1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:06,240 Tables and turn to the Gospel of Luke chapter 6, Luke chapter 6 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:09,240 and it's page 915. If you're using one of the 3 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:13,480 Bibles in the seat around you just as you're opening to that. 4 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,400 I want to welcome a few new members to our church family. 5 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,800 So would you join me in welcoming Grace Van Weingarten, 6 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:25,040 Bob Nugent, and Pearl Dale to our church family today? 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,200 If you consider forward to be your church home and you're not 8 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,560 yet a member, I want to encourage you to take that step. 9 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,600 It's a great way to covenant with each other to live together 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,560 as a family on the mission that God has called us to. 11 00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:44,240 Luke chapter 6. I want to begin reading at verse 12 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:50,400 24 today. But woe to you who are rich, for 13 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:56,800 you have received your comfort. Woe to you who are now full, for 14 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:01,360 you will be hungry. Woe to you who are now laughing, 15 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:08,360 for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all people speak 16 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:13,800 well of you, For this is the way their ancestors used to treat 17 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,760 the false prophets. So let me remind you where we 18 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,320 are in Luke chapter 6. A couple of weeks ago we started 19 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:24,200 into this series called Different. 20 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,160 Jesus had been up on a mountain praying with some of his 21 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,800 disciples. He came down into a level area. 22 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,360 This large group of people are gathered together in this area 23 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,640 to hear from Jesus, to hear his teachings. 24 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:43,320 And last week Jesus talked about how even in the most difficult 25 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:46,640 circumstances of life, you can be blessed. 26 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,160 You can experience the blessed life. 27 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:54,240 This week, Jesus takes the exact same physical circumstances that 28 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,080 he described last week, and he flips it on its head and he's 29 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,560 looking at it from an entirely different perspective than what 30 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,440 he did last week. And this week he uses a word. 31 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:09,600 Whoa now, most of us don't ever use the word woe in our everyday 32 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,560 language unless somebody does something shocking or annoying 33 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,040 and you're going woah, hold on a second there, right? 34 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:21,000 That's not what Jesus meant when he uses the word woe in this 35 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,040 passage. Woes in the Bible were generally 36 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,080 an exclamation of God's judgment. 37 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,840 You should consider a woe to be a warning sign. 38 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,280 It's like Jesus is saying, if you do this, this is what's 39 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,200 going to happen, or maybe a better way of looking at it 40 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:44,160 because you do this, this is what is going to happen. 41 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,240 This is the consequence that is going to come. 42 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,640 Now, if we're honest with ourselves, most of us don't 43 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:56,360 really respond well to warnings. Most of us ignore warning signs 44 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:00,480 that come to us in life. Want to put a picture up on the 45 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:04,000 screen? It's a picture from the Dolomite 46 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,440 Mountain Range in northeastern Italy. 47 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,000 It's a beautiful area and beautiful pictures of mountains 48 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,520 from that area. This past July, there were a 49 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,760 series of warnings that were posted throughout this mountain 50 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,800 range and also into some of the Alps. 51 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,360 A series of rock fells, rock falls had taken place throughout 52 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,480 the area. And so hiking paths were shut 53 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,080 down and people were told, hey, you can't go into these areas. 54 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,960 So you see a sign there, it says close, It says it in multiple 55 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,640 languages to tell people. And the signs were everywhere 56 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:42,920 all over this mountain range. Well, on July the 19th, there 57 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:47,800 were two Belgian hikers who were out hiking and they just walked 58 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,360 right on past all of the warning signs that were on all the 59 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:56,240 trails in this mountain range. And believe it or not, 60 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,440 shockingly, they found themselves trapped by rockfall 61 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,760 and a rescue helicopter had to be sent in to rescue those two 62 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:12,360 hikers out that day. Within just two weeks, a British 63 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,840 hiker was in almost the exact same area. 64 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,279 And he thought to himself, these warning signs don't know what 65 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:22,480 they're talking about. I know what I'm doing. 66 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:24,680 I'm going to go for a hike in these trails. 67 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,600 And shockingly, the British hiker found himself in the exact 68 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,400 same spot that the Belgian hikers had found themselves. 69 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:34,680 Rockfall happened. He was trapped. 