 men's conferences. And the reason why is because we don't have to have all the extra stuff like they have at the women's conferences. We don't need flowers. We don't need tablecloths. We don't need no stinking badges. All we need is the Bible and maybe some duct tape and we can see everything put back together. And so I love getting together with men, searching out the heart of God, seeing the heart of God. And we've seen that in these first two sessions. The heart of God depicted with Pastor Raul, the heart of God, is at the cross to nine ourselves with Pastor David, the heart of God, and men that seek after the heart of God. And I'm really humbled by the opportunity that I would even be asked to share with you. Because I admire you and respect so many of you so much that I feel like I still need to be sitting and learning from you. But yet I believe that God has something that is placed upon my heart. That if we would have ears that would hear, what the Spirit would want to speak, I believe that we can receive something that God wants to do in our lives in a powerful way. And so as we gather together we know that the Word of God will not return void in the hearts and the lives of His people. As we open up His Word we know that God's Word will open up our lives and do the surgery, the open heart surgery that only the great physician can do. And so I'm looking forward to what God is going to continue to do in our lives. Are you guys ready for what God is going to do today and continue through these sessions? Let's do this. Let's stand together. I know you've been sitting for a while now. Let's stand together. And if you have your Bible with you, would you reach around and grab your Bible and would you turn with me to our theme verse for this conference, Romans chapter 8 verse 37. And while you're turning there, I just want to say one thing. My dad is with me today. I brought my dad with me. It's his birthday today. And so I asked him to come with me today. And so he's here, Brian. And I just want to say to you, Dad, I wouldn't be standing here before these men if it wasn't for watching you stand for God all the years of my life. And so I'm thankful that I've had a godly father like you who has taken his life and sacrificed his life so that I could know what it is to live life in Christ. And so I want to thank you, Dad, for being the man of God and an example to me. And happy birthday. I hope you liked that because I didn't get you anything for your birthday. No, I'm kidding. Oh, so thankful for men that stand up for righteousness. I wasn't planning on sharing this. I actually edited it out of my study. If you've ever prepared something to share, you know that it goes through the editing of the Holy Spirit. And sometimes it's the editing of your self where you don't think it fits in. But as you're standing, I think you'll thank me in the next three hours when we conclude this study. But as we're standing, I just feel prompted by the Lord to share this with you again, the importance of a man being the man of God as Pastor David shared so perfectly. Because what's missing in our society and now secular sociologists and psychologists are discovering that the problem with our society in our country is the demise of the family unit, the family unit. And that begins, starts and ends with the presence or absence of the father in the home. This is against secular statistics. But it says there's a crisis in America, according to the US Census Bureau, 19.7 million children more than one in four live without a father in their home. Consequently, there is a father factor in nearly all of the social ills facing America today. Research shows that when a child is raised in a father absent home, he or she is affected in great ways. Then it goes on to list all these various ways, but I want to share just a few of them with you. Children are more likely to commit crimes, violent crimes with deadly weapons, seven times more likely to become pregnant as a teen, more likely to face abuse and neglect, more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, two times more likely to suffer obesity, two times more likely to drop out of high school, two times at a greater risk of infant mortality, more likely to have behavioral problems, four times greater risk of poverty and much more likely to go to prison. Why? Because men aren't being men that God has called men to be. And in this day and age, we need godly men. We need godly young men to be examples like Timothy was, where Paul would say to Timothy, don't let them despise your youth. And that wasn't say, Oh, don't despise me, older men. I'm a younger guy. Don't think of me. No, Paul was saying to Timothy, don't do anything so stupid that would cause people to despise you because you're young. And we need more young, godly men to rise up and say, I want to lead. I want to be like Christ. Though none go with me, I still will follow. We need more older men to be the patriarchs, do not put it in cruise control. It's interesting. Over 75% of the people that fell in the Bible throughout from Genesis to Revelation, 75% of the men who fell in their life fell in the second half of their life. When they were older, when did David fall? When he was 40 years, when kings would normally go to battle, David stayed behind. Why? Because he put it into cruise control and he wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing, what he should be doing. He stopped fighting the battles. He stopped being the warrior. He stopped being a more than conqueror. We need more men, older men, young men, middle-aged men, really, really old guys, really, really young guys. There's no such thing as old men. There's just older men because we're always in our prime as men. About to hit my prime. But we need men to be men after God's heart. We need men to take what God has called us to be seriously from the