Participants: Henry Juarez
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000032
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00:29 Hello, welcome to our program.
00:31 Thank you for joining us. 00:32 My name is Henry Juarez. 00:34 I am a youth leader. 00:35 I've been a youth leader for the past 12 years 00:37 beginning in Texas and now here in Illinois. 00:40 And I'm going to talk a little bit 00:42 about what God requires from us. 00:45 But before we do that, let's have a word of prayer. 00:48 Father in heaven, today as we open Your word 00:51 and find out Your requirements 00:54 to having a lasting meaningful relationship with You, 00:58 I pray that we take this information 01:01 and we apply it to our lives, in Jesus name, amen. 01:06 When I was growing up, 01:08 one of my favorite evening past-times 01:11 was spending it with my father. 01:13 He worked all during the day 01:15 and it was those evening moments that we cherished. 01:18 And on several occasions, 01:20 we all would try to wrestle him to the ground. 01:24 There were four children at that time 01:26 and I remember our goal was to knock him down. 01:29 And so one of us would grab one leg, 01:31 the other would grab the other leg, 01:33 one would hop on his back and try to pull him 01:35 and the other would hop on from his front, 01:37 pulling his neck down. 01:39 My dad was a little sneaky though or a little prankster, 01:43 little tricky because just as he was about to go down, 01:46 he would put his hand to his back and say, 01:48 "Oh, oh, my back, my back." 01:50 And we didn't want to hurt our father, 01:52 so all of us let go. 01:53 And we were concerned with big eyes, 01:56 you know, "Are you okay, dad?" 01:57 And he'd say, "Oh, oh, my back, my back." 01:59 And then he'd look for the closest person 02:01 and he'd grab him and knock him down. 02:03 And the game would start over again. 02:06 Well, sometimes he was already lying down on the floor 02:09 on his stomach and now the game was to roll him over 02:12 and flip him onto his back. 02:14 And two of us would be on one side pulling 02:17 and the other two would be on the other side pushing, 02:21 trying to get him over and just as he was about 02:23 to roll over, I don't think 02:26 I've ever been a part of him rolling over, 02:28 he's always found some kind of renewed strength 02:31 and made some kind of move and there he was, 02:33 back on his stomach again 02:35 and we'd have to start all over again. 02:37 I play this game with my two children now. 02:39 And we really enjoy it. 02:41 Even 2-year-old Silvia gets in on the action 02:44 as we have these little wrestling matches 02:46 in our living room. 02:49 Well, I grew up watching wrestling on television. 02:53 There was a guy back then who had a different mask 02:56 that he wore every time he came out to wrestle. 02:59 His name was Mil Mascaras, 03:01 which means 1,000 masks. 03:03 One time we were in Mexico 03:05 and we saw his poster, we saw masks. 03:09 And my brother and I decided to each buy one 03:11 and so that made our wrestling matches at home 03:14 a little more interesting when we had the masks on. 03:18 But, you know, I've always had that question 03:21 and even today more so, is wrestling fake? 03:24 Do they cheat a lot? 03:26 And I remember when wrestling was sane, 03:29 when it was kosher back then not like it is today. 03:33 Back then, if there was a wrestler in trouble 03:35 and he put his foot-- put his leg on the rope, 03:39 the referee would tap the opponent on the back. 03:41 He'd have to get up, the person on the bottom 03:44 would get up and they'd start all over again. 03:47 And I saw this one program 03:48 where one of the wrestlers was in such deep trouble, 03:51 he tried putting his foot on the rope, 03:54 but he was just a little few inches away. 03:56 He just couldn't quite make it there. 03:58 And he decided to take matters into his own hands. 04:01 He reached around his opponent 04:03 and tapped him on the shoulder himself. 04:05 And the guy thinking that it was the referee, 04:07 got up, and he was able to get up 04:09 and continue wrestling. 04:11 My brother tried that on me one time 04:13 and I said, "I saw the same program, 04:14 it's not gonna work." 04:16 Now some of you are probably wondering 04:18 what is wrestling have to do 04:19 with the word of God, with the Bible? 