70 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,360 They had to send in helicopters to rescue him and pull him out. 71 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,240 They actually charged, I don't know why they charged the 72 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,600 British guy but not the Belgian guys, but they charged the 73 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:49,160 British guy $16,500 US to cover the cost of the rescue 74 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,920 operation. Now, most of us, we think, well, 75 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:55,120 that's good. He was dumb for going and 76 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,360 ignoring all the warning signs that were in front of him. 77 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,640 But but the reality is we all don't pay attention to warning 78 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,200 signs. There's something inside of us 79 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:10,800 that says I don't need to pay attention to a warning sign. 80 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,360 If a police officer ever pulled you over and gave you a warning 81 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:21,360 for speeding, how much longer is it before you're speeding again? 82 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,400 Right? We don't all listen to warnings 83 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,000 that come at us. There's just something inside of 84 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,320 us that says when you warn me about something, you can't tell 85 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:38,240 me what to do. I know better than you. 86 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:41,400 I'm willing to take the risk. It's fine. 87 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:46,520 Don't worry about it. And I want to say that as we 88 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,280 come to this passage, whatever you do, don't treat Jesus the 89 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:51,760 same way that you would other people. 90 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,320 You and I, we need to pay far more attention to the warnings 91 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:01,880 of Jesus then we do the warnings that we're going to receive from 92 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,040 someone else. Because if Jesus is really the 93 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:09,440 Son of God, if he's really the Messiah that's been promised 94 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,840 from the Old Testament that we studied and talked about, if 95 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:17,080 he's really the one who has all power, then his warnings 96 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,840 certainly take on a different significance than the warnings 97 00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:22,400 that we'll get anywhere else in life. 98 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:27,040 Jesus knows what he's talking about. 99 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,320 In fact, when he gives a warning, it's it's not a 100 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,480 prediction. It's a guarantee of something 101 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:36,560 that's going to happen. So do yourself and the people 102 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,720 around you a favor and pay attention to the warnings that 103 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:44,880 Jesus wants to give. What Jesus is warning you today 104 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,360 is this. Chasing the wrong things in life 105 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:52,480 will lead to disappointment or even disaster. 106 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,560 Now I recognize that in the climate and the culture that we 107 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:04,200 live in, as soon as I say Jesus is giving you a warning, don't 108 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,120 do this. There's some of us who go, but I 109 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,520 thought Jesus was all about love and compassion. 110 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:14,280 That feels a lot like fear to me and it and I don't want to like 111 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,000 ever respond or make any decisions based out of fear and 112 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:20,080 someone scaring me into something. 113 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,480 I I just want love and compassion to come my way. 114 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:29,040 And I can I just say almost all of us in this room, we are here 115 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,160 today because at some point in time somebody scared us into 116 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,720 something. Let me give you an example. 117 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:37,840 At some point in time when you were a kid, somebody said to 118 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,320 you, don't cross the street without looking both ways. 119 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:43,520 Why? Because you're going to get 120 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,520 smoked by a car if you do, right? 121 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,640 They're giving you a warning that tells you not to do 122 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,080 something. Now why do they give you that 123 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:54,320 warning? They give you that warning 124 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,040 because they love you. They care about you. 125 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:01,360 And that's what Jesus is doing here. 126 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,200 When Jesus gives us warnings, it's not just because he's out 127 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,080 to be a fear monger to scare you. 128 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,840 He's giving you and I warnings because He does love us and He 129 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:15,240 does care for us and He does want what's best for us. 130 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:19,800 And the very first warning that Jesus gives is found in verse 24 131 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:24,120 and it's this money will not bring you lasting comfort. 132 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,680 The very first woe that Jesus gives us to those who are rich 133 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,640 now a bunch of us, as soon as I say, OK, Jesus is giving a 134 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,240 warning to the rich, you immediately check out and go, 135 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,559 well that's not me so I don't have to worry about this. 136 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:42,080 I'm good. Did you know that if you have a 137 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:49,200 household income of $50,000 a year, your income is 3 1/2 times 138 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:56,200 the global median income for a house and you are in the richest 139 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,560 18% of the population in the world? 140 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,720 As Scotiabank likes to tell you, you're richer than you think. 141 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,280 Now, I get that rich is a relative term. 142 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,520 I understand that cost of living here and cost of groceries and 143 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:15,800 mortgages and all those things is one thing. 