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I was working on a project and I knew I needed to stop at Menards to get this thing.

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And I was driving through Oregon and I had put in my phone the location where I was going

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which was actually to like, she's like my second cousin's house in Oregon.

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And then as I went past Menards I was like, oh man, I got to stop into Menards and get

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the part that I need for home.

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So I'll just grab that real quick and then I'll go on to my destination.

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I didn't think anything about it.

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And so I grabbed my, I actually remembered to get my phone out of the car and I put it

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in my pocket and I put it in my back pocket as I am accustomed to do.

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And then I went in Menards and I was looking for it and my phone said to me, proceed to

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such and such a road.

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It was proceed to Curtis Road.

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And I'm like, that's odd.

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So I put my phone out and it was still navigating.

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I had forgotten to turn off Google Maps or pause it, right?

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You've ever done that?

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Those of you who use Google Maps or young people are like, I don't know.

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Us old people don't know where we're going sometimes or don't know exactly if you use

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Google Maps or IMaps or whatever.

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And so it was still telling me to go where I was going.

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So I picked it up and I'm like, I'm trying to figure out how to pause it.

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I don't want to turn it off because I'm going to go there as soon as I've done it in Menards,

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right?

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But I couldn't figure out how to turn it off.

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So the only button I could find that would stop it from talking to me while I was walking

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through Menards was end trip.

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So I pressed the end trip button and it just went back to the main screen and that screen.

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And when I got out of the car, I was able to restart it to go where I was going, which

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was fine, right?

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But then the Lord said to me, imagine where I'm going with this, I think right now, we're

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all on a journey.

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We're all going somewhere.

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The ultimate destination, hopefully for each one of us is heaven.

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That is the goal, right? To go to heaven when we die.

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That is the goal.

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And our eyes are to be focused on that.

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I think a lot about that as I'm walking throughout my life and food, business, and shopping and

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all these things.

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I think a lot about it when my real destination is heaven.

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I don't actually belong here.

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I have a lot of good things here.

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My house is here.

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My family is here.

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My church is here.

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A lot of good things here, but I don't actually belong here.

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I'm going somewhere else.

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So I think about that a lot.

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Then I was thinking about how a lot of times as we're living our lives supposedly for Jesus,

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something will come along that we decide we kind of want.

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We got, obviously, to pick that off real quick, and so we're tempted, and then we go over

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and we grab that thing.

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And while we're doing that, Jesus is talking to us saying, no, continue the journey.

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Keep going.

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Thank you.

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That was nice of you to do that.

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And keep going.

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Keep focused on me.

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Keep going where you're going.

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That's where we're on a journey.

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And I'm going, no, no, no.

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I just want to pause.

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I just want to pause.

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I'm going to step over here for a minute and just take this thing that I want that's part

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of this life that doesn't have anything to do with where we're going.

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And there is no pause.

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There's only end trip.

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Now, the beauty of Jesus is if you're foolish enough, and I will say I have been at times

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foolish enough, you're foolish enough to do that, to walk away from Jesus, following

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Jesus while you're headed somewhere you're supposed to be going, you walk away from him

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for a moment and grab something, whatever, that you can go back to Jesus, you can restart

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the journey, you can repent and turn to him again and say, okay, Lord, I do love you.

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I do want to follow you.

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I do want to go where we're going.

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I do want to work only for you and only with you.

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I want you to live through me and so on.

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You can do that.

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Here's the problem.

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Sometimes we get so wrapped up in that other thing that it leads to habitual behavior.

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It leads to doing things over and over again.

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Or I could have shopped for an hour in Menards, for example, oh, I need that too, and oh,

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I need that too, and oh, here's a bargain, and then had no time left to go where I was

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actually going.

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And so I submit to you that that is not the plan that Jesus has for us.

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He does not want you to get off the journey.

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He does not want you to take a break and go after the thing that tempts you.

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And we make an excuse if we want to say, oh, the temptation is so much, but as we talked

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about a few weeks back on Tuesday night, there was no temptation except that which was common

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to man.

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Jesus faced it all and he never veered off God's course.

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And we can do the same.

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Now we have the Holy Spirit.

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We can do the same and stay on the course.

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And so while it is there, our little navigating voice always taking us where it's trying to

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take us.

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And those things that are along the side of trying to take us off this course, we need

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to say no.

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And don't hit end trip.

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Don't try to pause your journey with Jesus because you might miss the greatest thing

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that God is trying to do.

