1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:05,800 Well, for those of you who I've not met, my name is Mike and I'm 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:08,960 one of the pastors here at Redemption. 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:15,840 And we have been so so a couple weeks ago we started this, this 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:20,360 sermon series on the miracles of Jesus. 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,000 And, and we see this in chapters 8 and, and 9, which lists off 6 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,280 several miracles of Jesus. But right here in the middle of 7 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:34,320 chapter 8, Jesus takes a moment to step out of demonstrating 8 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,080 these miracles. And he teaches us something. 9 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,720 He gives, he gives us 2. I think you could call them 10 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,320 challenges. They're kind of like if you, 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,600 when you drive down the road and you see the, the sign on the 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,720 side of the road that says, you know, rough road or, or Rd. 13 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:49,720 narrows. It's, it's very important 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,520 information for something coming ahead that we should be aware 15 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,760 of. And he gives that to us right 16 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:04,400 here in, in, in this in this passage in Matthew 8 chapters, 17 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,240 excuse me, verses 18 to 22 is where we're going to be today. 18 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,960 So if you have your Bible, you can join us there. 19 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:13,960 I'll have most of the the passages up here on the on the 20 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:16,160 screen. But here's what it says in 21 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:21,280 Matthew 818 through 22. Now when Jesus saw a crowd 22 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,440 around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 23 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,800 And a scribe came up and said to him, Teacher, I will follow you 24 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:32,680 wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, foxes 25 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,440 have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man 26 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,240 has nowhere to lay his head. Another of the disciples said to 27 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,920 him, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. 28 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:49,160 And Jesus said to him, Follow me and leave the dead to bury their 29 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,600 own dead. So in our in our first verse 30 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,880 here, we see that Jesus is is he's very popular. 31 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,680 We've seen this for a couple weeks now that he has developed 32 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:04,120 a, a large following because of the miracles that he's done back 33 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,000 in verse one, it said that great crowds followed him. 34 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,960 And then last week in verse 16, we read that evening, they 35 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,920 brought to him many who were oppressed by demons and he cast 36 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:17,040 out the spirits. And we can we could certainly 37 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:23,520 bet that in that day and age when multitudes, right, lots and 38 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:28,440 lots of people, sick and broken people were being healed, that 39 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:33,840 kind of that kind of news would spread fast, right? 40 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,880 Because there was so many people in need. 41 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,360 And so knowing about this, this, this news would spread from 42 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,480 village to village and town to town very, very quickly. 43 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,760 Many people would be fans of Jesus and might even call 44 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:52,720 themselves followers of him. But what we see this week in our 45 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:54,880 passage is that Jesus already knows us. 46 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:59,360 And he takes a moment to make it clear to people what following 47 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:04,280 him actually looks like. And so, as we'll see today, 48 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,240 being a Christian isn't easy. That's the thing I think that 49 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,720 the world gets wrong about Christianity is that they seem 50 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:16,840 to think that it's it's full of people who hypocritically claim 51 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,720 to be perfect and that we teach that we'll have simple stress 52 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:24,800 free lives. Neither of those is at all true. 53 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,000 Simultaneously in this passage, we see that Jesus is also 54 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,560 calling out those who've recognized him as King of Kings 55 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:37,680 and yet fail to treat him that way in their own lives. 56 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:45,240 For 2000 years there have been Christ followers who who fail to 57 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,920 go all in for Jesus. Truth be told, at one point or 58 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,760 another, that's been every Christian, right? 59 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,240 Each and every single one of us in this room, including myself. 60 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,480 So the main idea here is that Jesus wants us to really 61 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,880 understand what following him entails, how hard it will be. 62 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,000 And then he tells us to follow him with our whole hearts 63 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,600 anyway. So I'm going to get right to our 64 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:15,040 first point here today, which is having zeal without counting the 65 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,880 cost. And and so the first part of our 66 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:23,600 passage, verses 18 through through 20 says now when Jesus 67 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,280 saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other 68 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:29,320 side and a scribe came up and said to him, Teacher, I will 69 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,400 follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, foxes 70 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:34,880 have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man 71 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:40,880 has nowhere to lay his head. So scribes, the scribes were 72 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:45,960 like the official interpreters. They were the the documenters, 73 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,680 the ones who who maintained documents and interpreted them. 74 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,080 And they were the experts on civil law, kind of like the the 75 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,280 lawyers of their of the time. Whereas the Pharisees were a 76 00:04:56,280 --> 00:05:00,040 religious sect that focused on the practical application of 77 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,520 civil and religious law. And so these, these groups were 78 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,680 distinct from each other in their duties, though they're 79 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,200 often mentioned together in scripture as civil law and 80 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,960 religious law were often intertwined in that culture. 