144 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:19,440 So for some context, the people here in Jesus Day who are 145 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:24,600 considered the rich were usually people who were land owners, 146 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:27,800 especially people who owned more than one property. 147 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:30,640 They would have been classified in the rich. 148 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,600 Business leaders, business owners would have been 149 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:38,920 classified as being rich. There was an elite to society in 150 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:40,760 that day. Government officials, certain 151 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,800 religious officials, people who were well known popular people, 152 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,760 they would have been considered rich in society. 153 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:53,120 And there were other individuals along the way who had who had 154 00:09:53,120 --> 00:10:04,770 substantial personal wealth. All right, we OK, We're going to 155 00:10:04,770 --> 00:10:06,680 find out if we're OK. All right. 156 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,520 Other individuals who had substantial personal wealth 157 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,200 would have also been considered rich. 158 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:20,000 I want to be clear. Jesus is never against people 159 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:24,760 having money. If you look at the end of the 160 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:29,880 life of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea is a wealthy man who 161 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:34,960 uses his tomb to bury Jesus in. Even Luke, who writes this 162 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:38,760 gospel is a physician. Luke the physician would have 163 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,280 had money, and he writes this gospel to a guy named 164 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,760 Theophilus, who is recognized as a Roman official, and he would 165 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,800 have had money as well. So Jesus isn't speaking out 166 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,560 against having money. Having money can be great. 167 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:54,880 There are all kinds of benefits to having money. 168 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,120 You can afford a house that other people can't afford you. 169 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,080 You can. You can pretty much go anywhere 170 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:02,920 you want to on vacation that other people can't go. 171 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,960 You can go and buy clothes just for fun. 172 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,640 You can eat out at the nicest restaurant you want to eat out 173 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,400 at just because you need a break from cooking dinner today. 174 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:18,920 You can give money to ministries and people in need at a far 175 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:21,640 higher rate than other people. Can I? 176 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:24,840 I had a friend who once described his career this way. 177 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,360 He said, Kirk, I am a professional philanthropist. 178 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:32,960 So what do you mean by that? He said God's given me a unique 179 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,120 ability to make a lot of money. And that also means God's given 180 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:39,440 me a unique calling to give a lot of money away. 181 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:44,560 And so my calling in life, my career, is to be a professional 182 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:48,360 philanthropist. But the problem is not having 183 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,800 money. The problem is when money has 184 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,440 you. That's what Jesus is warning us 185 00:11:55,440 --> 00:12:01,200 about, that when you and I trust money to be the place where we 186 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:05,960 go to bring comfort and refreshment to our lives, 187 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,520 there's a warning sign there. You will only get as much as 188 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,520 money can buy you for as long as money can buy it. 189 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:20,800 And what money can buy is never going to truly last. 190 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:28,560 Now, in my experience, money is one of those topics that in 191 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:30,160 North America we don't like to talk about. 192 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:34,120 Certainly in church we don't like to talk about it. 193 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:42,080 And also in my experience, most of us live from the sense of I 194 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,480 need to figure out how to get more money so I can live. 195 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:50,040 But we never really ask ourselves the question, would 196 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:56,440 Jesus say that I am rich? Would Jesus, what would Jesus be 197 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:59,560 warning me about in my own heart right now related to money? 198 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:02,920 We, we rarely ask ourselves that question. 199 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,240 Whether you're a new Christian or you've been a Christian for a 200 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,840 long time, money seems to be a blind spot in our lives. 201 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,320 And a lot of times we convince ourselves we're fine when it 202 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,840 comes to honour and God with our finances. 203 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,360 So I want to give you some kind of diagnostic questions. 204 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,400 I want you to think about these questions to maybe do a little 205 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:28,840 bit of a heart check of maybe is this warning from Jesus applying 206 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:32,560 to you. You might be sitting here today 207 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:38,720 and maybe you're not rich yet, but you believe you are 208 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,920 convincing your heart of hearts that I will be happy and 209 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:47,360 satisfied in life as long as I can make this much money. 210 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,720 And so everything in your life is focused on how do I build my 211 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,200 career to that next level? How do I get more money into my 212 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,200 bank account? You're obsessed almost with the 213 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,520 point of how do I get more money. 