04:22 Well, before you change the channel 04:24 realize that wrestling is biblical. 04:26 We read that Jacob wrestled with an angel all night long, 04:31 but the one that I really want to share with you 04:32 is in Ephesians Chapter 6. 04:35 You might be familiar with it now. 04:38 Ephesians Chapter 6, beginning with verse 11. 04:46 Ephesians 6:11 says "Put on the whole amour of God, 04:51 that ye may be able to stand 04:53 against the wiles of the devil. 04:55 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 04:59 but against principalities, against powers, 05:02 against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 05:04 against spiritual wickedness in high places." 05:10 If you think wrestling is bad here on earth, 05:14 think about what the rulers of the darkness 05:17 of this world are gonna try to pool over on us. 05:20 It's really gonna get messy here, 05:22 but we don't have to be afraid 05:24 because God has supplied us with the means to get through this. 05:29 Let me give you another illustration in sports. 05:33 In my eighth or ninth grade years, 05:35 I went to a Baptist school 05:37 and we competed in sports against other schools. 05:40 And one of the first sports 05:41 that we were engaged in was soccer. 05:45 And we enjoyed it. 05:46 The school provided the uniforms for us, 05:50 but everybody hated wearing those shin guards. 05:53 They were just uncomfortable. 05:55 We would wear them in the game. 05:57 We understood the purpose 05:58 and the value of having them on while we were playing. 06:01 But we didn't really enjoy having them on 06:03 as we were standing on the sidelines waiting our turn 06:06 and so some of us would take our shin guards off. 06:10 And the coach was always trying to-- 06:12 he was ragging on somebody to put their shin guards back on. 06:15 He says, "You're not fully dressed. 06:17 That's part of your uniform. 06:19 You have to be fully dressed in your full uniform." 06:22 Well, when we would compete against other schools, 06:25 the coach made it a point 06:27 that he would have everybody rotate in, 06:29 whether we were good or not, we all got to play. 06:33 And this one occasion at this soccer match 06:36 that we were engaged in, there were four gentlemen, 06:38 four boys who didn't get to play. 06:41 One of them, his name was Jack. 06:43 Jack was in eighth grade with me and he began crying. 06:49 He saw that there were, like, 2 minutes left in the game 06:51 and these four boys hadn't been rotated in 06:53 and the coach was rotating people who had already played. 06:57 He said, "I know I'm not gonna get to play in this game." 07:01 And he started to cry. 07:02 He was an eighth grader just like me. 07:06 Well, the game was over. 07:07 And in the locker room these four men, 07:09 these four boys confronted the coach. 07:12 And they said, "Coach, you're not fair. 07:14 We're gonna tell on you. You weren't right. 07:17 You should have rotated us." 07:19 And the coach said something that I will never forget. 07:23 He said, "Guys, we were out there to play soccer 07:29 and everybody who was in full uniform got to play. 07:34 You four boys didn't have your shin guards on. 07:38 And I couldn't send you out there unprotected." 07:42 Well, one of the boys said, 07:43 "But coach, we had them with us." 07:46 And the coach said, "Having them with you 07:49 isn't gonna help you. 07:50 Having them on is what's gonna help you. 07:54 I could send you out there unprotected. 07:57 I was hoping that you would put on your full uniform 08:01 so that I could send you out there in the game. 08:04 No, I didn't let you down. 08:08 You let me down. 08:10 You let your team down and you let yourself down." 08:16 Turn back to Ephesians Chapter 6, 08:20 going back to verse 11 again. 08:23 It says, "Put on the whole armour of God, 08:29 that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." 08:33 You need to put on your whole armor, all of it. 08:37 Look at verse 13, "Wherefore take unto you 08:40 the whole armour of God 08:42 that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, 08:46 and having done all, to stand. 08:50 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, 08:53 and having on the breastplate of righteousness. 08:56 And your feet shod with the preparation 08:58 of the gospel of peace. 