The Bible is a book of promises.  If you understand the promises of God, you can understand virtually every verse of Scripture in the Bible.  God has promises for us to claim.  Oftentimes, I talk to people who are clueless about the promises of God.  That’s why I’m doing this series called, “Clueless.”

Others, though, are clueless because they think they’re clued in to the promises of God; but in reality, they’re clued in to fantasy land stuff.  They walk around and say, “Well, God has promised me health and wealth and a pain-free life.”

He look at them and say, “What are you smoking?  Where’s that in Scripture?”

It’s critical that we understand and know the promises of God.  Because if we don’t, one day we’re going to get to heaven and inherit the big kahuna with streets of gold, mansions, etc., etc., and Ed Young is afraid that God will look at many and say, “I had all of this for you, all of this real currency for you to tap into, but you didn’t know who you were, or whose you were, or what you had.  You didn’t realize it.”

I don’t want that to happen.  That’s why we need to understand the promises of God.  The Bible is all about the promises of God.  Pastor Ed Young states that the promises of God are foundational.  So, picture in your mind’s eye a stool. And on one leg you’ve got knowledge.  On another leg, you’ve got belief.  On another leg, you’ve got action. I’m talking about A-C-T-I-O-N. Do that with me.  A-C-T-I-O-N.  We can do better than that.  A-C-T-I-O-N (with claps).  Thank you!  I knew that last one would really get it!

When it comes to the promises of God, I’ve got to know them.  Do you know them?  Are you clueless, or are you clued in?  Most of us are clueless, let’s face it.

Then we’ve got to believe them.  “Okay, I believe, God, in your promises.  I believe them.  I know them.  I believe them.”

The ark is a picture of salvation.  God, by His grace extended a very own, stamped, invitation, engraced invitation, to our man, Noah.

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If you were tough and cool, you would pick the one with the shortest fuse and light it.  You had to get rid of it quickly because if you didn’t it could blow your finger off or burn you.  A lot of us have short fuses, don’t we?   We just kind of blow up.  We have a quick boiling point.  We have a microwave tempter.  We lose patience like that.

God says that He is in the business of placing the Holy Spirit inside of our lives if we will let Him.  And He will teach us some things while we go through these tests to build patience.  I want to briefly show you as we cruise through scripture what we can do to increase our patience as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit of God.

Here is what the Holy Spirit of God does.  First, as He takes us through these situations, He will allow us to learn a new look.  We will learn how to look.  Did you hear how I emphasized the I words?  Interruption.  Inconveniences.  Irritations.  That is the problem with our impatience.  We are focused on ourselves.  We think about old number one.  We become meistic.  My schedule.  My agenda.  My feelings.  My finances.  My commitment.  We become meistic.  We are looking at ourselves.  We focus on I.  When we are focused on the big I, we don’t really have eyes to see the way God wants us to see.  And if we cooperate with the Holy Spirit of God, let me tell you what He will do.  He will softly take our head in His hands and turn it off of I, of me, of what makes me look good, feel good and turn it to God.  He will turn my eyes to God.

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Now if you talk to narrow gaters, you find they possess a curious sense of peace and  tranquility that passes all understanding. I have had so many board roaders look and me and say, “Ed, chill out.  Let your hair down, man.  Do you realize how good it is over here?  Just cool out.  Please, Ed, please.”  The board roaders mean well but they don’t know what is really happening.  They don’t know what is inevitable.  It could happen suddenly, it could happen gradually, but it always happens to the broad roaders.

Now I want to talk about two contrasting results that Jesus talked about.  One result is destruction, for those on the broad road.  The other result is life, for those on the narrow road.  You see, the broad roaders get surprised.  I call this the reverse surprise of the two different roads.  On the broad road you are just having a good time.  You say that everybody gets high.  But after awhile the highs can become addictive on the broad road.  Then you sing, everybody gets low.  On the broad road the lows can lead to depression.

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Now we have got a lot of people in this auditorium right now who are on the broad and wide road.  And you are singing at the top of your lungs.The narrow road is different.   The narrow road has those moral guardrails.  The narrow road has highway patrolmen everywhere.  The narrow road tells us that we have got to live by the authority of the Bible.  The narrow road says that we have got to watch and think about what we are doing in front of others.

Narrow roaders are people who hang out with their spouse until death.  Narrow roaders are people who understand that word is a gift from God and they work hard because they know they are working for the Lord Himself.  Narrow gaters are people who know that their finances are a blessing from God and they give generously to the church and to those in need.

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Some of you think that God is going to kind of change His mind on that day of reckoning.  Some of you think that God is just going to nod and wink and wave everyone through.  Or do you believe that on that final day God is going to say, “You know you have sinned against Me.  You have turned your back on me.

You just do whatever feels good.  You say to everybody that this is the way to do it, that you love what you are doing.  You are singing Sheryl Crow’s song, “Every day is a winding road.  I get a little bit closer.  Every day is a faded sign.  I get a little bit closer to feeling fine.  Everybody gets high.  Everybody gets low.  These are the days when anything goes.”  That’s the theme song.

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And then, during the starting line ups on television games, I’d try to get to the end of the line so the camera could see me clapping for them.  It was pitiful.  But Lisa went to every single game and sat right behind me, staring at my back the whole game.

Rodney, though, my wild friend, was a prophet.  Because one day he said, “You know what? I’ve got a good name for you—the Reverend!  You act like a Reverend.”

So everybody on the team started calling me the Reverend.  The Rev.  He was a prophet, wasn’t he?