214 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,800 If you are in that place where you are almost obsessed with I 215 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:09,440 don't have enough, how do I always get more money has a hold 216 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:15,040 on you. If you can pay for that dream 217 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:22,400 vacation or that car that you've always wanted or the house that 218 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,040 you've always dreamed of or maybe the cottage that you've 219 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:29,200 always wanted, but you don't have enough money to truly be 220 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:35,280 generous to help those who are poor to give money to God and 221 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,520 His ministry. Money has a hold on you. 222 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:47,600 Honestly, I I've met a lot of people who do have financial 223 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:52,560 means By God's standards, you are rich and you, you. 224 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,720 When I talk to them about money, quite often they'll say to me, 225 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,280 Kirk, I give a percentage of my income to help people. 226 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:01,840 I give a percentage of my income to the church. 227 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,240 I give my percentage of my income to ministries. 228 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,720 I want to make sure that the organizations I support, the 229 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,040 church that I'm a part of, that they've got enough money to 230 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,480 reach the budget. So I give enough money to make 231 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:19,680 sure that they reach the budget. And I want to say if you're 232 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:24,280 using an organization's budget or a here's a percentage of my 233 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:29,640 income that I'm going to give, there is a chance that money has 234 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:31,040 a hold on you. Why? 235 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,440 Because you're using the church's budget as a reason to 236 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,560 not give everything you're capable of giving. 237 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:43,160 The mission needs to drive your giving. 238 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:47,800 Your generosity needs to drive your giving far more than did we 239 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:55,880 reach a budget. If Jesus wanted you to sell 240 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:00,000 everything that you own in order to follow him, would you? 241 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,640 You might go, Well, Jesus would never ask me to do that, but he 242 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,920 did ask someone to do that in a rich young ruler. 243 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:13,760 But let's say he doesn't ask you to do that. 244 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,960 Let's say Jesus wanted to live on, wanted you just to live on 245 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,400 whatever you need to live on. So he's going to give you enough 246 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:23,360 money for you to live on whatever you need. 247 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:28,760 But then he wanted you to give away the rest, Would you? 248 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,400 If if Jesus wanted you to give up some of your investment 249 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:39,120 portfolio or your vacation for next year, or spend a little 250 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,160 less on that renovation so you can give a lot more to God's 251 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:50,800 mission in the world, would you? And if not, you have to ask 252 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:52,600 yourself, does money have a hold on you? 253 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,920 And Jesus is going to return to this theme again and again as we 254 00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:03,600 walk through Luke. So I don't want to pile on too 255 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:07,680 much on money, but money is one of those places we don't like 256 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:09,800 other people having an opinion on. 257 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,200 We don't like it when people talk about that. 258 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:17,119 But I want you to know Jesus is not giving you his opinion here. 259 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,319 He's giving you a warning of the consequences and the limitations 260 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,359 of putting your hopes and what money can give you. 261 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,760 Because when money has your heart, it is limiting your 262 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:36,320 ability to discover and walk in and experience the depths of the 263 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,440 comfort and the peace and the rest that can only come from 264 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:45,280 Jesus. Money is one of those ways that 265 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:50,320 we pursue life on our own terms. And Jesus also warns us that 266 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:55,400 living for yourself is going to ultimately be devastating. 267 00:17:56,360 --> 00:18:00,040 In verse 25, when he talks about those who are full and those who 268 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:04,400 are laughing, what he's doing is he's, he's warning people about 269 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,720 a self satisfied and self indulgent lifestyle. 270 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,760 He he's calling out people who do what they want, when they 271 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,160 want, how they want. And he's warning people, this is 272 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:19,520 going to end badly. But you, you might sit there and 273 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,000 go, man, my life is good, my life is full. 274 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,400 I got so many blessings. It's all good, he's saying, but 275 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,040 if your hope is in that and how good your life is, there is 276 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,560 coming a day when your life is just going to end up hungry. 277 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,680 You might feel like I, I've built all this stuff in my life, 278 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:40,640 I've been able to achieve all these things. 279 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:46,520 I've built this on my own terms. And Jesus is warning us, if 280 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:48,680 that's the core direction of your life, that you're just 281 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:53,080 going to do things on your own terms, you will be devastated by 282 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:58,280 the end result. And while not all of us are 283 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:05,240 rich, all of us have lived in a culture where the predominant 284 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:09,280 philosophy of life in Canada has been what's called secular 285 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:14,160 humanism. Here's how a website 286 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:19,040 calledsecularhumanism.org defines humanism. 