09:00 Above all, taking the shield of faith, 09:04 wherewith ye shall be able to quench 09:05 all the fiery darts of the wicked. 09:08 And take the helmet of salvation, 09:10 and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." 09:14 Now what does the Bible say about your uniform? 09:19 To put it all on. 09:21 Put on the whole armor of God. 09:24 Now the similarities between God and my coach, 09:28 you know, both of them supplied the uniform to us, 09:32 but neither of them got us dressed. 09:36 We have to get dressed ourselves. 09:38 We decide whether we're gonna put on our whole uniform, 09:41 put on our whole armor 09:44 or if we're gonna leave our shin guards off 09:46 and be exposed to the kicks of the devil. 09:49 It's up to us. 09:51 They can't make us put our uniform on. 09:55 They just supply it for us. 09:58 Here is the game plan. 09:59 On God's team, we all start out equal. 10:03 We're all the same. 10:04 Our physical abilities and talents and all that, 10:07 those have nothing to do with anything. 10:11 But two characteristics determine 10:15 how long we get to play 10:17 and what the final outcome for us is. 10:20 And those two characteristics are the word of God and prayer. 10:27 These are the links to God. 10:29 By spending time in the word of God, 10:31 by spending time in the Bible, 10:32 you will find the strength and the ability to overcome. 10:37 Jesus quoted scripture 10:39 and He was very effective in defeating Satan. 10:43 We have the same potential. 10:45 We can defeat Satan too by quoting our scripture. 10:47 Now did you notice one of the uniform, 10:51 one of the armor was the word of God. 10:54 There was the sword of the Spirit 10:57 which is the word of God. 10:59 This is your uniform. 11:01 This is part of your armor. 11:03 And if you take the time 11:04 to find out what it says and how to use it, 11:07 if you take the time to sharpen your skills, 11:09 you're gonna be victorious. 11:11 If you have the rest of your uniform on too 11:14 and not expose any part to this conniving devil 11:18 that's out there ready to get you at your weakest link, 11:21 at your weakest point. 11:24 You need to spend time in this to figure out what it says 11:27 and how to use it so that you can be victorious 11:30 just like Christ was. 11:31 He was our example. 11:33 Prayer, prayer is our own personal time at the throne. 11:38 Imagine wanting to make an appointment 11:41 with the President of the Unites States 11:43 or the President or ruler in your country. 11:47 These men, these rulers, 11:49 these people are very, very busy 11:52 with the affairs of their nation, 11:54 of their country. 11:55 Do you think that they will drop what they are doing 11:58 just to have an appointment with you? 12:01 Most likely not. 12:03 However, use your imagination 12:05 and let's suppose a miracle took place. 12:08 And they decided that they were gonna give you some time. 12:11 They were gonna make an appointment with you. 12:14 When you go in to see this person, 12:17 they're gonna want you to cut right to your point. 12:20 They're not gonna want much small talk. 12:23 They're not gonna want to hear about 12:24 what your hobbies and interests are. 12:27 They're not gonna want to know 12:28 that your 8-month-old baby is learning to walk already. 12:32 They don't care about that. 12:34 They want you to state your purpose, 12:36 make your point 12:37 so that they can go on to the next person 12:38 and the next big issue. 12:43 You would feel very, very awkward 12:46 if you were in that meeting, meeting with this person 12:50 realizing that he's looking at his watch and saying, 12:52 "When is this gonna be over," and, 12:54 "Okay, have you made your point yet?" 12:55 You wouldn't really appreciate that meeting, would you? 12:58 And I wonder if sometimes we are the same way 13:02 like that with God. 13:05 You see, we look at God in prayers, 13:09 "Oh, yeah, it's time to pray. 13:11 Uh, we better pray now," 13:14 as if God were imposing on your day 13:17 when God doesn't want to be a distraction here 13:22 or an imposition for you. 13:24 He wants you to enjoy this because spending time with God, 13:29 you have all the time in the world. 