pages of his Word. He created us. He knows who we're supposed to be. And it's time that we start acting out and living out the lives that God has called us to live as men. Amen? That's not my message. That was just something that God put on my heart that wasn't in there. But I believe the Spirit wanted at least somebody to hear that today. Because God calls us to be more than conquerors. Well, Romans chapter 8 verse 37 says this, yet in all these things we are more than conquerors. Through him, Jesus Christ. Through him, not through you, not through your efforts, not through your energies, but through Jesus, who loves us. And Father, we thank you so much for your love for us. That you would be willing to give your life for us, that we could have life and live life. The life that you've created us to live. Today I pray that you would empower us as men to be the godly men that our country needs, that our worlds need, that our families need, that our wives, those who are married needs, those who have children, the fathers that our children need. Lord, that you desire us to be. So help us, God, we pray to see you from the pages of this your living word. So that we could see you, so that we could know you more, so that we could become more like you as you change and transform our lives. We give you our lives. We surrender our lives to you today. You accomplish the work that you want to do in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. And all God's people say, Amen. You may be seated. Warrior. Yes, we can do it. Yes, I'm a conqueror. The theme. We wear the shirts. Conqueror. We like the sound of that. Conqueror. You can have victory. Conqueror. You can overcome. Conqueror. You can succeed. But what do you do when you don't? What do you do when you get to the point where you've tried everything and no matter what you do it seems like you don't conquer you failure. When you try to conquer but you are defeated in the relationship, the situation, what do you do? You're seeing any given situation we can be faced with our own inability. Our inability to right the wrong. Our inability to fix the problem. Reconcile the relationship to be set free from the addiction to accomplish the goal. And our lives can become characterized by our inability. You see, we are a bunch of failures. Welcome to church. We are a bunch of people who have been defeated over and over again. And yes, we would like to be a conqueror. But the fact of the matter is we are no match for our adversary, the enemy. He can sift us like wheat in our own strength. You see, we try to be strong. We try to do better in our own strength, in our own efforts, in our own energies to change, to do better, to stop doing that and doing this. But the problem is our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak. That's why Paul said, Why do I do the things I don't want to do? And I don't do the things that I want to do. And so in our own strength, we find ourselves limited. We find ourselves unable. We find ourselves defeated. But it's interesting to me that throughout the pages of this book, sitting in our laps that we often take so for granted of, the living word of God, that in the pages of this book, the story after story after story were a person or the nation of Israel was brought to a point of certain defeat. The odds were impossible for them to be a conqueror was unlikely at best. But then something happens story after story, when they come to a point of certain defeat, when there was no way, when seemingly all was lost. But then there's two words that are given in the Bible. I believe it's the two most powerful words in all of the Bible. It's a phrase that's used and when it's used, we should take a note of. Because after this phrase is used, you see God do something supernatural, something impossible, something miraculous. These two words that I'm talking about are these, but God. And when you see those two words, these powerful words, these words are paired together more than 45 times in the Bible. And when you see these words, God brings about radical change. It might look like impossible to you, but God. You see, a great theologian, Martin Lloyd-Jones, said this and I quote, in those two words contain the whole gospel of Christ. You see, no matter who you are, what you've done, how you've lived, no matter the mistakes you've made, no matter the addictions you have, no matter the failures you've made, you would experience certain defeat, but God can give you victory. But God can allow you to be a conqueror and a more than conqueror. You see, there's something so important to understand as it relates to us as conquerors. And that is, you're not. You're not a conqueror. No, we're not. We can't, but God. And that's why it says in Romans 837, yet in all of these things, what things? In all of everything that's going good. No, listen, Paul talks about this in verse 35, in tribulation and in distress, in persecution, in famine, in nakedness, in peril, in sword, in anything that we go through, no matter the difficulty, no matter the opposition. Then he says in all of these things, we are more than conquerors. But then notice what he goes on to say through Christ, through him, Jesus. You see, we aren't conquerors in our own strength, but when you don't miss this point, this fact, that it's through Christ that we can have victory, that victory is already promised to us, then you realize even though it seems impossible, but God. You say, Pastor Brennan, that sounds great. That sounds nice. That's nice, but you don't know my situation. It doesn't seem like right now I'm a conqueror. No, I've actually been defeated. All hope is lost. It's too far gone. You don't know my situation. You haven't been where I've been. Maybe when you're a little bit older, like when you turn 15, you'll know. Maybe when you've gone through the life experience that I've gone