287 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:23,520 Secular humanism incorporates the Enlightenment principle of 288 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:29,960 individualism, increasingly empowering each of us to set the 289 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:37,000 terms of his or her own life. We live in a culture that has 290 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,160 said, you go ahead and set the terms of your own life. 291 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:44,880 You decide what you need to make yourself happy, comfortable, 292 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:50,120 find peace, find joy, find rest. You set those terms for 293 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:53,840 yourself. And even though most of us in 294 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:58,800 this room would say I'm not a secular humanist, many of us 295 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:04,240 live like we are. We set the terms of our own 296 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:09,560 lives. We've become consumers in all of 297 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,320 life. Everyday you're bombarded with 298 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,960 commercials and content designed to say to you, here's what you 299 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:23,360 need, let me give you what you need, let me give you what you 300 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:26,560 want. And we've bought into that 301 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:29,280 message. We're soon, we start to think 302 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,680 that everybody needs to give me what I want, when I want, how I 303 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,720 want it. And it's become so normalized. 304 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:41,920 Consumerism has become so normalized that we carry it into 305 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,640 everything in our lives and we don't even realize it. 306 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:46,200 We don't even pay attention to it. 307 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,040 I, I hear people say all the time, Hey, Kirk, I, I want 308 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,320 friendships. I want deep friendships with 309 00:20:54,320 --> 00:21:00,320 other people, but they have to be able to meet on this day of 310 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:04,920 the week at this time of the day and they need to like this kind 311 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:09,440 of coffee and, and, and I don't want to get too deep because 312 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,720 that's way too time consuming if they need my help with 313 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,840 something. But I really want deep 314 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:16,600 friendships. No, you don't. 315 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:22,800 You don't. You just want some companionship 316 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,360 when it suits you. That's living life on your own 317 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:32,360 terms in marriages. I hear people in marriages will 318 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:35,600 live with the mindset of, hey, if I'm not getting what I want 319 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:40,120 from my spouse, if if my spouse doesn't like the fact that I 320 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:46,040 work too much or I have too much to drink, or I spend too much 321 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:49,520 money, my spouse doesn't like the fact that I like to look at 322 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,360 porn all the time. It really doesn't matter because 323 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:55,160 it's what makes me happy. I'll do what I want to do. 324 00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:00,080 We do it with our sexuality. I'll do whatever I want to do 325 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,040 because that's what's going to fulfill me. 326 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,760 Even at church, we live with a mindset sometimes that says, 327 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,760 hey, I'm only going to participate in this activity or 328 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,600 event. As long as it's something I'm 329 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:19,840 going to have fun at or people that I know and like are going 330 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,760 to be there, that's my criteria for showing up. 331 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,480 And I could go on and on and giving you examples. 332 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:32,120 Now we might think to ourselves like, what's so wrong with 333 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:35,560 living for myself? Nobody else is looking out for 334 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,880 me, so somebody has to look out for me. 335 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:44,160 But here's what happens when you set the terms of your own life. 336 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:49,000 When you only look out for yourself, you are living like a 337 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:55,080 functional atheist because you end up living like you don't 338 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,320 really need God, or you only need God in certain parts of 339 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,080 your life when something's going wrong and you need him to show 340 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:05,720 up. You pick and choose the parts of 341 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:07,640 your life where God gets to be God. 342 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:15,400 And the truth is, we all have a God, and there's only room for 343 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:21,040 one God in your life. Whoever or whatever is at the 344 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,840 center of your life is who you are serving. 345 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:30,200 They are your God. When you live for yourself, 346 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,240 you've made the decision whether you've used the Word or not. 347 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,280 But when you live for yourself, you've made the decision that 348 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:40,760 you are God. You set the rules of what's 349 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,320 going to give your life meaning and purpose and satisfaction 350 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,640 when you live for yourself. You decide, this is how I'm 351 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,480 going to spend my time and how I'm going to spend my money. 352 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,440 And the warning of Jesus here in this passage is simply this. 353 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,360 The God of your life is going to take you somewhere. 354 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,720 The only question is, where's the God of your life taking you? 355 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:08,360 What's the end of the story that the God of your life is taking 356 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:10,440 you towards? What's the promise at the end of 357 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,800 that story? If you're trying to find life in 358 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:20,720 anyone other than Jesus, Jesus is warning you here that you 359 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,120 will be devastated by the end result. 