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You might even wind up trapped in sin again when you as a believer should never be.

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So that was how the Lord spoke to me regarding Google Maps.

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All right.

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We definitely go.

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I got a little bit of a motion.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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I hear your voice.

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I'm going to start.

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Romans 16 20.

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The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

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The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

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The devil keeps knocking at my door.

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He tells me with him I'll be better.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to look in me in the mira.

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He tells me to be more careful.

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He tells me to look in my family.

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He tells me to stay with him.

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I'll be better.

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He tells me, oh my god is that he is more powerful than the devil will ever be.

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He crushes the wall that will be back in my life and görbus in the.

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He makes me better in everything is in his eyes.

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I am great.

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I am Paulist.

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In the eyes of my God, my Jesus, I am victorious.

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My Jesus the death.

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He be everything.

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I know this to be true.

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be true so no matter what you say, Satan you ain't breaking me down. You ain't holding me back because my God will plow you over like a

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freight train. I follow the one who saves and I follow the one who has all the power. I will tell you, Satan, nothing you do will keep me back.

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My God, plant my feet here on this rock that is unbreakable. I stand on this rock because Jesus died for me so I can be free. I have Him in my heart and with Him here you have no place.

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I surrender all my strength to follow Jesus Christ. The power that you may think you have is nothing when you compare yourself to the power Jesus has which I now have because Jesus lives in me.

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You may think you're strong but you are nothing. Now you listen to me. You stay behind me where you belong. Go ahead and try to get me by the heels. My Jesus I'll take you to the curb. You know the power I have now, the Holy Spirit power.

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So I'm going to keep you in my rear view and I'll keep my focus and the one who has the master plan. The one who keeps me in his arms always and loves me always. That person is my Lord, my Savior Jesus Christ.

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With Jesus we have the Holy Spirit in us, even the evil spirit please in the man of Jesus. This is why we don't have to be afraid. All we have to do is believe in Jesus and use the power He gives to repute evil and surrender to His name.

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Okay, anybody else? Okay one very short illustration that also touched me. It's very important. It says there was a Scotchman, it means he is from Scotland, who was once asked how many people it took to convert him. He said two.

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Two? How was that? Didn't God do it all? He says the Almighty and myself converted me. He said I did all I could against it and the Almighty did all He could for it and He was before it.

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I am reminded that before I was saved for 25 years, I lived my life my own way. And even at the end when Jesus was calling me, at the end when He was telling me this is for you, it's available to you, it's free, it's taken, it's good for me and let's go the rest of the distance together.

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Even when He was doing that, I was still resisting. But He overcame me. He said God you did it. Because here I am today, serving the Lord, praising the Lord, knowing where I'm going and yes I make mistakes and He covers them for me. Praise the Lord.

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Alright, so let's pray together and then we'll have tithes and offerings of an act of worship and then we'll continue to learn more worship.

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Alright, Tommy, would you do this in prayer? I think it's kind of a place that we can have to worship you and keeping our eyes toward you.

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I think that's a great part of working here, that you just meet with everyone. Give them peace of mind throughout the week as they are supporting their families, working colleagues. And that chili cracotta goes well. Have a good time in fellowship and remember that the purpose that we're there is where you can name my friend.

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Grace knows your name.

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God's not done with you.

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Even when you're broken high and you're lost and it's God's.

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God's not done with you.

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Even when you're lost and it's high and you're falling apart.

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God's not done with you.

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It's not over, it's only begun.

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Don't hide, don't run.

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Just God's not done with you.

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There's a light you don't know there.

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You're standing in the dark.

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There's a street that's growing inside your shadowed heart.

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God's not done with you.

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Even when you're broken high and you're losing your sky.

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God's not done with you.

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Even when you're lost and it's high and you're falling apart.

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God's not done with you.

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It's not over, it's only begun.

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Don't hide, don't run.

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Just God's not done with you.

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You've got a plan, this is part of it.

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You've got a finish where you started.

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You've got a plan, this is part of it.

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You've got a finish where you started.

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It's not done.

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God's not done writing your story.

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Who am I that the Lord of all the earth

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would care to know my name,

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would care to feel my blood?

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Who am I that the bright morning star

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would choose to light the way

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for my ever-wandering heart?

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Not because of who I am,

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but because of what you've done.

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Not because of what I've done,

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but because of who you are.