13:31 You know what God says? 13:33 "Come unto me all ye who are heavy laden 13:36 and I will give you rest. 13:38 Rest here with me. 13:39 Take however long it takes for you to find rest 13:43 and gain your strength again with me, 13:45 with my word in prayer, in conversation with me. 13:48 I can provide this for you." 13:51 He says, "I've set aside 1 day in 7 13:54 to spend the whole day with you. 13:57 Please don't trample it 13:59 as if it has no significance to you." 14:03 Here we have the opportunity to meet with the Father 14:06 for as long as we want. 14:08 He is interested in our hobbies. 14:11 He is interested 14:13 in our 8-month-old learning to walk already. 14:15 He gets a kick out of that. 14:17 That is so neat. 14:19 He longs for us to go into detail 14:21 about the things that we're involved in, 14:24 the things that are important to us. 14:26 And He wants us to see-- He wants to see us victorious 14:30 when it comes to wrestling 14:31 with the rulers of the darkness of this world. 14:34 He wants to see that our armor is on, all of it, 14:38 so that no part is left vulnerable to the devil. 14:42 Prayer is our alone time with the Father. 14:45 The more time we spend in prayer, 14:47 the stronger the bond between us, 14:49 and the more we long to go home with Him 14:52 so that we can see Him face to face. 14:56 You know, in the Bible there are four words 14:59 that I believe are the saddest words 15:01 ever recorded in the Bible, 15:03 especially if they are spoken to you. 15:06 Those are found in Matthew Chapter 7 15:10 in verse--beginning with verse 21. 15:14 Matthew Chapter 7 beginning with verse 21 says 15:18 "Not every one that saith unto me, 15:20 Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven 15:24 but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 15:28 Many will say to me in that day, 15:30 Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? 15:34 And in thy name have cast out devils? 15:37 And in thy name done many wonderful works? 15:41 And then will I profess unto them," 15:43 these four saddest words, "I never knew you," 15:49 I never knew you, "depart from me, 15:54 ye that work iniquity." 16:01 He is saying not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, 16:05 shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. 16:07 Who is it that calls Jesus Lord? 16:11 Are the people in the world, the sinners 16:14 those who are not even claiming Him, 16:18 are they the ones calling Jesus, Lord? 16:21 No, it is the Christians. 16:23 Christians call Him Lord 16:25 and it's saying not everyone who says Lord, Lord, 16:27 not every Christian is gonna make it into heaven. 16:30 Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord. 16:33 And then it says, "But He that doeth the will of my Father 16:38 which is in heaven." 16:39 Many are gonna come to Him and say, 16:41 "Lord, but we did things for You. 16:43 Everything we did was in Your name, for Your best interest. 16:47 We taught our Sabbath school class. 16:49 We got up and lead praise and worship music. 16:51 We went door to door giving Bible studies. 16:54 We were in pathfinders. 16:55 We were training your children. 16:57 Lord, all of these things we did for You. 17:00 We went on mission trips." 17:02 And Jesus is gonna say, "I never knew you. 17:05 I wanted to get to know you, but you never came. 17:10 I wanted to get to know you, up close and personal. 17:13 I wanted to spend time with you. 17:16 I wanted to walk and talk with you. 17:18 I wanted to hold your hand. 17:19 I wanted to be intimate with you. 17:23 I wanted to say I love you. 17:26 And I wanted to hear you say that you love me back, 17:32 but I never knew you. 17:34 We never got acquainted. 17:36 Depart from Me, you who are cast into hell's fire 17:40 that wasn't even prepared for you, 17:42 but for the devil and his angels, 17:45 but because you didn't come to know me, 17:48 because you didn't take advantage of every opportunity 17:51 that I extended to you, you've missed out." 17:57 We need to take time 17:59 to get to know Jesus on a personal level. 18:02 And we do it by spending time in His word 18:06 and by spending time in prayer. 18:09 In my senior year in high school, 18:11 I helped my senior class 18:13 in a couple of track and field events. 18:15 We were competing class against class. 18:18 And there were two events, 18:19 two races that I was involved in. 18:21 One of them was a 3 mile cross country race 18:24 and the other one was just a 1 mile race. 18:28 Now I remember getting up at 5 o'clock in the morning. 