360 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,320 Now, some of you, you're here today because you see it. 361 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,840 You, you've bought the message of setting life on your own 362 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:35,880 terms. And you, you've seen the 363 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:37,440 results. You're looking at the results in 364 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,920 your own life and you're asking bigger questions and you're 365 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,960 saying there's got to be such a better way to live than 366 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,080 everything I've been taught. And I want you to know the 367 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,560 answer is, yeah, there is a better way to live. 368 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,920 Sometimes we go from one extreme, if I want to do life my 369 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:59,560 own way to another extreme, the opposite extreme, which is I 370 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:04,480 just want everyone to like me. And so then we end up becoming 371 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:08,920 people pleasers in everything, which leads to the final warning 372 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:12,320 of Jesus being popular and well liked won't matter in the end. 373 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:20,160 That's what he says in verse 26. Jesus gives this warning that 374 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,680 there's a danger when everyone speaks well of you. 375 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,160 Now, at first that seems like a strange warning. 376 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,000 Why? Why wouldn't you want everyone 377 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,480 to speak well of you? Why wouldn't you want everyone 378 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,560 to like you? And then he compares how much 379 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:39,640 people like you to the way that people have treated false 380 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:44,160 prophets in the past. You know what false prophets do 381 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,200 really well? They only tell people what they 382 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,600 want to hear. False prophets at the end of the 383 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:56,800 day are people pleasers. And you might think, well, but 384 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:58,800 doesn't Jesus want me to serve people? 385 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,920 Doesn't he want me to be nice? And the answer is yes, of course 386 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,320 he does. But serving people is not the 387 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,160 same thing as being a people pleaser. 388 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,400 And a lot of us have become people pleasers. 389 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:17,200 At the core, people pleasing is actually another way of living 390 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:24,640 for yourself, because people pleasers do everything they can 391 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:28,320 to make other people happy. For one motivation. 392 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:34,160 I just want them to like me, so I'll do whatever I need to do to 393 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:43,240 get other people to like me. People who serve are different. 394 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:47,680 People who serve do everything to make the other person's life 395 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,600 better, even if the other person doesn't like some parts of the 396 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:57,240 journey. I I was in the hospital a week 397 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:06,040 ago with kidney stones. It's not fun and the doctor, 398 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:10,640 like there are things that happen when you go into the 399 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:17,840 hospital that you don't like, but you need it in order to get 400 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:22,400 better. And people who serve live with 401 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,320 that mentality. I don't care if you don't like 402 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:26,720 me in the moment. I care more about your 403 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:34,160 well-being. If you really love and serve 404 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:37,080 people, you are going to have times where you have to have 405 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:42,600 difficult conversations. And the single most important 406 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:47,600 conversation that you may ever have is that the other person 407 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:54,840 needs a savior. Remember I said earlier that 408 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,800 Jesus is looking at the opposite side of the things he talked 409 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:00,920 about and what we looked at last week. 410 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:04,440 He's, he's holding up two sides of the same coin in these 411 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,000 verses. And last week he said that you 412 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,400 are blessed when people hate you, exclude you, insult you 413 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,120 because of your faith in Jesus, because of who you are as a 414 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:17,480 disciple of Jesus. But now he is giving the 415 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,200 opposite side of the story. And what he's doing is he's 416 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:25,880 giving us a warning on being silent as followers of Jesus, 417 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:34,720 that if we never take a stand for anything, we are falling 418 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,720 into this warning that Jesus is giving. 419 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,760 Many years ago I was interacting with a well known broadcaster 420 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:45,480 who also happened to be a Christian and everybody loved 421 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,120 this guy. Everybody thought he was just 422 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,880 the nicest guy in the world, that his his coworkers thought 423 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,360 he was such a great person to work with. 424 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,360 But then I remember one of his coworkers coming up to me and 425 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,920 said, Kirk, that guy's a Christian. 426 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,200 I had no idea that he was a Christian. 427 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:12,160 I thought, man, you spent all that time with someone and you 428 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:18,280 had no idea they followed Jesus. It is awesome church that people 429 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,720 think you're a good person, that they think you're a great 430 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:21,960 person. It's a great start. 