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Now I am well-prepared for the day,

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and today and tomorrow,

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away tossed in the ocean,

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the vapor in the wind.

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Still you don't hear me when I'm calling,

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though you catch me when I'm falling,

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the time before I am.

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So last week we began a sermon series

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on being a fanatic.

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And you saw a little screen at the Inspirational Limit time

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talked about being a fanatic.

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And we're not a fanatic, obviously,

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like the world might be a fanatic,

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or like the cultist might be a fanatic,

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but we are a fanatic as in sold out for the Lord.

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And we read a little story last week,

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and we're going to read that story for you again today

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as an opener to kind of a transition

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between last week's sermon and this week.

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And it says, what could the king do?

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In the second century they brought a Christian

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before a king who wanted him to recant

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and give up Christ and Christianity,

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but the man spurned the proposition.

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But the king said, if you don't do it, I will banish you.

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The man smiled and answered,

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you can't banish me from Christ,

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and you cannot forsake me nor forsake me.

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The king got angry.

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He said, well, I will confiscate your property

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and take it all from you.

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And the man replied, my treasures are laid up on high.

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You cannot get them.

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The king became still more angry and said, I will kill you.

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Why?

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The man answered, I have been dead 40 years.

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I have been dead with Christ, dead to the world,

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and my life is hid with Christ and God,

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and you cannot touch it.

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What are you going to do with such a fanatic?

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This is what we're talking about

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when we talk about being a fanatic.

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The truth is the world will come at us

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in so many different ways,

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and sometimes it may look a little bit like that.

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Whether it's a king or someone else

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who thinks they have that kind of authority

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over your life, they will come at you,

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and if you are not clear about to whom you belong,

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clear about who you are serving,

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clear about where you are going,

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about how you are walking that day in Christ,

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you just may wind up in a trap.

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You just may wind up fearful

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for what may come next and unable to stand for Jesus.

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In that way, we are seeking to be a fanatic.

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At the end last week, we also read these verses.

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It says, if then you have been raised up with Christ,

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keep seeking the things above where Christ is

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seated at the right hand of God.

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Set your mind on the things above,

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not on the things that are on earth,

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for you have died and your life is hidden

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with Christ in God.

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These are the facts.

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I'm going to present them as three whereases,

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which is like, these things are true,

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and then I'm going to give you a resolution, if you will,

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or an action plan that Scripture calls us to.

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So the first one is this.

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There is an end coming, and the way to that end is known.

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That's a fact.

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Jesus was speaking in Matthew chapter 7.

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You're welcome to flip around in the Bible with me,

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if you will, and then we'll kind of settle in one text

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by the time we're through to bring it all together.

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So Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is speaking,

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and he says in verses 13 and following,

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Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide,

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and the way is broad that leads to destruction,

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and many are those who enter by it.

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For the gate is small, and the way is narrow

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that leads to life, and few are those who find it.

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Jesus was pointing to a moment in time

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at which one of two things will be true.

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It is the end, if you will,

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it is the conclusion of all matters,

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and either we will find the gate of life

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or the gate of destruction.

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There will come a moment in time

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where all men will face judgment.

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Jesus tells a great parable about the goats and the sheep

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and how they will be divided from one side

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of the throne to another, but there is a specific reason

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why we're not looking at that at this moment.

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It is just, is there an end?

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It is appointed for all men once to die,

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and then the judgment.

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There is indeed an end, and we are headed toward it.

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Jesus said, Therefore, verse 24,

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everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them

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may be compared to a wise man who built his house

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upon the rock, and the rain descended,

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and the floods came, and the winds blew

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and burst against that house.

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And yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.

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And everyone who hears these words of mine

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and does not act upon them will be like a foolish man

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who built his house upon the sand,

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and the rain descended, and the floods came,

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and the winds blew and burst against that house,

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and it fell, and great was its fall.

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After Jesus spoke these teachings,

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they were amazed at his teaching,

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for he was teaching them as one having authority

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and not as their scribes.

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I submit to you that it's easy enough to get wrapped up

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in the affairs of this life, easy enough

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to think you know something, to have some knowledge,

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some understanding of what you're supposed to do,

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who you're supposed to be, and miss the key point.

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There is an end.

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Eventually we will come to the end.

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Whereas the gate is narrow, and the way to life

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and that moment is narrow, we must take a certain path

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to get there.

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Secondly, notice the end is certain.

