God bless you, have a good day. What is ISA 118? ISA stands for Isaiah, Prophet Isaiah, one of the books of the Bible. 118 is a chapter in the verse that says, come let us reason together, though your sins are like scarlet, they will be made as white as snow. That's a gospel tract, that's the good news of the gospel. My name's Tony. Hey, I'm Caleb. Caleb, good to meet you, Caleb. That's a good Bible name. Yeah. Are you wearing, what's that? It's with the Caleb. That's okay, that's all right. So Caleb, do you have any particular spiritual beliefs? Yeah, I was actually born again in September. Really? Tell me, I'd love to hear that story. Tell me how that happened. So I had always heard Bible stories growing up and went to some crusty churches here and there. But it wasn't until I got to campus, There's this dude doing a sketchboard, preaching. Over by Wells? Yeah. The reason I ask is I'm from Davenport, Iowa. I drove out here because I was brokenhearted over what happened on your campus, and I wanted to see if I could help bring some hope. Oh, yeah? And so a young man named Josh told me about a man in his church who sits over outside of Wells with a table and a sketchboard. Oh, yeah? Yeah. So it's interesting that you bring that up. Yeah, because that was the first time I heard the good news. Really? I was like, do you want to do a Bible study follow-up? I was like, sure. And then we read John chapter 3. Yeah. Jesus says, very, very truly, I tell you, unless a man is born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. I was like, I have to be born again? I have to enter inside of my mother's womb? It's like, no, no, no, you have to be born again spiritually. Yeah. It's interesting that you ask that because the Pharisee, the Jewish ruler that Jesus said it to, yes, Nicodemus, said, how can a man be, you know, You cannot re-enter into his mother's womb, how can a man be born again? So the same thing you thought, that's interesting. Yeah, I was like, what? Okay, so what happened after that? After that, you know, Jesus just met me where I was. I was like, listen, I tried my way. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, Lord. I know I'm a sinner, and I know you died and resurrected. I know that you became man in Jesus Christ, and lived a perfect life, and lived the life I should have lived, and died on the cross for my sins, and then rose again the third day, proving that you're God, and that by turning to your Lordship, and by repenting from my old ways, I can have eternal life, and I can be born again. So, I just prayed that prayer, and then I was born again, and all of a sudden I started, I started hating the music I used to listen to. I started hating lust. I was like, what's going on? Well, the Word of God says that He will take a heart of stone and He will replace it with a heart of flesh. And what that means is that when God causes us to be born again, which is what you're describing, we begin to love the things that God loves, namely Him. and we begin to hate the things that God hates, namely our own sin. Not other people. We're actually going to have a real and greater love for people because God has caused us to be born again. Our hatred is for our own sin that shows that we're in rebellion against him. Exactly. And the beautiful thing about God's grace, Caleb, is that when we do sin, when we do fall short of His glory, that His grace is sufficient. Because when Jesus died on that cross, the power of what He did on the cross paid not only the penalty for our sin, but it also conquered the power that sin has in our lives. And so when we fall short of God's glory, when we do sin, as all people do, even though we've been given this new heart with new desires, we ought not look in the mirror to the man who sinned. We ought to look to the cross, to the one who died for sinners like us. And that's where our hope and our faith and our trust is. It's in what God did. for sinners like us, not what we can do for God. And when God causes us to be born again, he literally adopts us into his family. Amen, amen. And I have several young people in my church and in my family who've been adopted. And the beautiful thing about adoption, Caleb, is that- Like real adoption? Real adoption, yes. When a child is adopted, The child receives a new name, new clothes, and a new home from their adopted parent. When God adopts us through faith in Jesus Christ, we're given a new name. We're no longer called wretched. We're no longer called sinner. We're no longer called outcast or condemned. We're now called beloved children of the Most High God. We're given a new name. When God causes us to be born again, He gives us new clothes. We're no longer clothed in the filthy rags of our sin. We're now clothed in the perfect, beautiful righteousness of Christ. So that when we stand before God, instead of seeing our sin, He sees the righteousness of His Son that was credited to our account. We receive new clothes. And we also receive a new home. This world is no longer... No, it's time for Christ, young man. It's not time for religion. It's time for Christ. There's no hope in legislation, medication, or education. There's only hope in reconciliation to the God you know through faith in Christ. He gives us a new home. He gives us a new home. This world is no longer our home. Hell is no longer our destination. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us where we will be with him forever and ever so that no matter what this world throws at us, No matter what hardship we may face, we can consider it all joy when we encounter trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance. So that endurance will make us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. We know that No matter what happens in this world, our future is secure. Not because of our goodness, but because of the goodness of God that would allow His perfect and precious and priceless Son to die for sinners like us. So even in the aftermath of something as horrific as what happened here last week, in Christ there is hope. And even in what one man intended for evil, God is already used for good. As people are hearing the proclamation of the gospel, not only from us, I'm sure there are others. There are students like you and Josh and other Christian students I've met who I'm sure are communicating the good news, communicating the good news of the gospel to your fellow students. So with that one man intended for evil, God's using for good in the midst of it. Because I'm confident, Caleb, that there's probably many, many students, faculty, staff, maintenance men, whoever it may be who's associated with this school family, I'm sure many people are thinking about their own mortality in light of what happened. I know my own niece. Her name is Tony with an I. She was named after my father, her grandfather, who was also Tony. She's a student here. And like so many, she was hunkered down in a closet for four hours waiting you know, for the all clear, waiting for someone to tell her she's going to be safe. And I know what the remedy is for that kind of fear and anxiety and hopelessness. It's Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, God the Father sent his Son to earth in the person of Jesus Christ, truly God, truly man without sin, lived a life of perfection for some 33 years that guys like you and me can't live for 33 seconds. Yet even though he knew no sin, he voluntarily submitted himself to that torturous, bloody death of a Roman cross. He died a death he did not deserve. to take upon Himself the punishment we rightly deserve for our sins against God. And that He forever defeated sin and death when He rose from the grave. And if we put our faith and our hope and our trust in Him alone for our salvation, far better than medication, far better than education, far better than legislation, we will be reconciled. We will have reconciliation forever. to the God who created us through faith in his son. There's no better news than that. And that's why we're here. We want to bring that good news. How do you feel about worry? Yeah, so the Bible describes worry as a sin. Here, let me grab a Bible. Come over here. So I'm a man who in my life, Caleb, I've struggled with worry. I've struggled with anxiety. I've struggled with things like that. I feel like I'm going through that a lot right now. Well, let's encourage you then. And I just keep rereading Matthew 6. That's exactly where I was gonna go, Matthew. But let me take you, that is like the best passage, right? That is the best passage. Let me take you to a couple of others that are just wonderful. I'm gonna take you first to Philippians. Like, Lord, is this girl my wife? Is my job this? So Philippians chapter four tells us this. beginning in verse, oh, we'll start in verse four. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things. So the cure to worry, the cure to sinful worry is to be thankful. Caleb, you've testified to me that God has caused you to be born again. You've testified to me that He has saved you. I think you have something to be thankful for. So no matter what happens with the girl, no matter what happens with the job, no matter what happens with your health, You always have something to be thankful for. Wow. Always. Now, wait, wait, wait, wait. There's more. There's more, my friend. There's more. I think. Hey, you just dropped it off here. I think this is going to blow your mind, too. And it's just so beautiful. All right. So this is in the Gospel of John. You'll find it in chapter 17 in your Bible, John 17. Yeah. most beautiful prayer ever prayed. So Jesus is up in the upper room. He's having what's called the Last Supper with his disciples. And during that time, he washes their feet. And that's the time when Judas runs out. He's going to go betray Jesus. He knows exactly what he's going to do. He says, go do what you are going to do. And he runs out. In fact, Jesus even tells his disciples, whoever dips his bread into this wine with me, his morsel, into this wine with me is the one who betrays me. And it was Judas, right? And so after this last supper, they walk across a little valley called the Kidron Valley, and they walk into this garden called the Garden of Gethsemane. and it's a place where Jesus is going to pray before he's arrested. So listen to what Jesus says. First he starts by praying for his disciples, the eleven men who are still left, who are going to go now spread the gospel to the whole world. He prays for them, that God would be with them, that his spirit would be with them, and that they would remain faithful to the task. Then he prays this, beginning in verse 20. I do not ask for these, my disciples, I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. We're reading their word, the word of God, penned by men, inspired by the Holy Spirit. So what Jesus just said here, I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. Caleb, that's you and me. That's you and me, Caleb, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. You read John chapter 3. John was one of his disciples. John wrote John chapter 3. You repented and believed the gospel. He's praying for you, Caleb. He's praying for you right now. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. He's still talking about us, Caleb. I in them, and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me. And love them, that's you and me, Caleb, love them even as you loved me. Now listen to this. Father, I desire that they, that's you and me, people who have come to faith in Christ, having heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are the they, we're part of the they. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Now check this out. Jesus, perfectly God, perfectly man without sin. Jesus, God the Son, who was with the Father before creation, one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus, who can, never did, never will sin, can only pray a perfect prayer because He's perfect, right? And because He has a perfect relationship with His Father, what is His Father going to do with that prayer? He's going to answer it perfectly. So Caleb, no matter what this world throws at you, Jesus has prayed that you will be with Him where He is. Can anything stop that? Because isn't God the Father going to give God the Son exactly what he wants? Because he asked, Caleb, if you were in Christ, he asked for you to be with him forever and ever. So no matter what happens with the girl, no matter what happens with the job, no matter what happens with your health, no matter what happens with your education, In the end, Caleb, you're going to close your eyes, and you're going to open them in the presence of the Lord. Now get this, Caleb. Get this, Caleb. Get this. So, Jesus intercedes. That's what Jesus is doing. When he's praying for us, that's called intercession. Okay? So in Romans chapter 8, let's see, where is it? I think it's verse 34, here we go. Beginning in verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who could be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. So Caleb, that's in the present tense, which means it is happening now and ongoing. So Jesus didn't simply pray that prayer once in the garden. He sits at the right hand of power. He stands before God, his father, and he is constantly interceding for his people. He is constantly saying to his father in heaven, I want Caleb to be where I am. I want Caleb to be where I am. I want Caleb to be where I am. I want Caleb to be where I am. What do you think is going to happen, Caleb? Amen. Amen. Amen, my friend. Amen. If you are exactly, and that, my friend, is the antidote to worry. It is comfort found in the truth of God's Word. When you worry about something, you can immediately change your thinking. Repentance begins with a changing of the mind, which leads to a changing in direction. So when you're worried, repentance is the changing of the mind that leads to a change in direction. So when you're worrying, when you're sinning against God, worry is basically unbelief and a lack of trust in that moment. The way to repent of that is to change your thinking and go in the opposite direction. So instead of worry, Caleb, believe and thank God that his son, at that very moment that you're worrying, at that very moment, he's interceding for you before the Father saying, I want Caleb to be where I am. I want Caleb to be where I am. He's so nice. His love is perfect, Caleb. And if you're in Christ, if God has caused you to be born again, that love is yours. Back to Romans 8. So great is that love, that same passage where I read to you that He's interceding for us. Here's how it ends. Now in all these things, well, let me go back. All right, so we left off there, is that the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No. So that's a rhetorical question. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? The answer to that rhetorical question is no. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Caleb. There's nothing, if you belong to Christ, if God has caused you to be born again, if he's adopted you as a beloved son, you can never be unborn, born again. You can never be unadopted. There's nothing, there's nothing in this life, nothing, including you. There's nothing in this life, including you, that can separate you from the love of Christ. Nothing. He wants good for me, because I'm a son. Yeah, and you know what, Caleb? Sometimes, Sometimes the good that God allows is hardship and persecution. Sometimes the good that God allows is cancer. Sometimes the good that God allows is losing a job. Sometimes the good God allows is a girl you thought you loved going away. Because In Romans chapter 8, I would encourage you to read Romans, my friend. In Romans chapter 8, it says, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purposes. Everything that God allows to happen in your life, good, bad, or ugly, is for your good. It's for your good. Because a loving father disciplines his children. If my daughters are all way older than you, okay, I'm assuming you're in your early 20s Yeah, yeah, my youngest. Yeah, my youngest is gonna turn 29 here soon. So When my kids were young if they reached up for a stove and I told them not to do it and then and they believe and they behaved and they obeyed and then they go back and they Know don't do that. You're gonna get burned At some point I might let them touch the stove I take my hand of restraint away and I let them touch that stove, not because I hate my children, not because I want harm to come to them, but because they need to learn to take me at my word and to trust me and obey me. Or instead of maybe letting them touch the stove, maybe I pull their hand away and I slap their hand. I don't slap their hand because I hate them. I slap their hand because I love them and I don't want them to get hurt. I want them to do what is right. I want them to obey the truth. Sometimes God