431 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,680 You should not be a jerk. If you're a jerk, that's a whole 432 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:30,560 other problem. But if the only thing that the 433 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,480 people around you know about you is that you're a really nice 434 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,880 person, then it's one of life's greatest tragedy tragedies. 435 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:44,800 This warning from Jesus forces us to ask the question, What 436 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,680 good have you really done for the people around you if you 437 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:53,040 haven't pointed them to Jesus? Because every single good thing 438 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,760 you've ever done for other people can only be temporary. 439 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,400 Don't be the Christian who is so well liked that they are not 440 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:06,280 fully known. Care for people enough to talk 441 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,560 about the things that matter most, and there's nothing more 442 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:12,520 important than the state of people's souls. 443 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,560 When you take everything that Jesus is talking about in these 444 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,360 verses here, here's the bottom line of what He's telling us. 445 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,800 Don't let the good life become more important to you than 446 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:30,360 eternal life. I want to show you something to 447 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,960 illustrate what I'm talking about. 448 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,280 I saw this illustration a number of years ago from a pastor named 449 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:39,680 Francis Chan and asked Paige to come on out and help me with 450 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:48,680 this. I want you to imagine that life 451 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:57,080 is like this rope and we got a knot in our lives. 452 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,000 It's OK. Don't worry about it. 453 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,160 We get the idea. No, forget it. 454 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,600 Keep pulling. Why don't you imagine that life 455 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,400 is like, There we go. Imagine that life is like this 456 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,760 rope. And I'm just going to pull this 457 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,600 up a little bit. See this, This rope represents 458 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:20,520 the life that you are always meant for. 459 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,640 It's eternal life. You are always meant to have 460 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:31,760 eternal life. But most of us, we live our 461 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:36,560 lives in this space. In this space. 462 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:41,160 This red tape represents the years of your life that you have 463 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:46,520 here on this earth. If you live to be the same age 464 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:51,320 as the life life expectancy in Canada, you will live to be 465 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:56,280 about 82 years old. And so most of us make our 466 00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:59,880 decisions, make our choices, live our lives from the 467 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:04,000 perspective of how can I get everything done that I want to 468 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,600 get done? How can I achieve and succeed 469 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,800 within those 82 years that I have on this earth? 470 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:12,880 And maybe you're not even thinking that far in advance. 471 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,240 Maybe you're just thinking about like this little window here 472 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,400 that's like the next three years of your life. 473 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,240 How, how can I just make it in the next three years of my life? 474 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,400 What are my goals in those three years? 475 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:27,320 So you become obsessed and consumed with those next three 476 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,160 years. Maybe if you're in rough enough 477 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,240 shape, if, if life is hard enough, you're not thinking 478 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,440 about even three years, you're just thinking about one week or 479 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:38,200 one day. How do I just make it through 480 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:43,360 today? And what Jesus is coming around 481 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,880 and saying to us is when you live your life from the 482 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:51,160 perspective of just these years, you're going to make choices a 483 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,880 certain way. When you live your life with 484 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,560 eternity in mind, you're going to make a whole different set of 485 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:03,200 choices with your life. The warning is when you only 486 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:07,360 live in this space, it has limitations. 487 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,520 It also has consequences. When you live with eternity in 488 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:17,600 mind, it changes everything. It changes how you are going to 489 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:23,520 live every moment of your life. Last week when we looked at the 490 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,720 people who were blessed, even though their life was rough, 491 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:30,120 they were blessed not because of the moment they found themselves 492 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,280 in. They're blessed because of the 493 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:36,160 bigger picture of who they are as citizens of God's Kingdom. 