81 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,800 But this particular scribe, after witnessing these miracles 82 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:21,480 and sitting for the teachings of Jesus, he's, he's eager to go. 83 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,280 He wants to be part of this movement, right? 84 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:31,920 After all, Jesus is a a powerful speaker, sharing wisdom and, and 85 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:36,280 even offering perfect clarification on the things that 86 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:40,520 this guy, this scribe was supposed to be the recognized 87 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,080 expert in. So he definitely admires Jesus 88 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:47,560 here. So, so when, when he's there and 89 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,840 Jesus called the disciples to go across the lake, he sees them 90 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:57,080 being told to get on the boat and, and to go to whatever it is 91 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:58,880 that Jesus is planning on doing next. 92 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,720 And the scribe says, Hey, I, I want, I want to be in, I want 93 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:05,040 to, I want to be a part of whatever's going on next. 94 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:10,200 And the passage doesn't tell us how the scribe responded to 95 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,360 Jesus, which means that it's what Jesus said that we should 96 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:18,720 focus on. And Jesus response is he 97 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:23,160 explains some some pretty important facts, like the fact 98 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:27,800 that he's homeless, right? This means that Jesus probably 99 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,960 has almost no earthly possession. 100 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,680 So we can infer from this that Jesus is telling this guy that 101 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,000 that following him means a life of very little luxury. 102 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,720 Now last week, we know from the passages that we read, we know 103 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:48,080 that his disciple Peter had a home, but Peter and his brother 104 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,880 Andrew, as well as James and John had all just walked off 105 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,120 their jobs. We read that back in chapter 4 106 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:59,480 of the same, of the same book. So he's saying this is a this is 107 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,880 a transient lifestyle that offers little in the way of 108 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,920 tangible security, at least in the way that the people think of 109 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:11,200 it, right? A house and, and money and a 110 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:15,600 pantry full of food that lasts for, you know, weeks and months 111 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,560 and a career with a pension plan and all that. 112 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,320 And, and although this passage doesn't speak to it elsewhere in 113 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:27,240 Scripture, we know that there is even a danger that accompanies 114 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:31,560 following Jesus. Many of the, of the, the, the 115 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:35,640 original 12 disciples, if not all of them were martyred for 116 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:37,120 their faith. And, and then history, of 117 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:39,160 course, tells us of the atrocities that the Christians 118 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:43,640 face in the 1st century. What we get, excuse me, what we 119 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:49,440 get from his response, is that the scribe is looking at a 120 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,400 humble life ahead if he follows Jesus. 121 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:59,040 In fact, the phrase that Jesus uses to refer to himself, Son of 122 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:04,120 Man in our in our passage is in itself a proclamation of 123 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,640 humility because Jesus is fully God. 124 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:12,720 He isn't simply the Son of God, and he isn't simply a man who 125 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,280 lives a good life and attains godhood. 126 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,720 He is the eternal embodiment of God here on earth. 127 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,960 Theological term for that is hypostatic union. 128 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,800 And that just simply means that Jesus exists in one person with 129 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:32,000 two distinct natures, without confusion, without change, 130 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:38,480 without division or separation. So Jesus is telling the scribe 131 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,600 not to make a hasty decision about following him or not, 132 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:46,440 because if God in the flesh lives a humble, transient, 133 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,960 dangerous life, then his followers should expect that as 134 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,720 well. And he wants, he wants this 135 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:57,120 scribe to know that being a Christ follower isn't the easy 136 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:02,120 life here on earth. And Jesus knows what's coming 137 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,880 for himself, right? He knows that. 138 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,840 That although He is God in the flesh and lives without sin, He 139 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,760 knows that. That one day He will be falsely 140 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:16,480 arrested and flogged and beaten. He knows that people will mock 141 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,280 Him and spit on Him before they nail him to the cross and murder 142 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,240 Him because of the sins that we commit. 143 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,800 And since He knows that that is what awaits Him, He wants us to 144 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:33,920 know that we must also consider what following Him will cost us. 145 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,880 Now, as I said a few minutes ago, Jesus has has at this point 146 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,520 become very popular for his teachings and his miracles in 147 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:45,560 our next chapter as we continue on with the the miracles in 148 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:49,800 Matthew 9 in verse 26, it says in the in the report of this, 149 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,720 these miracles, the report of this went through all that 150 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,960 district and a few verses later still in that same chapter, it 151 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:00,680 says, but they went away and spread his fame through all that 152 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,520 district. So his he, he was, he was 153 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:10,200 gathering a large following, but in true human fashion, many of 154 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:14,000 those peoples are many of those people are, are following him 155 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:18,640 because they want what he has here and now, right? 