will allow things come into our lives that are uncomfortable, frightening, worrisome, to test our faith, to grow our faith, to teach us to not love the things of the world, but to love Christ. Okay, praise God and you know what and you know what Caleb Caleb Caleb no glory to me no praise to me nothing I drove 380 miles this morning to talk to you I Didn't know I was gonna talk to you No idea I was going to talk to you. But God knew that I was going to drive 380 miles to come to this campus. God knew that I'd be standing here at this time. God knew that you were going to cross the street when you did. God knew you and I were going to talk. God knows your thoughts before you even think them. And he knew what you needed to hear from his words. That has nothing to do with me, because I don't know God's secret will. I knew what I planned to do today, but I had no thought of, I'm going to meet this tall young man named Caleb, who's going to share with me his testimony of coming to faith in Christ in September. He's going to talk to me about being worried, and I'm going to point him to the scriptures. I didn't know any of that was going to happen, right? But God did. That's how good and loving and kind God is, not only to you, but to me too. Because in sharing this truth with you, I get reminded of the same truth. Because it's not just Caleb who has to believe these truths, it's Tony who has to believe these truths. Right? So, when those worrisome thoughts come up, and they will, because we live in a fallen world, and even though we are born again and we're filled with God's Spirit, we still live in this sinful flesh. Right? We still live in the sinful flesh. So we're going to battle sin for the rest of our lives. Right? But that doesn't mean we have to curl up in a ball and go, oh no, I'm going to lose this fight. No, because, because sanctification is spiritual growth and God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. The next verse says, the reason, the good that he causes is to conform us to the image of his son, to make us more like Jesus. to make us more like Jesus. And so the way he's going to make us more like Jesus is as we live this life. I've been praying that prayer. Praise God! I want to be like you. I want to conform to the likeness of your image and the likeness of you. So God has given you tools today. Not from me, but from His Word. God has given you tools during our conversation in His Word so that you can be conformed to his image, so that you can be more like Christ. Here, let's do this. If you trust me, that's entirely up to you, okay? That's me, that's my email address, that's my phone number. If you want to text me, if you feel like it, no salesman's going to come to your door. But as far as I'm concerned, Caleb, we're brothers, okay? If you want to text me, I'll text you all of those passages that I just shared with you. I'll text them all to you. So that you can always have them right there on your phone. Turn to them in your Bible, turn to them on the app on your phone, and go right to the Word of God. And that's what God will use to renew your mind. And what you'll find is that as you grow in your faith... You're a baby in the faith. Praise God! Praise God! As you grow in your faith, though, Caleb, as you grow in your faith, and you learn more of his word, and that word gets written on your mind and your heart, when that worrisome thought comes, No, no, no. I'm going to consider it all joy as I go through this trial, because I know where I'm going. I'm going to consider it all joy when I go through this trial, because I know the testing of my faith is for my good. I ain't going to worry about this. Or, what am I worried about this for? I'm convinced that nothing is going to be able to separate me from the love of Christ. Why would I worry about this? What am I, why am I anxious about this? Jesus is interceding for me right now, asking the Father that I'm gonna be where he is. What do I got to worry about? So as you learn more of God's word, as his word is written on your heart, and you memorize and you meditate on that word, you're gonna be ready to fight that anxiety when it comes, so that you don't get on what I call the snowball. You know what that is, right? The first thought is, Well, what if that girl doesn't like me? Then I'm never gonna get married. I'm never gonna have children. My children aren't gonna get saved. They're never gonna change the world. I'm gonna die a lonely man. All lies. All lies, but it's that snowball. You tell yourself the first lie, it's easy to believe the second one that comes and the third one, and before you know it, you're caught up in the snowball rolling downhill and you can't get off. So the key is to not get on the snowball when you see it coming. And the way you do that is by telling yourself the truth. A great, great preacher from 40, 50 years ago, a man by the name of Martin Lloyd-Jones, he wrote a book called Spiritual Depression. Even the greatest men in the faith struggled at times with worry and fear and anxiety. And I'll never forget this, Caleb, as long as I live what he wrote, he said, What Christians need to do is stop listening to themselves and start telling themselves the truth. Is that Paul Washer? Oh, you know Paul Washer? No, a man named Martin Lloyd-Jones. Paul Washer is a great preacher, a great man of God. I actually got to spend time with him in Norway several years ago. We spoke at a conference together. We're not like buddy-buddy. I don't have his picture on my wall. He doesn't have my picture in his wallet. But I've gotten to meet him and spend time with him. And a genuine, genuine