through. Listen, here's what God's word says. For some of you, you might say it's my marriage. My marriage, it's been this way for a long time. It's not going to change. It's actually getting worse. You don't know my wife, Pastor. Good. But I know who Job's wife was. Job's wife? Oh, she had to be a real doozy. Could you imagine? Satan comes to God and says, oh, I've considered your servant, Joe, but you don't, you don't let me touch him. Your hand of protection's on him. If you would just let me get him, I could get him to curse you. God says, okay, do what you think you need to do. He's going to be faithful. So Satan goes after him. Everything he could do to ruin his life. He kills his children, his servants, his livestock. But when it comes to his wife, his wife did not die. Could you imagine the demons? Hey, Satan, Satan, we took everything. Lucifer, we killed everything, but his wife, we got to go after his wife and say, he goes, no, no, no, leave her. I know what I'm doing. You might say you, you don't know, but even Job did what was honoring to the Lord. You might say, Pastor, the problem wasn't my wife, if we're going to be honest. I like to blame her, but the problem was actually me. I've been an idiot. Most people that know you know that. And you might say, there's no hope. My marriage, it's falling apart. I want to share with you a couple of stories throughout the Bible, some situations that seem like all hope was lost. But God, one is Genesis chapter 20, where Abraham and Sarah were traveling. And as they were traveling, Abraham, this great man of faith, the father of faith, Abraham, the patriarch of the nation of Israel, this man of faith makes a big mess of his marriage. You see, he says to Sarah, you see, when we get there, a bimilech who's king, he's going to see you. And because baby sweetheart, you're so beautiful. And when he sees you, he's going to, he's going to want you as his own because you're so hot. And so in order to get you, he's going to kill me. So babe, let's just lie and let's just say you're my sister. Yeah, he'll take you and you won't see me anymore, but I'll live. Talk about being a little bit self-centered and selfish. So they get there and a bimilech hears of this most beautiful woman. And so he says, who is she? And so he inquires about her. And Abraham says, huh, yeah, that's just my sister. That's funny. I've never kissed my sister that way. And you're right. Yeah, that's my sister. And so a bimilech takes her into his harem to make her one of his. Seemed like all hope was lost. The marriage was over. They were separated literally. And in Genesis chapter 20, verse two, it says Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister. And a bimilech king of Garar sent and took Sarah. Their marriage seemed to be over. But God, verse three, came to a bimilech in a dream by night and said to him, indeed you are a dead man. A bimilech has this dream where God says you are dead. Speaking of sexual reproductive, nothing would work anymore. He would die physically, sexually. She's not worth it. And so he sends her back and he says, why did you lie to me? No, I just thought you were going to kill me. You man of faith? And that was Abraham. Their marriage seemed to be over because Abraham was an idiot, a moron, stupid, because of dumb decisions he made. They were separated literally. But God brought them back together miraculously. Abraham made a mess of their marriage. Their marriage was fallen apart, but God moved in to their marriage. And when God moves into the mess, God gives you a message to take from the mess. And you won't have the message without the mess. And so God will take that mess, redeem that mess, and give you a message from that mess to share with other people who are going through the mess. You see so many times, men, we do, we say dumb things. You know, growing up, I always heard, you need to think before you speak. But we never really learned that lesson. It's like the one guy that goes to his wife and says, how could God make someone so beautiful, so stupid? And she says, well, God made me beautiful, so you would marry me. And God made me stupid, so I would marry you. So many times we say hurtful things to the people around us, mean things. We don't act out of love. And because of it, we cause issues, problems, separations. You might say, you don't know, pastor, what I've done. I don't, but I know God. And I know God can move in the mess, even when your marriage looks dead. But God, maybe you might say, but it's not my marriage. It's actually, my marriage is fine. It's my kids. It's our kids that aren't walking with the Lord. I try to talk to them. I try to get through to them, but they're not listening. I can't communicate to them. And I don't have the answers for them. It's the parenting that's causing me the issue. It seems like my children are so far gone. Genesis chapter 48 verse 21, Jacob said to his son, Joseph, behold, I am dying. I'm not going to be here much longer with you, Joseph. I'm not always going to be here for you, but God will be with you and bring you to the promised land. You won't always be here for your kids. You won't always be there in the way that you need to be there. And you might be kicking yourself because you felt you haven't been there in the way that you need to be there. Maybe you haven't been the present father that you've needed to be in the past, but God can bring them to the promised land. The promised land is a type and biblical typology of the spirit-filled life. They might seem so far gone that all hope is lost, but God, their heavenly father, your heavenly father, maybe you're a young man who has been a prodigal. Maybe you've walked away from God. Maybe you haven't been honoring God in your life. Listen, maybe your dad hasn't been for you in the way that you've needed a dad to be there for you. Listen, God has always