156 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:23,000 They, they want food. He's he's, you know, on, on 157 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,480 several occasions Jesus has fed them. 158 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,120 He, they want to be healed. They've seen and heard of these 159 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,240 miracles. And so they want what he has 160 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,200 here and now. They are missing the big picture 161 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,720 of what being a Christ follower is all about. 162 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,680 But Jesus wants them to really think about this. 163 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:48,920 And in a in in the Gospel of Luke, we see a very similar kind 164 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:52,160 of a dynamic that that Jesus walks us through. 165 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,560 It says For which of you desiring to build a tower does 166 00:10:56,560 --> 00:11:01,000 not first sit down and count the cost whether he has enough to 167 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,680 complete it. Otherwise, when he has laid a 168 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:07,800 foundation and is not able to finish, all who see all who see 169 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:11,520 it begin to mock him, saying this man began to build and was 170 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:15,480 not able to finish. Or what king going out to 171 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,080 encounter another king in war will not sit down 1st and 172 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,520 deliberate whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who 173 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,720 comes against him with 20,000? And if not, while the still the 174 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,920 other is is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation to ask for 175 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,120 terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who 176 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:38,560 does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. 177 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:45,400 Now Jesus never tells us to remove logic from our decision, 178 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,280 but we should be careful about making a decision based on 179 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:53,320 emotion. In Proverbs 19 verse 2, it says 180 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:57,400 desire without knowledge is not good and whoever makes haste 181 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:03,840 with his feet misses his way. So in fact, he's urging us to 182 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:08,240 understand logically that the decision to put our faith solely 183 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:11,520 in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and 184 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:15,640 therefore the gift of of eternal life is free. 185 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,720 But it comes with a transfer of ownership. 186 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:24,760 That means recognizing and agreeing to some terms first. 187 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,480 That's why we see this in the midst of these miracles, these 188 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,640 these miracles that are getting people excited and they're like, 189 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:36,600 I want to be a part of that. So he's telling us about that. 190 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:38,320 And it's not hidden in the fine print either. 191 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,760 Jesus is, is telling them plainly, we cannot follow him 192 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:48,280 and the world's way at the same time, the world's ways are 193 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,840 about, you know, me, me, me. It's it's about making a name 194 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,480 for ourselves, about getting paid, about climbing the 195 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,120 corporate or the OR the social ladders. 196 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:05,840 But in following Jesus, we may suffer the loss of some of our 197 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,680 relationships. We might lose customers at our 198 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:15,600 business and therefore we would have less money and less 199 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,480 materialism. Guys, we might be put to death 200 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:23,880 for our beliefs as Christians. And that's not hyperbole. 201 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:32,120 That's what we're promised in Galatians 524. 202 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,120 Whether we're we're put to death or not for our faith, one thing 203 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:43,120 is for certain, our our sinful ways will be put to death. 204 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,360 In Galatians 524 says this, it says and, and those who belong 205 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:51,200 to Christ and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified 206 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,600 the flesh with its passions and desires. 207 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,520 And let's be honest, for some people, for some Christians, 208 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:05,040 this is scarier than death because sometimes we hold on to 209 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:09,440 our secret sin and we even, we even protect it, although we 210 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,320 might be ashamed of it and, and wish that we could be rid of it. 211 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:19,600 The idea of it being removed from us is hard and it's, it's 212 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:24,320 scary. Jesus, though, isn't saying this 213 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:29,280 to scare us, but to make sure that we aren't just zealous 214 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:33,400 about being part of an exciting movement without considering the 215 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:38,080 totality of what is involved. As we said, it's a transfer of 216 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,160 ownership. And when we think that we're 217 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,920 following him because we, you know, go to church somewhat 218 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:49,080 regularly or or, you know, because we have a cross around 219 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:54,120 our neck or something, but we don't fully surrender to him and 220 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:57,640 come to this with wisdom. In James 1/6, it says that we'll 221 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,120 be like a, a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the 222 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:06,320 wind. In other words, zeal without 223 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:13,160 knowledge of the cost is dead. In the synoptic gospels and 224 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,560 Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, excuse me, Matthew, Mark and 225 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,440 Luke, Jesus tells the parable of the soils. 226 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:22,080 Many of you guys are probably familiar with that, but it's a, 227 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,280 it's an image lesson of, of scattering seeds right on on the 228 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:30,120 ground and, and it's representing people responding 229 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:35,520 to the gospel or or not. And, and some take root and, and 230 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,160 others are, you know, snatched up by, by the birds. 