So, at the end of my freshman year there was an NBA player who came down to practice with us and played. He was really nice to me and gave me a lot of confidence and I began to improve. That summer I was able to play with a bunch of NBA players from Houston and I gained more confidence. And in my sophomore year I won a starting position for the game against Auburn.  I was starting and I thought, “Man, this is it! I’m starting as a sophomore. Our team is top 25 team. This is incredible!”

I remember calling my parents and saying, “Mom and Dad, I’m starting at this game!  This is going to be the ultimate.”

And I’ll never forget it. The announcer at the game said, “Starting at guard, number 12 from Houston, Texas; 6’2, 172 lbs.—Ed Young!” I walked out on the court and I thought to myself, “This is it? I’m standing here in short shorts (this was the 80’s) with tube socks, trying to put a leather ball through an iron ring.  So, this is my life.  Wow, this is it?”  It’s like God was saying to me, “There’s something more.”

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700 people lived in our dorm. Only 3 out of 700 went to church. And my teammates were like, “Man, what’s wrong with you?  Why don’t you smoke the weed with us?  Why don’t you do the dope with us?  We have all these hooker’s on the road and you don’t even have sex with them.   You don’t even have sex with Lisa. What’s wrong with you!?”

Day in and day out I felt large levels of loneliness. I went through depression because it was just falling apart for me.

Yet, by God’s grace and power, he gave me the ability to remain strong.  But every day before practice, I remember I’d get there early; I’d get all taped up and get my uniform on and I would go up this staircase to this little window overlooking our gym where we’d practice and I would say, “God, I give basketball. I give this whole thing to you.  I am in Sodom and Gomorrah.  I don’t know why I’m in this hell hole. Use me, God, in any way possible.”  I had to pray that over and over and over again every single day.

I met a guy on my team named Rodney.  Rodney was the wildest guy on the team.  He was a phenomenal athlete. Everybody was scared to death of him, and the coach would always put me with him on road trips.  Rodney and I had a couple of discussions about my life and about Christianity, but nothing in depth. He was like talking to a brick wall.

My freshman year I sat on the bench pretty much the whole year.  We’d play on ESPN or some other national television show and my mom would call and say, “Honey, I saw you. You’re hair looked great on the bench.”

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I don’t rely on what I see. I rely on what God has said. I honor God with my cantaloupes. I do this and God will give me that. My barns will be blessed. My vats will be full of wine. I do this and then God will give me that.

It’s very interesting to look at all the different promises in the Bible, all the covenants. Some are unconditional. Others, though, are conditional. In the conditional covenants, it’s all about this and that. God says, “You do this and I’ll give you that.” The Bible says we do this when we’re searching for a spouse, and we will have that. But I know a lot of singles who were carrying around a lot of this to try to get to that, and you’ll never get to that, because you have too much of this in your life. Did that make sense?

Abraham did not fully leave everything behind. He kept some stuff with him. God said, “Leave your country.” God said, “Leave your father’s household.” What did Abraham do? Abraham was clinging to the cantaloupes. He had a lot of this to try to get to that. If you’ve got a lotta this with you, you can never get to that because, look, you’re not in a position to receive anything. Nor am I. Nor was Abraham.

What was Abraham holding onto? A lot of this.

Do you remember Lot? His nephew, what was Abraham doing hanging out with Lot? God told him, “Hey, leave your father’s household.” He didn’t do it. He brought Lot with him, and Lot caused him some serious drama and trauma. Lot was super-wealthy as well.

Picture again, now two Fortune 500 companies making their way through the middle of the Middle East, traveling around. There were some anxieties, some stress between the two camps. Abraham said, “Wait a minute, Lot, wait, wait. Let’s just split. You have first choice. You go this way. And, if you go this way, I’ll go the opposite.” So Lot went his way. And the Bible said that Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom.

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The fight doesn’t start when you tell me to treat Harrison Ford more important than myself or President Bill Clinton. The fight starts when I am asked to treat you as more important than me; and I run head on with this principle throughout Scripture. Treat the gas station attendant, the minorities, Democrats, Republicans, even Buffalo Bills fans, as more important than yourself; and that’s a tough act to follow. That’s a tall order for a self-centered man like me.

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(Theme music to the movie “Rocky” plays). What’s the guy doing? Is he gone nuts? I’ll tell you what I’m doing…I am training for a fight. That’s right. I’m in a fight right now and the fight’s been going on for a long, long time. Sometimes I’m winning the fight. I can feel the jabs coming. Other times I’m getting my face kicked in. My opponent? It’s you. I’m fighting you – the people I love, the people I’m called to shepherd. I’m also fighting my wife, my children, my neighbors, the person next to me on the freeway who is trying to merge. I’m in a fight, and this fight stems from a principle found throughout God’s Word. Philippians 2:3 really puts it in a succinct fashion. The last eight words in Philippians 2:3 start this fight in my life. “Let each of you regard one another as more important than himself”. Eight words…let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. When I obey those words, put the gloves on and we are in the ring fighting. The question for you, the people of the Fellowship of Las Colinas…do you have a difficult time treating VIPs or bona fide celebrities as more important than you? Do you? I don’t have trouble or a big problem with that.

Six years ago, some friends of mine and I went to Belize, Central America, on a fishing expedition. We stayed on a tiny island, a remote fish camp, off the coast of Belize. This place had about twelve rooms, cement floors. You ate in a little, thatched-type hut area. We thought, “Peace, quiet, serenity for a couple of days”.

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