been there for you. He's always loved you. He's never left your side. He promises to never leave you nor forsake you. And God promises to carry you on to completion, to bring you to the spirit-filled life. You see, you might think all hope is lost, but God, it's not life insurance. It's life assurance. The promise of life for those who are in Christ Jesus. You might say, but Brennan, in my family, it's not our marriage. It's not my kids. It's actually my mother-in-law. If it wasn't for her pastor, everything in life would be perfect in laws. How do you think Jacob felt? Jacob, Jacob working for his father-in-law, Laban, who was a cheat, a crook, a bad dude. Laban. But yet he talks to his wife and he says, yet your father has deceived me. He doesn't say, I'm not going to have anything to do with him. Yet he's lied to me. I'm going to stop honoring my commitment. He says, yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages 10 times, but God did not allow him to hurt me. You might say, well, it's not in laws. I come from a dysfunctional family. I come from a family, a lot of turmoil in the home, completely dysfunctional, a lot of abuse there. Let's talk about Joseph for a minute. Joseph with his big brothers who took him and threw him in a pit, left him for dead there. Talk about some PTSD, emotional trauma. I'm emotional now because of my past. What did Joseph do? Did he become a victim or was he a victor? Joseph who was left for dead in a pit, then finally a caravan of slave traders come by and they say, you know what? Let's just sell Joseph. That way his blood's not on our hands. He'll probably die anyways. So they sell Joseph into slavery. But what does God do? He gets to Egypt. He honors God. He's elevated in Potiphar's household. He continues to honor God when Potiphar's wife throws himself at Joseph. And it's interesting, Joseph, when talking about Joseph, the Bible says that he was well in appearance and stature, meaning he had a handsome face and he had the body. Usually for us men, it's one or the other. If we have the face, we don't need to work out and get the body. But if we don't have the face and we're ugly, we need to get the body so we work out. But for Joseph, he was well-built, good-looking young man. And it says he was tempted daily by Potiphar's wife. It was a temptation. And for a good-looking man to be tempted, you had to know that Potiphar's wife was a good-looking woman. Don't think of like baggy sweats and a t-shirt. It's like every day, day after day, there was a new temptation for Joseph. Potiphar's wife jumps out in like a little tennis outfit. Hey, Joe, want to go play? Joseph's like, no! Tennis is of the devil. The next day, something more seductive, something more seductive got to the point where she's in her Victoria's Secret outfit and she grabs them, literally throws them down onto her bed, begins ripping his clothes off. What does he do? I'll tell you what he didn't do. He didn't have the conversation should I or shouldn't I? Because once you have that conversation with Satan, you've already lost because you're no match for Satan. Once you begin opening that conversation and he could have, he could have justified his actions or tried to at least. Well, you see Potiphar's wife, she's neglected. She doesn't have anybody. You know, Potiphar's always traveling, business deals, New York, LA, leaving her. Now, if she was my wife, I would never leave her. I would be with her. She has needs. I have needs. No, you know what he does? He runs for his life, literally for his life. He runs. He hightails it. And as she's grabbing his robe off of him, he's literally pulling away from her, pulls out of his robe as he's running away now in his chonies. And he's running down in a way to get as far as he can. She's so embarrassed about the situation, claims that Joseph tried to rape her. Now, Joseph's imprisoned for 13 years, still honoring God, still doing what's right. Talk about a dysfunctional life. What did Joseph do when he was in prison? You know, if it wasn't for my dysfunctional family, if it wasn't for my past abuse and being thrown in that pit, I wouldn't be in this mess. No, he never became the victim, but continued to look to God for the victory. 13 years later, Joseph is delivered out of prison, elevated to the second command in over all of Egypt. And now there's a famine in the land. If you don't know the story, you'll have to read it. I don't have time to get into it. But it's interesting in Acts chapter seven, verse nine. It says, as the patriarchs, that is, Joseph's brother is becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles. It's time for us to no longer be the victims of our past, but to be victors in the present and the future of what God has for us in our lives. I'm not nullifying what you've gone through. I'm not saying what you've been through isn't horrendous, isn't evil, isn't sick. I'm not saying the abuse you've endured isn't horrible. No, but I can tell you this, but God, God can restore, God can heal, God can redeem. It's what God can do. God will be with you and deliver you out of all your troubles. Finally, Joseph's brothers come as Joseph's the prime minister. They need food and Egypt has a lot of it because of Joseph being able to interpret the dreams. And Joseph, there in Genesis 50, 19, Joseph says to his brothers, do not be afraid. For am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is in this day to save many people. You see, you did it for evil, but God allowed it to save many people. You might say, Brennan, it's not a family issue. I'm not married. I don't have in-laws. I don't have kids. I don't come from a dysfunctional family, but listen, I'm a sinner. I know that and people that know me know that. I've done a lot of wrong things and I don't know how God can ever turn my life around after what I've done. I'm carrying the shame and