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If you look at Hebrews in chapter 1,

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flipping all the way to the right pretty much in your Bibles,

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Hebrews in chapter 1, which we are not completely unfamiliar with

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if you've been around for a while,

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we studied this together some, about a year ago,

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pretty in depth,

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Hebrews chapter 1 verses 10 to 13,

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which is actually a quote from the Old Testament,

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Psalms 102,

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and Hebrews 1, 10 to 13 says,

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Thus, Lord, in the beginning there slay the foundation of the earth,

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and the heavens are the works of thy hands.

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They will perish, but thou remainest,

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and they all will become old as a garment,

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and as a mantle thou wilt roll them up as a garment.

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They will also be changed, but thou art the same,

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and thy years will not come to an end.

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And as I said, that's a quote from Psalm 102.

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Basically, there is an end coming to everything as you know it.

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It's your car, your house, your money, your food, your time here on earth.

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It's all coming to an end.

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And as with a garment, you would take it off and fold it up.

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So too will God take that mantle, that garment,

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and it will be done.

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But God will remain.

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He will remain the same.

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So there's an end to all things as we know them,

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but not an end to God.

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The end is certain.

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Jesus would say, with absolute certainty, an end is coming.

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In Hebrews 13, verse 8, it says as follows.

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Now go back to verse 7.

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Remember those who led, who spoke the Word of God to you

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and consider the result of their conduct.

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Imitate their faith.

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Verse 8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, yes, and forever.

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So as much as the times may change, technology may become different.

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The way we earn our money or keep a roof over our head may change.

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Whether or not people own property or build wealth may change.

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Everything in the world might be changing.

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You might say, I'm a young person.

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You don't know me.

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You don't know my life.

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It's different.

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Everything in the world may change, but Jesus remains the same.

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The end is certain, and it is certain that Jesus will remain the same

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to the end and beyond.

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Then, whereas the gate is narrow and the only way,

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the end is certain also all will meet God, but not all will be glad.

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So in other words, no matter whether you believe in God or not,

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eventually you will stand before God, and ultimately,

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Scripture says, eventually you will kneel before God.

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Whether you like it or not, whether you agree or not,

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whether you are happy or not in that moment, all will meet God,

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but not everyone will be happy about it.

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Romans 14 says this, 14, 10 through 12.

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But you, why do you judge your brother?

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Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt?

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For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.

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For it is written, As I live, says the Lord,

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every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.

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So then each one of us shall give a count of himself to God.

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So there is an end moment where all mankind will gather at the throne of God,

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and in that moment there will be gladness and there will be not gladness.

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The gladness will be subject to what we did with this life.

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And I would love to say that it's how we lived and did we do everything perfectly,

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and we never told a lie, and we didn't steal and all of those kinds of things,

382
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but that is not it.

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Jesus did not come to condemn the world,

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but know that they are condemned already by what they have done with the Son of God.

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So it is truly about the Jesus.

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It is truly about the Christ.

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All will meet God, but not all will be glad.

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Back to Hebrews chapter 5.

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Plenty of flipping going on.

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Hebrews chapter 5.

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I'll get there in a moment.

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00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,480
Those of us who are flipping are flipping.

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Hebrews chapter 5 verses 7 to 10 say as follows,

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But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.

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And in this case, hold on a second, that's chapter 7.

396
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We'll go back one page. There we go.

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In the days of his flesh, it's chapter 5 beginning in verse 7,

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00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:58,480
not chapter 7, beginning in verse 5.

399
00:22:58,480 --> 00:22:59,480
So it's 5, 7.

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00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:04,480
In the days of his flesh he offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying

401
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,480
and tears to the one able to save him from death.

402
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,480
And he was heard because of his piety.

403
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:14,480
In other words, Jesus, while he was alive, prayed, begging God with tears,

404
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,480
crying to the one who was able to save him from death.

405
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,480
But notice he was saved because of his piety or because of his faithfulness to God.

406
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:22,480
Verse 8.

407
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:27,480
Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered.

408
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,480
And having been made perfect, he became to all those who obey him,

409
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:37,480
the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest

410
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,480
according to the order of Melchizedek.

411
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,480
That's talking about Jesus.

412
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,480
And it explains to us that while he lived, he had that moment in time.

413
00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:48,480
He begged God not to use the crucifixion, not to go through that experience,

414
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to save him from death.

415
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:55,480
And some would say he did not answer, that God did not save him because he was crucified.

416
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,480
But actually we know he did answer because he was crucified and then rose again.