231 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,640 And when he speaks of the rocky soil, he says that the seeds 232 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,960 sown in it sprout quickly, but when the sun comes up, they are 233 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,360 scorched. Their roots are not established 234 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:50,840 properly, right? And so they die. 235 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:57,240 He's talking about people who get excited about new faith, but 236 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:00,480 it was never real. And I think we still see this 237 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,680 kind of thing happening today. In fact, I think that we see 238 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,840 churches and ministries that sometimes thrive on this, 239 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:12,320 whether it's intentional or not. And I think, I think often it is 240 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:18,480 many preachers and, and ministries offer up a powerful 241 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:22,480 sermon or an impassioned evangelism or, or an amazing 242 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,560 piece of music that engenders the heart to this crescendo of, 243 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:29,640 of feeling. And then they lead them through 244 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,720 a version of the the sinner's prayer that that person repeats, 245 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:38,600 but with no real understanding of what it means to be a Christ 246 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,440 follower. Now. 247 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:49,200 Billy Graham Billy Graham was a a famous evangelist and he held 248 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:53,680 revivals all over the world. And and they say that during all 249 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:59,000 of these revivals that he held that there was upwards of 215 250 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,280 million people who heard the gospel at those events. 251 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:08,480 And according to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have 252 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:13,000 responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to accept 253 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:15,839 Jesus Christ as their personal savior. 254 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:20,960 Amazingly though, Billy Graham himself often said that he 255 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,359 estimated that roughly 1/4 of those of those people who went 256 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,080 forward and thought they were becoming followers of Jesus 257 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:33,160 actually came to saving faith. That was Billy Graham's 258 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,320 estimation of of that. So now on one hand we can 259 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:44,280 celebrate that based off of that math 800,000 people came to know 260 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:49,760 Jesus personally, but what about the other 2.4 million people who 261 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:56,760 thought they were Christian? But we're not now this is not 262 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,080 something we should take lightly. 263 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:03,800 I think it was a couple weeks ago we read this passage in 264 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:08,320 Matthew 7 verses 21 through 23. This is not everyone who says to 265 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,160 me, Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but the one 266 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,240 who does the will of my Father who is in heaven on that day. 267 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,800 Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name 268 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,960 and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your 269 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,920 name? And then will I declare to them, 270 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:29,000 I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. 271 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:35,480 Guys, it is, it is crucial that people know what it means to be 272 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:41,720 a Christ follower. Every one of us in this room has 273 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:46,840 family and friends that believes that they are followers of 274 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,560 Jesus, but they don't actually know what it entails. 275 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:54,800 We need to sit on that for a minute. 276 00:18:55,360 --> 00:19:02,040 We should contemplate that. But in our passage in our 277 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,360 passage here, though, it isn't just the zealous follower that 278 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,160 that doesn't fully know what he's getting into that Jesus 279 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:14,040 cautions, but also those who are counting the cost, but with no 280 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:15,720 zeal. That's our second point here 281 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,040 today. And as we continue into the the 282 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:23,400 next part of the of our of our main passage here in verses 21 283 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:28,840 through 22, it says another of the disciples said to him, Lord, 284 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,040 let me first go and bury my father and Jesus said to him, 285 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,920 follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead. 286 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,400 Well, what does that mean? To leave, Leave the dead to bury 287 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:44,160 their own dead? Well, this is a a paradox that 288 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:49,240 doesn't make sense at face value per SE, but Jesus uses it 289 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:52,360 masterfully so. But in order to understand what 290 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:55,520 he's getting at here, we need to look at Paul's letter to the 291 00:19:55,560 --> 00:20:00,200 Ephesians to get some context. And in chapter 2 of Ephesians, 292 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,960 the 1st 2 verses, it says and you were dead in your trespasses 293 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,320 and sins. In which you once walked 294 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:08,360 following the course of this world. 295 00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:14,240 See left alone in our sin, we are spiritually dead. 296 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:22,680 We are eternally dead. If you've ever heard the action, 297 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:29,760 the acronym of Tulip, it's Tulip or of of the OR referred to as 298 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:34,080 the Doctrines of grace. This concept would be the the T 299 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:36,600 in that acronym for total depravity. 300 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,320 Now the the the doctrine of total depravity is an 301 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:43,200 acknowledgement that the that the Bible teaches that as a 302 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,440 result of the fall of man that we read about in in Genesis 3, 303 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:52,760 every part of man, his his mind, his will, his his emotions and 304 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,080 his flesh have been corrupted by sin. 305 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:03,040 Not that he not that he actively sins 100% of the time, but that 306 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,440 it that all parts of him have been corrupted. 307 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:10,960 In other words, sin effects all areas of our being in including 308 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:20,680 who we are and what we do. So the first dead in our passage 309 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:27,920 is talking about non believers. Those who are who are separated 310 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:32,040 from God's goodness because of because of their their sin and 311 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,600 have not placed their faith in in Jesus. 