godly man. And so, yeah, I'd encourage you to listen to him. But that truth just resonates with me because when I'm anxious and worried, it's because I'm listening to the thoughts in my head. And the way to repent of the thoughts in my head that are wrong is by telling myself the truth. Telling myself the truth. And that overrides, that changes my mind, and now I'm hearing truth. So is that renewing your mind in the scriptures? Yes, that's part of renewing your mind. Exactly. I was wondering what that meant. That's what it means. That's what it means, yeah. Thank you so much, Tony. I appreciate you. I appreciate you too, Caleb. I'm going to follow up with you. Is it okay if I give you a hug? I was going to ask you. I was going to ask you. Can I pray for you? Yes. Father, I am so thankful, Father, that in your divine providence, according to your perfect will, a secret to us up until this moment, That, Father, you would so ordain that Caleb and I would get to meet here on the campus of Michigan State University. Father, neither one of us have planned it, and it just shows us that your ways are higher than our ways, your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. I thank you, Father, for Caleb's testimony, for the clear articulation of the gospel from a man so young in his faith. I pray, Father, that by your grace, and by the power of your Holy Spirit that you would help this young man to grow in his faith. That Father, that the desire of his heart would continue to be and would continue to grow to be conformed to the image of your Son, to be more like his Savior, our Savior. I pray, Father, that you would rally Christians around him, maybe those who are more mature in their faith, to help Caleb walk this all-important walk. Father, your Word shows us that you use Christians, you use your church to keep us in the faith. Not that we're saved by the church, not that we're saved by other people. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. But you are a God of means. and you use your people, you use your church for the sanctification and the spiritual growth and the accountability and even the discipline of your people. So I pray that the local church would be present and beneficial to Caleb in his life. And I pray, Father, that you would help this young man, my brother, to grow, not only in his fear of you, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but that he would grow in wisdom and discernment, that he would grow in the knowledge of your word, and that you would use him, Father, for your glory, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thanks again, Tony. Thank you, David. God bless you, brother. Yes, please, call and, yeah, look, we've known each other forever, like a half hour. But brother, if I can be of any encouragement to you, pick up the phone, shoot me a text, shoot me an email. I don't have all the answers, I'm not the sharpest tack in the box. But I'll help you find them. I'll help you find them. Are you in a local church right now? Are you part of a church? Just starting ministry called Every Nation. Every Nation. Now is that a church or is that a ministry here on campus? It's a ministry. Okay, okay, good, good. Surround yourself with Christians. But I want to encourage you, the framework that the Bible gives for the life of the Christian is that they're part of a local church. A local church having pastors, having elders, having a membership, having the Lord's Supper together. fellowshiping together, engaging in the one another's together. Now, you know, you can certainly do some of that in this group. And again, I want to encourage you to be around faithful Christians here on campus. Keep doing that. But make sure you ground yourself in the local church. Are you from this area? No, I came here for college. Okay. Where are you from? I'm from Plymouth. Where's Plymouth? I'm from Iowa, so I don't know nothing about nothing. It's just outside of Detroit. OK. All right. So what, an hour or so from here? OK. All right. So I imagine you go home for holidays, vacations, things like that. All right. So when you get home, are your family believers? Are you the first? Well, I was the first, and then my sister was recently born again. Praise God. Is she a student here as well? Uh, no, she's not. Okay. She's a model. Okay. She older or younger? She's 11 months younger. 11 months younger. Okay. And then I have a twin brother. Okay. He's not born again. So it's just me and my sister. So, so when you text me, text me your zip code at home and I can help you look for churches at home. There are these things called church finders, and I'm pretty familiar with churches that have good theology, that believe the same gospel you believe, the one that saves. There's a lot of false gospels out there. But I'd be happy to help you at least narrow it, because finding a church can be hard. You go in, you visit, you don't know anybody. Is this a real church? Is this a true church? What am I going to hear? And so I can maybe help you at least whittle down the list to help you find a good church in the area. And my friend over here, Joe, is a pastor of a church from about 45 minutes from here. And then the man in the gray beanie with the long black beard, that's Gino. I'm staying at his pastor's house while I'm here. They're about a half hour away. But I mean, I can help you find churches in this area back home. Whatever I can do to encourage you and support you, I'm willing to do. Thank you so much. OK? All right. We'll keep in touch. Yeah, I hope so. God bless you, brother. God bless you. God bless you, man. Made my day. Yeah, made my day, too. Praise God.