417
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,480
And then through the experiences, what he went through,

418
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:09,480
he learned obedience to God and became eternal salvation to all, essentially.

419
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:10,480
So those are the whereases.

420
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:16,480
The gate is narrow, the end is certain, and all will meet God, but not all will be glad.

421
00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:20,480
Therefore, as we came up with kind of last week as well,

422
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,480
do all things you do as if you do them for him.

423
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,480
That's Colossians 3.17, whatever you do, word or indeed,

424
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:29,480
do all things as if you do it for the Father.

425
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:40,480
Also look at 1 Peter, so go all the way to the right, 1 Peter.

426
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,480
It's the Nidabooks.

427
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:54,480
We're in chapter 4, verse 4, next to the last chapter in the book of 1 Peter.

428
00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:58,480
And it's verse 11, chapter 4, verse 11.

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00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:04,480
Whoever speaks, let him speak as it were the utterance of God.

430
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:09,480
Whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies,

431
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,480
so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,

432
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:19,480
to whom belongs the glory and the dominion, that's the rule, forever and ever. Amen.

433
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,480
So the bottom line is, if we have discovered our identity,

434
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:25,480
and that's what we talked about last week, right?

435
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:27,480
We were dead and now are made alive.

436
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:32,480
And if we are dead and made alive, then we realize there is an end coming.

437
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:33,480
It's an end to suffering.

438
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,480
It's also an end to what in this lifetime the lost would call blessings.

439
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:48,480
So it's an end to money, earning money, cars, celebrations, drug use, sex, as we know it.

440
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:53,480
It's an end to all of the things of this life that might actually be considered good things,

441
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,480
and all of the things of this life that are considered bad things.

442
00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:02,480
Because of that, we can do all things in this lifetime as if we were doing them for Him,

443
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,480
always doing them for Him and in the strength that He supplies,

444
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,480
because we realize whatever may come against us, whatever may distract us,

445
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:13,480
whatever may be tempting, whatever may be suffering, all of that will come to an end.

446
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:20,480
One amazing trait of people is that they can dream, they can imagine, they can plan.

447
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:25,480
Best understanding of scientists is that there aren't a lot of animals, there may be a few,

448
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,480
there aren't a lot of animals that do this at all,

449
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:31,480
that think about what tomorrow will bring or next month or next year.

450
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:35,480
They plan for the cold to come, but they don't understand what they're doing necessarily.

451
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,480
They don't have the brain power to dream, to plan, and so on.

452
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:46,480
It makes a lot of sense for a man to plan for his future, and we know that this future ends at an end.

453
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:51,480
There is a narrow, a straight path that leads to a place in which we will be glad to meet God.

454
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:58,480
Therefore, since we have that amazing trait of people, we need only watch out for one real problem.

455
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:05,480
See, God also has plans, and humans were created in His image, so we have plans.

456
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:09,480
There's nothing wrong with having plans, dreams, desires.

457
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:15,480
The caveat or the warning is this, if your plans are out of step with God, that's the problem.

458
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,480
How to become a fanatic, to make your plans in step with God,

459
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:24,480
and if you know that your plans are in step with God's plans, then there is literally nothing that can stop you,

460
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:31,480
nothing that that king of this world can do to you because your plans are in step with God's plans.

461
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:36,480
Jesus called it this. He called it storing up treasures for yourself in heaven.

462
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,480
What is a treasure? It's the thing that you desire, the thing that you want, the thing that you need.

463
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:46,480
It's the thing that has value, the thing that can be used to get you later on to a better place.

464
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,480
So maybe you keep your cold medicine from one cold to the next,

465
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:57,480
and when that next time when the cold medicine comes, that cold medicine becomes a treasure because it can help you with your cold.

466
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:01,480
You fill your tank at night before you go to bed because you're assuming you're going to wake up in the morning

467
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:05,480
and have to go to work or to school or whatever, and when you get up in the morning,

468
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,480
the gas in the tank is a treasure because it helps you get where you're going

469
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:14,480
without having to stop in the cold in the morning and get gas.

470
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:20,480
A treasure is that thing that we keep so that it will be a benefit to us at a moment in time.

471
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:24,480
And Jesus said that we are to store up our treasures in heaven.

472
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:28,480
See, we've got to learn where our family keeps this treasure.

473
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:34,480
In our house, when we were not saved, we had an iron box, a metal box,

474
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:40,480
and we would put in the metal box everything that needed to survive if there was a fire in our house.