18:31 I had a running partner, Bob. 18:33 Bob and I would get up at 5:00 in the morning. 18:35 We would do our stretching and then we would run together. 18:41 We were running partners down the same course 18:43 that we were gonna run later on in the year, 18:46 down the same course 18:47 that our 3 mile cross country race was gonna go. 18:51 We went for several weeks 18:52 on the same course running together. 18:54 5 o'clock every single morning getting up 18:57 until Bob broke his leg playing soccer. 19:02 He couldn't run anymore. 19:04 I didn't have a running partner and so I stopped training. 19:09 What a terrible excuse, 19:11 a terrible excuse to stop training, huh? 19:15 What excuses are we making 19:19 in not training in our spiritual race? 19:22 Not training for that. 19:24 What excuses are we making for not wearing 19:26 our full whole armor? 19:30 We need to stick to what we started. 19:32 We need to continue training. 19:35 We can't ever say, "Well, I think I've trained enough," 19:37 and then coast until race day. 19:40 We've got to keep there, keep at it. 19:43 Now the 1 mile race, it was held on the track 19:46 and we had to run around the track four times. 19:49 One of the little tricks that we used to get in shape 19:53 and to practice for this was we would get the ankle weights, 19:57 tie them around our ankles and we'd run with those. 20:01 And we would try to get faster and faster 20:03 but using the weights on us. 20:05 And then on race day, we took the weights off 20:08 and it seemed like we were soaring through the air. 20:10 It seemed like we were flying 20:12 because we didn't have this weight 20:14 that was holding us back. 20:17 There's a text I'd like to share here too, 20:19 Hebrews 12:1, 2. 20:26 Hebrews 12:1, 2, actually, just verse 1, 20:32 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about 20:36 with so great a cloud of witnesses, 20:38 let us lay aside every weight, 20:41 and the sin which doth so easily beset us, 20:44 and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." 20:50 We need to get rid of our weights 20:53 and the sin that so easily beset us 20:56 so that we can run full steam ahead. 20:58 But when you start that 1 mile race, 21:01 you don't start full steam ahead because you'll soon lose steam 21:05 before you even get halfway through. 21:08 You need to pace yourself first. 21:10 And here we are at the beginning of the race, 21:13 the gun goes off and we all take off 21:15 at the same time in a gentle stride. 21:19 We're each looking at each other making sure 21:23 that we're not getting too far ahead, 21:25 but we're not getting too far behind either. 21:28 We're just taking a look at each other 21:31 and just going at a nice even pace. 21:34 We go around that first lap. 21:36 We go around that second lap. 21:38 We're all here basically in a group still. 21:41 As we get to the third lap, 21:42 we start increasing our speed. 21:45 And as we get to that fourth lap, 21:47 we're really going. 21:48 When we get to that final curve and we see that finish line, 21:51 we're in a full sprint 21:53 as if we were running the 100 yard dash. 21:55 We're giving it our all, giving it our best shot. 22:00 I believe that we have entered into that final stretch 22:05 in this race that God has laid before us 22:07 since the beginning of time. 22:09 I believe that we're living in a very critical 22:12 and significant and a historic time in God's timetable. 22:16 Things are happening quickly. 22:19 This is the final stretch. 22:20 Bible prophecy is being fulfilled as never before. 22:23 And I believe that we could be the very generation 22:27 that ushers the return of Jesus. 22:29 At any moment, we could hear that trumpet sound 22:32 and look in the east 22:33 and see Jesus coming in the clouds of glory, 22:36 in full glory and honor and majesty and power. 22:39 I believe we will get to see that. 22:44 We can look up there and see Him 22:46 riding in that white horse coming to us, 22:50 coming to take us home with Him to spend eternity with Him. 22:54 But you know what? 22:56 I believe that if you don't have your shin guards on, 23:01 I believe that if your whole armor isn't on, 23:05 that somehow maybe, 23:07 you won't be one of those who are waiting for Him. 23:12 And that just maybe He's not coming for you 23:16 because you are not ready. 