear him and Micah knew that God would act. Here's what I've been so grateful for, 00:18:21.300 --> 00:18:28.820 church, over these last 10 weeks. These last 10 weeks have created within me a longing and a 00:18:28.820 --> 00:18:38.940 desperation of crying out to God to help me understand his plan and his will for our church like I've never 00:18:38.940 --> 00:18:45.360 understood before. Because here's why. Here's what this has created for us. Here's what this has created 00:18:45.360 --> 00:18:51.980 for me in here. I cannot rely on my experience. I cannot rely on my training. I cannot rely on a 00:18:51.980 --> 00:18:58.880 Google search. I cannot rely on a friend who's gone this before. The only thing that I can rely on as we 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:05.960 go through, as we've gone through, and as we will go through what we are facing now is God. And what is 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:13.480 created in me is a desperate cry. God, not that my will happen, but God, that your will happen. So God, 00:19:13.540 --> 00:19:18.940 when we come back, when we gather, when we meet, when we open, when we do ministry, when we add 00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:24.420 different things, Lord, and when we take things away, Lord, that it's not our desire, it's not our plans, 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:29.720 but Lord, we're seeking you because that's all that we can seek. That's all that we can trust. That's all 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:37.360 that we can depend on in these days. So church, I'll be honest with you. Whether you agree with me or you disagree 00:19:37.360 --> 00:19:46.200 with me, here's what I can promise you. Whether you like the decision or not, that the decisions that I've made 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:53.720 have been based out of a heart of crying for the Lord. And sometimes, sometimes, 00:19:53.720 --> 00:20:08.040 we can stand in a wavering confidence, but Micah doesn't. Micah says, God will hear me. The last thing we can 00:20:08.040 --> 00:20:16.560 understand in faith is this, that God will deliver me. Micah's words, he will bring me out to the light. 00:20:17.560 --> 00:20:25.020 Listen, I don't want to be a fool, and I don't want to be afraid. I want to be obedient. 00:20:26.460 --> 00:20:33.020 And that's what God has so taught me in this. I don't want to be a fool, and I don't want to be 00:20:33.020 --> 00:20:41.100 afraid, because I know that God will deliver me. Church, there's a great confidence that we can have 00:20:41.100 --> 00:20:49.420 as Christians. That whether it's the captivity of the Assyrians, whether it's a virus that spreads all over the 00:20:49.420 --> 00:21:00.660 earth, or whether it's anything else, that God has a plan and a purpose for you and for me. And when God's plan is 00:21:00.660 --> 00:21:12.240 done for you, and when God's done, a plan is done for me, then he will call me home. This doesn't mean that 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:21.300 I run carelessly to captivity or to a virus, but it doesn't mean that I live in fear either, because I know 00:21:21.300 --> 00:21:33.760 that God will deliver me. How do I know that, church? How can we stand in this place and know that above all 00:21:33.760 --> 00:21:41.160 of the things that the world throws at us, in spite of all of the things that we see, how can we know 00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:50.760 that God will deliver us? Let's keep reading verse 11 as we close out Micah. A day for the building of 00:21:50.760 --> 00:21:56.300 your walls. In that day, the boundary shall be far extended. In that day, they will come to you from 00:21:56.300 --> 00:22:01.800 Assyria and from the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the river, and from the sea to sea, and from 00:22:01.800 --> 00:22:08.000 mountain to mountain. But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:14.860 deeds. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in the forest in 00:22:14.860 --> 00:22:21.620 the midst of a garden land. Let them gaze at Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old, as in the days when 00:22:21.620 --> 00:22:28.680 you came out of the land of Egypt. I will show them marvelous things. The nations shall be ashamed of all 00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:35.560 their might, and they shall lay their hands on their mouths, and their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust 00:22:35.560 --> 00:22:41.340 like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth. They shall come trembling out of their strongholds. 00:22:41.360 --> 00:22:48.740 They shall turn in dread to the Lord our God, and they shall be in fear of you, who is a God like you, 00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:55.200 pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression from the remnant of his inheritance. He does not 00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:02.020 retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us. 00:23:02.020 --> 00:23:08.380 He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast out your sins into the depths of the sea. You will 00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:14.780 show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the 00:23:14.780 --> 00:23:24.180 days of old. Church, here's how we know that God does deliver us because God is a God of victory, 00:23:24.820 --> 00:23:31.300 a victory that he speaks to, a victory that he claims. Church, as we go through this season, 00:23:31.300 --> 00:23:37.300 as we talk about fear and foolishness, as we talk about all of these things that are encompassing 00:23:37.300 --> 00:23:43.160 the conversations that so many of us are having right now, I want to say this. This isn't a message 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:50.060 about whether you should wear a mask or not in public. This is not a message about whether you should go in 00:23:50.060 --> 00:23:56.540 restaurants right now or not or get a haircut or not. This isn't a message about whether you should worship 00:23:56.540 --> 00:24:04.420 at home next week through the live stream or here on campus with us. This is a message about victory 00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:13.020 that is over your circumstances and that is through the surrounding events that encompass our life. This is a 00:24:13.020 --> 00:24:21.840 message about victory and where to find it because our victory is found alone, not in a strategy, not in a 00:24:21.840 --> 00:24:29.300 plan, not in a president, not in a vaccine, but because our victory is found in the one true God who called 00:24:29.300 --> 00:24:36.800 his people and led them out of captivity in Egypt. That our victory is found in the one true God who 00:24:36.800 --> 00:24:45.200 empowered and strengthened a boy who took a few stones and killed a giant. Our victory is found in the one true God who 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:56.000 called a little innocent teenage girl who was a virgin to bear the savior of the world who would live a perfect life. Our 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:05.280 victory is found in that baby who lived that perfect life who was fully God and fully man and who died on a cross to take your 00:25:05.280 --> 00:25:13.820 punishment and mine and was buried and put into a grave and from that tomb three days later walked out into a new 00:25:13.820 --> 00:25:23.200 life and from that promise of life you and I found life as well. That's the victory that we find. So we don't have to 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:31.900 live in ignorance. We don't have to live in fear. We don't have to live inside. We can look at the world that surrounds us 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:40.440 and claim the victory of God that we have. Not victory in the right now, but the victory in 00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:49.340 eternity. And so no matter what this world throws at me, that I can rest in him and him alone. Would you pray with me? 00:25:50.820 --> 00:25:59.000 God be with us. Lord, in our world that is so divided right now. In many churches that are so divided right 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:05.780 now. Lord, where Satan wants to come into our heart and create division. Lord, when we begin to look out 00:26:05.780 --> 00:26:11.420 and we begin to become discouraged as we take our eyes off you and put our eyes on the circumstances. Lord, 00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:20.340 have us set our minds on you. To set our mind on heaven. To not only seek it, but to long for it 00:26:20.340 --> 00:26:27.820 and to desire. Lord, may we live in victory that comes in a relationship with Christ and Christ alone. 00:26:28.660 --> 00:26:30.780 And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:26:30.780 --> 00:26:49.400 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. We hope that you enjoyed listening to 00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:54.200 this week's message. If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, 00:26:54.200 --> 00:27:02.820 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.