312 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,040 But the second dead is talking about the things of the world. 313 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,520 The example here that that he uses in this or that we see in 314 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:46,280 here in this passage is basically having a funeral for 315 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,680 the man's dead and the man's dad. 316 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:52,480 Jesus really swings for the fence here. 317 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,920 He gets right at it and he makes his point. 318 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:59,800 Going right at something that we would generally say is a is a 319 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:03,680 high priority, a healthy priority in our lives to honor a 320 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,080 loved one who has died. That seems like a pretty good 321 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:13,720 thing to do to honor your father and your mother, but it's not. 322 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,160 Now Jesus isn't saying that funerals are bad or or that we 323 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,000 shouldn't participate in and that's not what it is. 324 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:26,040 He's he's saying that nothing of the world should be of a higher 325 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,560 concern to us than worshipping and following him. 326 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:38,000 In Colossians chapter 3 verses one and two, it says if then you 327 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,440 have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above 328 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,040 where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 329 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:50,320 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that 330 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:54,240 are on earth. Jesus is reminding this disciple 331 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:59,160 of of a critical fact. You are not part of them 332 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,040 anymore. Stop clinging into that dead 333 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:06,640 world and the things that the dead world thinks are valuable. 334 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,560 So in the first part of our passage today, we saw a scribe 335 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:15,120 that was too quick to want to follow Jesus without knowing 336 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:20,240 what all that entailed. But here now we see a disciple. 337 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:25,000 So so then someone who is already following Jesus, who 338 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:30,640 lacks the passion to prioritize Jesus above all else. 339 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,920 So in the middle of this chapter, telling us all about 340 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,240 these amazing miracles that he was doing. 341 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:39,720 It didn't say anything about the one Eric just did with catching 342 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,360 that thing was fell off the off the the thing. 343 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:47,200 I sort of saw that from my seat. But but but right here in the in 344 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:53,360 the middle of this, Jesus reminds us that that that some 345 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:57,840 people love what he says, but they don't realize all that the 346 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,840 Christian life entails. And then there are those who 347 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:04,120 believe in Jesus but fail to recognize him as king of their 348 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:09,240 life above everything else. There is no passion or zeal in 349 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:13,800 their relationship with Him in in having been saved from the 350 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,200 clutches of hell. Now I was reading this article 351 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:24,080 from Ligonier Ministries and it said the substitutionary 352 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,640 atonement of Jesus Christ is not only something to affirm and 353 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:31,960 defend, but it should be something in which we rejoice. 354 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,920 Yes, zeal without knowledge is dead, but knowledge without deep 355 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:43,360 affection is just as lifeless. See if you guys were here with 356 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:47,080 us not too long ago, couple months ago at Christmas time, we 357 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:52,160 read a passage from Isaiah 9. That one was verse 6. 358 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,400 You've heard it before at Christmas time a lot it says or 359 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,160 to us, a child is born to us a son is given right? 360 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,760 But but right before that, in the passage in verses 2 and 361 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,680 three, it says the people who walked in darkness have seen a 362 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,520 great light. Those who dwelt in a land of 363 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,240 deep darkness on them has light shone. 364 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,760 You have multiplied the nation. You have increased its joy. 365 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:20,200 They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest as they are 366 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:25,240 glad when they divide the spoil. So back in the Old Testament, 367 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,520 the thought of a of a coming Messiah was something that was a 368 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:32,080 light in the darkness like like like we see there. 369 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:37,680 It was an amazing blessing that brought joy and gladness to the 370 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:42,280 oppressed, and it should do the same to those of us who have 371 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,920 become followers of that Messiah. 372 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:50,040 It isn't just business as usual. We should be excited to to to 373 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:54,600 follow Him, to be counted amongst the disciples. 374 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,880 We should be joyous that we are no longer eternally dead. 375 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:03,960 Romans 611 says so. You must also consider 376 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:10,760 yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ. 377 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:16,560 Our our full faith in Jesus moves us not only from a place 378 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:23,280 of of eternal death, but into a place of eternal life and 379 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:27,920 eternal joy. Jesus called us to an exciting, 380 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,720 passionate, radical faith that that means that you're going to 381 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,320 have to choose between the the things that are good and the 382 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:40,320 things that are great. He says, compared to me, you're 383 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:45,280 going to need to hate those good worldly things that you love. 384 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:52,000 That article that I mentioned from Ligonier, it continues on 385 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:54,800 and it says it should be obvious to script. 