23:19 You are not longing for Him to come. 23:21 You are not ready at a moment's notice 23:24 to say, "Okay, He's here. Great. 23:26 Here I am, Lord, take me." 23:28 If you are not ready, if you are not longing for Him, 23:32 if you don't have your armor on, He's not coming for you. 23:37 We need to spend time with the Lord and the Savior. 23:40 We need to get to know Him personally, intimately. 23:44 We need to get fully dressed 23:46 with the armor that He has provided for you. It's there. 23:50 All we have to do is put it on and learn how to use it. 23:55 We are all running a race. 23:57 Some of us are running for whatever we can gain 24:00 in this earth, whether it be possessions, 24:02 monetary gain, whether it be a spouse, 24:05 whether it be high positions. 24:07 Some of us are looking for that 24:09 while some of us are looking to receive 24:13 more lasting rewards of eternity. 24:15 Look at 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25. 24:24 It says, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, 24:30 but one receiveth the prize? 24:32 So run, that ye may obtain. 24:34 And every man that striveth for the mastery 24:37 is temperate in all things. 24:41 Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, 24:45 but we an incorruptible." 24:48 Are you running for an incorruptible crown? 24:52 If so, what are you doing about it that you are in this race? 24:58 You know, I was listening to some messages 25:02 that were given at an ASI convention back in 2000. 25:07 They caught my attention because for those of you 25:09 who don't know, ASI is an organization designed 25:14 for businessmen and women 25:17 to share Jesus in the marketplace where they are. 25:19 And they have a convention where they come and say, 25:22 "Hey, this is what we did in our marketplace. 25:24 This is what we did in our business where we shared Jesus. 25:28 We were successful in this area." 25:30 And they picked the highlights of all of these people. 25:33 They picked the highlights and have them up on stage 25:36 so they can motivate and encourage other people, 25:39 other businessmen to do the same thing 25:42 in their business to try it out. 25:44 And it's very, very uplifting. 25:47 It's motivating to hear what other people are doing. 25:51 And they're not pastors and they're not professionals. 25:54 These people are people who are just regular laymen like us. 26:00 And these people seem to have a catchphrase 26:04 that they were all saying this particular year. 26:07 And that was something to the effect of 26:09 "5 minutes sooner." 26:11 What they were saying is, "Whatever we can do that 26:14 will help Jesus come 5 minutes sooner 26:17 than what He was planning to come, 26:19 I'd like to do that. 26:21 I'd like to be a part in something that will usher 26:23 Jesus' return even if it's just 5 minutes sooner." 26:28 Are you willing to do that? 26:32 Are you willing to do your part? 26:35 You see Jesus did His part. 26:37 2,000 years ago, 26:40 in an upper room somewhere outside Jerusalem. 26:42 The disciples are scared to death 26:44 because this person they spend the last 3 1/2 years with 26:47 the person they thought 26:49 was gonna set up their kingdom is now dead. 26:52 All courage is lost, all excitement and all that. 26:56 Their lives will never be the same again. 26:59 And they--little did they know that the same Jesus 27:06 who they are mourning at this moment 27:08 was about to come into that closed locked room 27:11 and tell them, "I am alive 27:13 and I need you to go spread my love to everybody." 27:18 And the disciples started doing that. 27:19 The people out there thought that they could kill Jesus 27:22 and kill His message, but, no, there goes Peter. 27:24 He's spreading it up again and the other disciples. 27:27 And Mary and Martha and some of these others, 27:29 they're doing the same thing. 27:31 What about you, are you spreading Jesus? 27:34 Are you sharing Him with everybody? 27:36 Are you trying to make Jesus' return just 5 minutes sooner? 27:40 Are you doing your best? 27:42 I pray that you are. 27:43 I pray that you dress yourself with the full armor of God 27:47 that He is coming for you, that you are longing to see Him, 27:52 that you are willing to do whatever it takes 27:54 to usher Him in just 5 minutes sooner. |
Revised 2014-12-17