494 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:39,920 They know that the end, that the story that they're in today is 495 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:42,040 not the end of the story because there's all of eternal life 496 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:46,600 still waiting. And when you are here in this 497 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,720 moment today, on the opposite side of the coin, the warnings 498 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:54,760 of Jesus, is that living your life when there's only 80 years 499 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,080 to life, there's so much damage to your soul. 500 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:03,320 If life is only 80 years, of course you're going to look to 501 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:05,720 make as much money and have as much fun as you can. 502 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,040 If life is only 80 years, of course you're going to do things 503 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:13,480 your own way so you can experience the best life 504 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:17,719 possible. If life is only 80 years, of 505 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,440 course you're going to do everything to just get people to 506 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:23,120 like you. Because really, I don't want 507 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:28,880 people to not like me. But Jesus came to show us that 508 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:32,280 life is not only 80 years. Life was always meant to be 509 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,800 eternal. If you're here today and you are 510 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:40,280 not yet a believer in Jesus, John chapter 3 verse 16 says 511 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:46,880 that God so loved you that he gave his only Son, that if you 512 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:52,639 believe in him and follow him, you will not perish. 513 00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:56,040 You will not die. 80 years is not the end of your story. 514 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:02,640 You will have everlasting life. And if you're already a disciple 515 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:07,280 of Jesus, eternal life is not meant to be something that 516 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,800 happens right after we die. Eternal life is meant to be 517 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:11,560 something we experience right now. 518 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,160 In John 17 verse 3, Jesus described eternal life as this, 519 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:22,320 that they know God the Father. Eternal life is not an event. 520 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:27,680 It's a relationship with God. It's knowing Him intimately, 521 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:33,960 powerfully in your life. It's my brothers and sisters in 522 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:40,160 Christ Jesus. Our Savior and our King is 523 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:46,160 warning us today. Stop living like you've only got 524 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:52,720 80 years to live. So many of us, we are so caught 525 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:57,200 up in all the things that the world says is important and you 526 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:03,040 don't even have time to read your Bible or pray you. 527 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:07,800 You say you can't wait to have eternal life with God, but you 528 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:11,080 can't spend any time talking to Him now. 529 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,080 Why do you want to spend eternal life with someone that you can't 530 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:23,400 bother talking to today? For some of us, our, our primary 531 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:27,000 goal has become how much money can I make and how much fun can 532 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,080 I have? And God becomes a secondary part 533 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,960 of our lives. And when we, when that happens, 534 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:38,200 you know what we're saying. I need this life to give me 535 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,120 something more than God can give me. 536 00:36:43,240 --> 00:36:46,000 And you're doing damage to your own soul when you do that. 537 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:50,680 I, I know there's a lot of us who are struggling in different 538 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:54,760 areas, but sometimes we're struggling in part because we're 539 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:58,560 choosing to do life on our own terms instead of being shaped by 540 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:04,720 Jesus. There are a lot of marriages in 541 00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:10,080 our church that are struggling. And I got to tell you, in many 542 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:12,320 cases it's because you're choosing to do things on your 543 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:17,680 own terms instead of Jesus way. We have an equipped class 544 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:19,800 starting next month for marriages. 545 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:25,160 You need to register if you want to be able to learn how to do 546 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:27,280 marriage the way that Jesus wants us to. 547 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:33,320 So many of us, we are holding on to our riches. 548 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:36,560 We are pursuing life on our own terms. 549 00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:39,320 We just want to be liked by everyone. 550 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:44,640 We're living for now instead of living with eternity in mind, 551 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,040 and anywhere that you're focused on the temporary instead of the 552 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:57,160 eternal is a missed opportunity. Don't ignore the warning of 553 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:02,280 Jesus. Don't waste your life on things 554 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:08,280 that only last 80 years. I'm going to ask you to close 555 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:25,680 your eyes, please. I want to ask you to just take a 556 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:32,080 moment and ask the Holy Spirit to turn a mirror on your heart 557 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:41,630 and your mind, to ask the Holy Spirit to do a deep check on 558 00:38:41,630 --> 00:38:43,190 your life. With this question. 559 00:38:44,230 --> 00:38:49,030 Say, God, where am I letting the good life become more important 560 00:38:49,030 --> 00:39:14,880 to me than eternal life? Father, I know that listening to 561 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:19,000 warnings like this can sometimes be uncomfortable for us. 562 00:39:25,290 --> 00:39:30,810 But God, I am grateful for your faithful, everlasting love that 563 00:39:30,810 --> 00:39:37,330 you care enough about us to warn us of things that can harm our 564 00:39:37,330 --> 00:39:45,880 souls. I pray in the power of the Holy 565 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:57,040 Spirit you would turn a mirror on my heart, on my mind, on our 566 00:39:57,040 --> 00:40:05,000 hearts and minds as your children, and you would help us. 567 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:09,800 To see the places where we have placed a higher value on what 568 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:16,120 the world calls a good life instead of a higher value on 569 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:20,600 eternal life. Give us a greater vision, God, 570 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:29,640 of the things that truly matter. Cleanse us from our sins. 571 00:40:32,240 --> 00:40:39,760 Help us, help us, oh God, to be set free from these things that 572 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:46,880 are holding us back from really knowing you deeply and 573 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:54,120 intimately in our lives. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 574 00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:56,600 Amen. Let's stand together and sing 575 00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:57,200 this last song.