386 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,040 It should be obvious that Scripture calls us to be a 387 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:02,680 people who feel what we believe, who not only know truth but 388 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,240 experience it. There is an order to this. 389 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,960 Our feelings and emotions must be governed and guided by truth. 390 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:13,960 We are to fear the Lord, hate evil, love the truth, mourn over 391 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,880 sin and injustice, and rejoice in our in our sufferings. 392 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:22,440 These are not naked commands, but precepts given by God in 393 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,680 light of who He is and what He has done. 394 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,880 We are supposed to feel the weight and power of the truth 395 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:35,960 revealed in Scripture, but what does that look like to be 396 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:40,840 zealous for our faith? To be excited and passionate 397 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,680 about this radical relationship with and love for Jesus? 398 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,440 What does it look like to leave the spiritually dead non 399 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,400 believers to worry about worldly things? 400 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:58,960 Well, as if the idea of of targeting A beloved father's 401 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:03,800 funeral wasn't hard enough for us to consider, in the Gospel of 402 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:08,240 Luke, Jesus cuts to the bone even more in chapter 14, verses 403 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:12,640 25 through 27. I think it is says now great 404 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,080 crowds accompanied him and he turned and said to them, if 405 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,760 anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother 406 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:24,920 and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and 407 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:28,880 even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 408 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,800 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot 409 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:37,400 be my disciple. OK, let's just pause for a 410 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:44,920 second here and and and digest this idea that in order for us 411 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,560 to have a proper attitude about following Jesus that we would 412 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,400 hate our parents and our spouses and our children. 413 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:55,480 How is that? How is that OK? 414 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:57,400 How do we sort of reconcile that? 415 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:03,680 What Jesus is telling us is that that by comparison, our love for 416 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:09,320 him and our unquestionable prioritization of him and of his 417 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:13,600 will would then make our love for our family and those good 418 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:19,680 things in in, in our life that we that we love look like hate. 419 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,760 He should be so clearly in the top spot of things that we care 420 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,920 about that everything else is left behind. 421 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:32,600 Now, guys, we know from other places in scripture that he is 422 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,720 not telling us to, to hate people, right? 423 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:42,160 So we can know then that what he is calling us to do is to be 424 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,440 passionate, in fact, more passionate about our 425 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:49,880 relationship with him. And, and honestly, why wouldn't 426 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,480 we be? Why wouldn't we be more 427 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:58,240 passionate about that in our, in our passage when he says leave 428 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:02,720 the dead to bury their own dead, he has articulated that there is 429 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:07,040 a difference between US and the spiritually dead. 430 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:12,080 So, so just like we said a minute ago, you are not part of, 431 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:17,400 of, of them out there anymore. Stop clinging to that dead world 432 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:22,120 and the things that the that the dead world thinks are valuable. 433 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:29,680 You who who have placed your faith in Jesus Christ alone are 434 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,200 spiritually alive. You have been rescued from 435 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,840 eternal death. Think about this. 436 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,240 If you were, you know, lost at sea, You're, you're, you're 437 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,720 drifting out to, to sea and you, you've lost your oars or your 438 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,680 motor or whatever it is, and you're drifting out to, to sea. 439 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:51,240 You are, you know that you are facing certain death, right? 440 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,920 There is no way you're going to last getting all the way to the 441 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,640 other side of of the ocean. And then I'll if a, if a ship 442 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:01,680 came along and rescued you, you would be ecstatic. 443 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:07,240 You'd try tears of joy every time you thought about what you 444 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,320 were rescued from the pain and the, and the worry and the, the, 445 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,680 the, the terror of drifting out to sea and to your to your 446 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,640 certain death. Well, that's who we are. 447 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,760 We are the rescued. Why wouldn't we be in the 448 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,560 business of of passionately sharing our story with other 449 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,400 people? Why wouldn't we be excited to 450 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:33,400 tell them how they can also be rescued as well? 451 00:31:39,170 --> 00:31:48,930 So we must consider these these two challenges that Jesus gives 452 00:31:48,930 --> 00:31:53,840 us and find out how to apply the lessons in our lives today. 453 00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:01,800 My friends, that means that Jesus needs to be he needs to be 454 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:05,520 your first love period, end of story. 