475
00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:45,480
In the very big box, in it we would put some money that we had collected, we had some bonds that we'd bought for the children,

476
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,480
some stock certificates, things like that. We kept them in there, locked in there.

477
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:55,480
If the house ever burned down and was nothing but ash, the box would survive, and in the box would be the treasures.

478
00:28:55,480 --> 00:29:01,480
But as Christians, as followers of Jesus, our treasures are not stored in iron boxes.

479
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:07,480
There are huge vaults of treasures stored up for Christians, and they are not on this earth,

480
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,480
nor can they be consumed by fire.

481
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:15,480
Flipping your Bibles with me then to Matthew chapter 6.

482
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:23,480
And now we'll hear it straight from the mouth of Jesus, albeit almost 2,000 years later.

483
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,480
Matthew chapter 6 takes place during a great discourse of Jesus.

484
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,480
Does anybody know what that speech is called?

485
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:34,480
We talked about this on Tuesday nights.

486
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:38,480
It's Matthew 5, 6, and 7, and they are what?

487
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:42,480
They are many parables.

488
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,480
They are the Sermon on the Mount.

489
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,480
And so this takes place, remember I told you,

490
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:55,480
if there was a moment in time that Jesus gathered what is probably the largest crowd he ever gathered,

491
00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:00,480
and he stood up on a peak, and he spoke to them in a natural amphitheater

492
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:04,480
and his voice was magnified by that natural amphitheater,

493
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,480
as well as it might be by this microphone, probably better with much larger speakers,

494
00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,480
there was a moment in time that Jesus gathered all of those people and he spoke,

495
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,480
then what he said that day was important.

496
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:22,480
What he said when there were thousands of them all gathered there by the sea was important.

497
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,480
He said this in Matthew 6 beginning in verse 19.

498
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:32,480
Do not lay up for yourself treasures upon earth where moth and rust destroy

499
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,480
and where thieves break in and steal.

500
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:38,480
In other words, if you have anything good, don't put it away where someone can steal it,

501
00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:44,480
don't store it where it can be dissolved by the moth, rust, etc.

502
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,480
or where it can be stolen by thieves, but rather he said, verse 20,

503
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:54,480
lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys

504
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,480
and where thieves do not break in or steal.

505
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,480
We'll stop there for one second.

506
00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:02,480
What I want to say to you that because we know there is an end,

507
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:06,480
I'll give you an example, back in the day, this is many, many years ago,

508
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:10,480
all the little ATMs and stuff, they weren't all connected.

509
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:12,480
It wasn't like it is now where it's all through the internet.

510
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,480
You can literally pretty much go to any ATM anywhere and get money out of your bank.

511
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,480
Now you've got to pay the operators of the ATM a fee and it can be a lot,

512
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,480
it can be 7, 10, 12 dollars, right?

513
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:26,480
So back in the day, we had some money in the bank and we took a vacation

514
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:33,480
and we went pretty far and then while we were gone, we took with us travelers checks.

515
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:34,480
Does anyone remember travelers checks?

516
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:37,480
Travelers checks are like a certificate worth money, you can pay with it at the restaurant.

517
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,480
You can pretty much still do that today, but it's very uncommon now

518
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:41,480
because most people use credit cards.

519
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:45,480
We took travelers checks and then while we were gone, we used up the travelers checks.

520
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:50,480
Now we had money in our bank at home, but we didn't have much cash on us

521
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,480
because we planned to do most of our spending with the travelers checks

522
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,480
and if anybody stole the travelers checks, you report them as stolen

523
00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,480
and then they don't get your money and instead you can get them replaced, right?

524
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,480
So there was safety in having travelers checks.

525
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:06,480
So we used all the travelers checks and then we wanted to go out to eat.

526
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:10,480
We were camping at the time in Pigeon Forest, Tennessee, not far from Gatlinburg.

527
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:12,480
We used up all the travelers checks, but we had money in the bank,

528
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:17,480
a couple thousand dollars in our bank account at home.

529
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:24,480
But we had to find an ATM that would access our bank at home

530
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:26,480
and it wasn't that easy back then.

531
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,480
Now they weren't all connected in a massive network.

532
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:36,480
And so after some searching, we finally found an ATM that would access our bank at home

533
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:40,480
and the fee was like $7 and I told Sherry,

534
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:43,480
I don't know if I want to pay an extra $7 to go out to eat.