the guilt from the past. And it seems like my past is always trying to chase me down. First Samuel chapter 23, verse 14, David's being chased by Saul. Saul was trying to kill David with every ounce of energy he had. Let me ask you, what's chasing you down? What temptation is trying to destroy you? It says in first Samuel 23, 14, Saul sought to kill him every day. Maybe you feel that way with your enemy, your adversary, because first Peter 5.8 says be sober and vigilant, because your adversary, the devil goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But Peter doesn't leave it there. We all have heard that verse before we've know that verse, but then Peter goes on to say, but God, the God of grace will perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you. What's seeking you? What sin in the past do you feel like you can't be free from? See, I've made so many mistakes. I've done so much wrong. I've hurt so many people. Saul sought to kill him every day, but it says in first Samuel 23, 14, but God delivered him. You see, God promises to perfect, to establish, to strengthen and settle you. But, but Brennan, but Brennan, but Brennan, no, but God. The excuses are gone when you bring God into the equation. This is a very difficult temptation though. How do I overcome it? 1 Corinthians 10, 13, no temptation has overtaken you except such as is as common to man. The things that overtake us, the things that we fall to, it's common to everybody. Everyone faces those temptations, but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but the temptation will also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Yes, you might be tempted, but God promises to give a way of escape. God did not allow Saul to get to David and God will not allow Satan to get to you. Perhaps you're in a situation where you think, I don't know if God can use me anymore. I don't know after what I've done. What's your excuse? Why you can't serve the Lord? Why you can't be the leader, the man that God's called you to be? Well, after what I've done, I don't think God wants me. Listen, Saul was a Christian killer. Jacob was a cheater. Peter had a temper. David had an affair. Noah got drunk. Jonah ran from God. Gideon was insecure. Miriam was a gossiper. Martha a warrior. Thomas a doubter. Sarah impatient. Elijah was depressed. Moses stammered. Zacchaeus was short. Abraham was old. Lazarus was dead. What's your excuse? But God, and I want to say to the husbands who are ready to give up on their marriages that are in a mess, but God to the dads who are worried about their children feeling like time is running out. I don't know how much longer I'll be on earth and I would love to see them saved before I go to be with the Lord. But God, the men that are being chased down with their past sin, but God, you are a more than conqueror. That phrase is interesting just to close to leave you with this. A conqueror or a victor or someone that has victory, but there's a battle and whoever comes up on top is the conqueror or the victor. It's like the raptors versus the warriors. No quicker way to divide a church than mention the finals. I've been rooting for the warriors for a while. I'm sorry. Don't throw any vegetables if you have them or breakfast burritos. Salsa I will take. That salsa was good. But you see the raptors are up three to one. They've been victorious over Golden State Warriors. It's not over yet because but God. And if you're rooting for a Canadian team, we're going to pray for you to be a little bit more national pride. But anyways, that's what a victor or conqueror means. It's someone that wins. It's a battle. But a more than conqueror is like if if you put all the all stars together on the NBA and we in this room put our own team together and we played them, they would win without competition. I don't care how good you are at basketball, they're going to destroy us completely. More than a conqueror means that there is no battle. You're winning not with overwhelming odds, but there are no odds against you. That the victory that has promised to you through Christ, the victory has already been won. There is no more war. Jesus claimed victory over our sin over our death when he died on the cross for our sin. He paid the price so that we wouldn't have to so that we who accept him as our Lord, who walked closely with him, who seek after him, we can be in any situation, no matter what life brings your way, whatever the enemy allows, whatever God says, okay, this is going to accomplish my perfect will in your life, whatever that is, we can be in that situation a more than conqueror. Where it's not a battle, it's not I hope I come out on top. It is there is no battle. I am already on top even before I get through this, because God promises to see me through it. So many times we pray that God would get us out of it when God says I'm going to walk with you through it, because it's in the fire that we see Jesus. Hashtag Shadrach, Meshach could have been to go. Why didn't they try to get out of the fire? They were throwing the fire. They didn't burn up. They could have stepped out any time and been like, and one of those like, I'm the man back down, intimidating. If anybody ever had done that to me in the past, that's like wide open, just hit me. That's what that means. They could have, and all the soldiers had no doubt would have back down, but they stayed in the fire. Why? Because they would have rather been in the fire in the presence of Jesus than to walk out of that fire and be out of that fiery trial and to leave the presence of Jesus there. Men stay close to Jesus, walk after Jesus, have a heart after Jesus, and whenever you go through something that seems like it's going to take you out, take you down, ruin you, ruin your family, ruin your children, listen, but God. Two words, men, on the count of three, what are they? One, two, three.