455 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:09,320 Nothing else. Nothing else should transcend 456 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:13,280 that He needs to be the most important thing in your life. 457 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:17,120 But what does that look like? It looks like just that 458 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:23,000 prioritizing him, reading him right, reading his word. 459 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:32,520 This is a priority in your life. How many of us this is? 460 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,000 I don't, I'm not trying to point fingers or anything like this, 461 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:40,440 but how many of us aren't getting into our our our Bibles 462 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:45,520 on a regular day at at home? And I mean, we don't even take 463 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,520 them to church, right? We don't even hold the pastor 464 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,680 accountable to, to making sure that, that, that, that we are 465 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:55,000 honoring God by being in this with our church family and 466 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,000 making sure that what is spoken from, from this stage is 467 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,040 accurate to what, what he said. We need to prioritize reading 468 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:05,040 him and knowing what's in here so we know what to share with 469 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:08,080 those lost people out there. We need to be able to recognize 470 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:10,480 that when when somebody gives us something else that is 471 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,120 counterintuitive to this, counter to the truth of this, 472 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:18,200 that we could speak back to it. So we need to prioritize him by 473 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:21,480 reading his word and taking it seriously that this is a gift 474 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,280 that he gave us and he miraculously has maintained for 475 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,200 us to this day. We need to be talking to him. 476 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:33,080 That's our prayer life again. How many times, and I'm just 477 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:39,200 speaking to myself right now, how many times have we stepped 478 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,960 away from our even our own habits of, you know, pray at 479 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:45,920 this time in the morning and I and I pray for how I dedicate 480 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:47,120 this much time to him or whatever. 481 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:49,600 But on this day, I just wasn't feeling it. 482 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:52,840 And then the next day wasn't feeling it again today, but I'll 483 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:55,480 get back to it. How many times have we done 484 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:57,280 that? I've done it a million times. 485 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:05,280 We need to talk to him. It's a relationship with him. 486 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:08,320 We wouldn't, we wouldn't go without talking to our spouse 487 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,639 about them. The big things in life and the 488 00:34:10,639 --> 00:34:13,760 small things. God deserves to be the the, the, 489 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:19,080 the recipient of the big things you talk about and the small 490 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:20,920 things that you that you talk about. 491 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:26,120 It means seeking him. It means wanting to know more 492 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:31,360 about his heart right by getting into his word and seeing what he 493 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:38,080 says about himself. It means worshipping him John 494 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,320 did a great job this morning of walking us through what worship 495 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:47,800 is as a spiritual discipline and I it was it was great as he was 496 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:50,120 saying that a couple different times I had these light bulbs 497 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:52,920 going off of man. I really could I could really 498 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:56,800 grow in that area or with that part of my just my attitude 499 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:01,440 towards it. But but in worshipping him, in 500 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:05,640 committing to being an active participant, participant in his 501 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:10,040 in his body here, right the, the, the church in serving 502 00:35:10,240 --> 00:35:15,200 sacrificially, in giving sacrificially, in loving 503 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:20,120 sacrificially. You know, back in the 1st 504 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:24,320 century, when we look at the 1st century church, they were 505 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,600 meeting together in each other's homes every single day. 506 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:31,280 And we struggle to make it to to make church a priority 507 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:35,400 sometimes. What about being a part of a 508 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,840 small group study, a Bible study with other believers? 509 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,800 We have to prioritize that. What about meeting with another 510 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,040 person to invest in their messy life? 511 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:51,960 Guys, I'll let me tell you this. I get one of the blessings of my 512 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:57,480 position is that I get to be involved in your messy lives, in 513 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,400 your chaos, right? And you could be involved in 514 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:06,640 mine and it is a gift. It's not, it's not a chore. 515 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:10,440 It's not a chore to, to love on the person that's down the, the, 516 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:12,280 the, the road from you right now. 517 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:15,200 It's not a chore to go into their home when their kids are 518 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:18,040 screaming or when they're talking about marital problems 519 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:20,440 or when they're coming to you yet again with, Hey, I'm not 520 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:22,920 getting any traction in my my spiritual life. 521 00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:25,360 And you know, it's because they, they, they're not open on the 522 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:26,600 Bible. They're not being a part of the 523 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:29,720 church body, whatever. These are blessings for us to be 524 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:35,200 able to to, to do, to be all in this way, to sell out to Jesus 525 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,320 and make him the priority of us of our lives. 526 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:45,000 When we do this, we have we have the time in our lives to do 527 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:46,800 this. And don't let anybody convince 528 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,280 you that you're so busy that you can't do that. 529 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:53,240 In fact, let me take a second and just call some call the men 530 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,280 out here for a second, because here's the here's the thing. 531 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:59,800 I believe with my whole heart. If, if, if men followed Jesus 532 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:03,240 properly and LED their families properly, our world would be a 533 00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:08,080 different place. We used to be a Society of, of, 534 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:12,480 of, of overworking men, right? Guys that would, that would work 535 00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:17,320 70 hours a week. They weren't home, but now we 536 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,400 have more time. Some of us work from home or we 537 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,160 have opportunities to work from home or, or to handle some of 538 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:27,040 these, these sort of add on projects over the computer, over 539 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:31,480 text messages or, or you know, whatever it is we have more time 540 00:37:31,720 --> 00:37:34,280 with and for our families than ever. 541 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:38,000 But are we using that time appropriately for God? 542 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:42,160 How many of us guys, how many of us spend more time on our 543 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:44,600 hobbies than on promoting Christ in our homes? 