535
00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:45,480
That's a lot of money to get money.

536
00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:49,480
So we'll get enough money to last us for the next couple days and then we'll go home.

537
00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,480
We're getting ready to go home anyway and it's fine.

538
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,480
It's that or we can't spend our money very easily.

539
00:32:55,480 --> 00:33:03,480
And so we put the card in, we put the PIN in and it says accessing your bank.

540
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,480
Spiral spun for a long time.

541
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:10,480
Two minutes, three minutes passed and I'm going like,

542
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,480
I wonder if we're going to get any money out of this machine.

543
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,480
It's accessing our bank back in Toledo, right?

544
00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:20,480
Finally, after like about four minutes, it says your bank is accessed,

545
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,480
your withdrawal has been approved.

546
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,480
And the money came out and of course then they communicate with our bank

547
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:31,480
and they give out that money plus $7 and we had the money for the rest of our trip.

548
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:36,480
Our family, the church, we have a bank, but our bank is at home.

549
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,480
It's not, our bank is not, once you put money in it, money in it,

550
00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,480
once you store your treasures in it, it's not necessarily going to provide you

551
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:45,480
with the cold medicine that you need.

552
00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:52,480
It may not put gas in your tank, but the fact is that money that you put there is forever safe.

553
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:57,480
That service that goes there, that investment, whatever it is that you put there is forever safe.

554
00:33:57,480 --> 00:33:59,480
The time spent is forever safe.

555
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:06,480
It is in our house's bank that cannot be touched by moths, by thieves.

556
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,480
It does not wilt away or rust away.

557
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:12,480
Verse 20 says this, it says,

558
00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:17,480
But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys

559
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:20,480
and where thieves do not break in or steal.

560
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:25,480
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

561
00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:30,480
See, if you store your money in your bank, if you store your goods in your cupboards,

562
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:34,480
if you store your stuff in your car, then you're going to be concerned about

563
00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:38,480
what happens to your car, your cupboards, and your bank.

564
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:42,480
You ever see it come out on the news and it says such and such a bank folded

565
00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:43,480
and people aren't getting their money back?

566
00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:45,480
What's the first thing you do?

567
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:47,480
Look and see if it's your bank, right?

568
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,480
To see whether or not your money is lost.

569
00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,480
Now, most of us would not lose our money because most real banks are insured.

570
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:55,480
And unless you have more than $100,000 in the bank,

571
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:59,480
you get it all back from the federal government in time.

572
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:02,480
But you still wouldn't want it to take a long time, right?

573
00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:06,480
You still wouldn't want it to be your money is all tied up for several days.

574
00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:10,480
Wherever you put your treasures, that's where your heart is going to be.

575
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:11,480
Now, where do we start at?

576
00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:15,480
We started asking ourselves, how do we behave as a fanatic?

577
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:20,480
How do we live our lives in such a way that if somebody comes after whatever we have

578
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,480
and if they have the authority and the power and they take it from us,

579
00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:26,480
we've literally lost nothing.

580
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:27,480
Well, this is the answer.

581
00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:32,480
You store up for yourself treasures in heaven where those treasures are safe.

582
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:33,480
Because why?

583
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:38,480
Because if you're a follower of Jesus, that's where you're going.

584
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:42,480
The other $1,800 or whatever it was that we didn't use while we were in Pidget Forge,

585
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:46,480
that we didn't take out through the ATM, when we got back to Toledo,

586
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,480
we used that money to pay our light bills, to put gas in our gas tank and so on.

587
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:53,480
When you get to heaven, your treasures will be there waiting for you

588
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:56,480
if you store up treasures in heaven.

589
00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:01,480
But more important than that, your heart will be where your treasures are,

590
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,480
which means if you treasure the things of this life and use them for your enjoyment,

591
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,480
use them for your benefit, your blessing, your progress,

592
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:12,480
whatever while you're on earth, then when you want to go to heaven,

593
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:18,480
you're going to have a problem because your heart is going to be here on earth.

594
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:22,480
That's a problem.

595
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:26,480
Verse 22 then says, the lamp of the body is the eye.

596
00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:29,480
If therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

597
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:33,480
If you see this clearly and realize that the things of this life have a purpose

598
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:37,480
and they are for you to translate, for you to transfer,

599
00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:42,480
we went years ago over to England for our 20th wedding anniversary.

600
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:43,480
We got to go to London.