544 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:53,440 All of us, men and women, have room to improve in our zeal for 545 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:55,960 following Jesus. And I'll tell you what, when you 546 00:37:55,960 --> 00:38:01,640 do that, you'll be a better spouse, you'll be a better 547 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:05,440 father, you'll be a better mom, you'll be, you'll be better at 548 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:11,000 your job, you'll be a better boss because he's going to be 549 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:12,840 changing you from the inside out. 550 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:17,360 And the people around you will be impacted by these changes. 551 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:20,800 I know several of you know I'm talking to you right now because 552 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:23,520 we've had these conversations and these changes you're 553 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,640 building in your life. You don't necessarily think 554 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:29,160 you're impacting people, but you are. 555 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:33,840 They're watching you and they're learning something about, about 556 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,920 God because you talk about them and you share these things that 557 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:40,760 you're passionate about. So let this change you and, and 558 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,200 watch how it changes the, the, the people around you. 559 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,680 This doesn't mean guys, that life gets easier, that you're, 560 00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:53,280 you know, you're not going to be rich. 561 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:55,640 And honestly, I can't imagine you guys could look any better. 562 00:38:56,720 --> 00:39:01,240 But but God might call you to leave your job and go into the 563 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:07,960 mission field. He might prompt you to give more 564 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:11,320 at church and vacation less. You might lose friendships. 565 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:14,400 When, when, when this change happens inside you and your 566 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,440 behavior changes and you're not interested in living the same 567 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:21,320 lifestyle that that you once cherished, you know you'll find 568 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:24,160 yourself, you are less comfortable living amongst the 569 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:28,160 worldly. I promise you, you'll face 570 00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:34,960 persecution in some way. Rather than tell you again why, 571 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:39,160 why that's all a good thing, Let's end this with something 572 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:45,800 that Paul wrote to the church at Rome in Romans 8, verses 18 and 573 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:49,120 19, he says. For I consider that the 574 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:52,720 sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the 575 00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:55,480 glory that is about to be revealed to us. 576 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,960 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing 577 00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:03,720 of the sons of God. All of creation stands waiting 578 00:40:03,720 --> 00:40:08,760 with braided with bated breath to see how God, in His infinite 579 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:14,560 love and mercy, promises to pour out blessings on His beloved. 580 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:23,000 You guys pray with me Lord God. I've, I think I've been both of 581 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:25,560 these men in this, in this passage at different times in 582 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:27,480 life. In fact, I know that I have and, 583 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:33,760 and each of us here can probably very much relate to this. 584 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:37,880 Either we, we get excited about hearing a sermon and, and the 585 00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:42,520 things that we read in, in the Bible and we, we want to be a 586 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:45,160 part of that because it's exciting and it's new and it's 587 00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:48,200 got good advice and all that. But we don't really take into 588 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:52,600 context what all of that means. The hard, the hardness of the 589 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:57,640 Christian life, the things that will be difficult for us, the 590 00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:02,600 cutting away of sin that the changing of our ways and, and 591 00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:06,560 the, the, the loss of friendships and new friendships. 592 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:09,920 And so, Lord, for those people here in the room, I would ask 593 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:14,080 that you would help them to really understand what they're 594 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:17,960 they're looking at here and to make a solid profession of faith 595 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:21,880 that they would really, truly would, would be they would 596 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,960 understand that that it is only through your life, death and 597 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:30,840 resurrection that they have an opportunity at, at participating 598 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:33,360 in your glory forever and not facing eternal death. 599 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,320 But Lord, for those of us who who are believers, and yet we 600 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:41,160 lack, for whatever reason that we've justified, we lack some 601 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:46,520 level of passion about being the church, about being your hands 602 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:50,880 and feet. We, we lack a willingness to put 603 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:52,880 you as the top priority in our life. 604 00:41:52,960 --> 00:41:56,880 Lord, I just ask that you would wreck us over that, Lord. 605 00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:59,480 If there are, if there are things in my life that I am 606 00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:05,640 prioritizing or over you, Lord, you can you destroy them for me, 607 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:09,480 Lord, and, and, and take them away from me so that you are 608 00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:12,960 clearly in that top position. I don't want to have anything 609 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:17,800 that stands between between me and you, Lord, you are the King 610 00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:20,760 of Kings and I just ask that you would help all of us to to do 611 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:25,520 that and that that through that change, we would be a people who 612 00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:30,720 come to you with contrite, humble hearts and that recognize 613 00:42:30,720 --> 00:42:34,320 you really truly where you belong on the throne as King of 614 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,640 Kings and Lord of Lords. Lord, we love you and we thank 615 00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:38,920 you. Say this in Jesus name, Amen. 616 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:41,800 Amen. Would you stand and sing a 617 00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:42,560 response for this?