601
00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:46,480
We went to see where they shot Downton Abbey because that was Sherry's favorite show back in the day.

602
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,480
She still likes it and likes it when the movies come out and stuff like that.

603
00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:52,480
We went to go to High Clear Castle.

604
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:55,480
That was kind of the big point of our trip was to go there.

605
00:36:55,480 --> 00:37:00,480
But before we went there, we stayed for five days in downtown London in a beautiful old hotel.

606
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:02,480
We walked and we saw the palace and all these cool things.

607
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:05,480
It was really a great trip, except Sherry got the flu while we were there

608
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:07,480
and that took her down for about two and a half days.

609
00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,480
But then we got some medicine and she got going again.

610
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:11,480
So it was great.

611
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:16,480
We were real glad that we were there for 10 days, not like five because she was sick for two and a half days.

612
00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:19,480
Bottom line is while we were there, you can't spend American money.

613
00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:21,480
Nobody takes cash.

614
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,480
Pull a dollar out of your pocket, they're not going to take it.

615
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:29,480
So all over the place at grocery stores, at the airport, all over the place,

616
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:37,480
there's places where you can turn in your American money and get money from England, pounds and pence and so on.

617
00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:42,480
And it's like that.

618
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:49,480
If you're using your money for worldly things, you're turning it into worldly currency and you may have great success here.

619
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:55,480
If you're using your time for worldly things, you're turning it into worldly currency and you may have great success here.

620
00:37:55,480 --> 00:38:00,480
But the only way you can actually do that is if you can deny that there is an end

621
00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:10,480
because you'll invest in this lifetime so much that when the end comes, all that you invested, all that you got is gone.

622
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,480
If it comes before the end of your life and Jesus comes again,

623
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:18,480
then all the money you have in the bank will not benefit you a bit in heaven.

624
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:26,480
And all the time you spent taking care of yourself and taking care of your preferences and feeding your flesh and giving into sin or temptation,

625
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:36,480
or even you might even say, no, this is not sin or temptation, but invested in the good things of life that are not putting treasures in heaven,

626
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:39,480
when Jesus comes again, it'll all be done.

627
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:42,480
That's why the way is narrow.

628
00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:53,480
That's why it is narrow because there are so many good things that you can do, so many that do not store up treasures for you in heaven.

629
00:38:53,480 --> 00:39:00,480
But if your eye is clear and you see this and you realize that we're supposed to be translating the things that we're blessed with in this lifetime

630
00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:05,480
into treasures in heaven that our family stores its blessings in vaults in heaven,

631
00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:15,480
when you realize that, then your body will be full of light because your heart is there where your treasure is.

632
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:19,480
Verse 23, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

633
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:24,480
If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness?

634
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:29,480
You realize if you invest in the things of this world, then when this world ends, you have nothing.

635
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:34,480
And if you can know that and still do it, if you're a Christian and still be concerned,

636
00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:39,480
about the events and the things around you, you're wrapped up in the drama, wrapped up in the temptations,

637
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:44,480
wrapped up in the physicality of life and blessing yourself and your mind and feeling good about yourself.

638
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:49,480
If you're wrapped up in all of that, how great is that darkness?

639
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:55,480
That you would take the blessings that God has given you and use them for your earthly life,

640
00:39:55,480 --> 00:40:00,480
rather than use them for kingdom advance and store up treasures for yourself in heaven.

641
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:09,480
James chapter 5 has a warning to those who have access to wealth specifically.

642
00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:14,480
I don't want to drill down too much on money, although it's quite clear that he was including money in his conversation.

643
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:16,480
He was not only talking about money.

644
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:22,480
James chapter 5 right off begins with a warning to those who have access to wealth.

645
00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:31,480
5.1 says, Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.

646
00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:36,480
Your riches have rotted and your garments have become mothy and your gold and your silver have rusted.

647
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:42,480
And their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire.

648
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:46,480
It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure.

649
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:55,480
Behold the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you.

650
00:40:55,480 --> 00:41:00,480
In other words, they earn some of their money by bad means, by cheating people.

651
00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:06,480
And the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.

652
00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:10,480
Do you understand that those who mow and those who do harvest, they represent servants.

653
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:14,480
And if the servants are not taken care of, the servants are not receiving their just reward.

654
00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:18,480
If we're not pouring into the kingdom of advance is what he's saying,

655
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:25,480
then that failure to pour into the kingdom of advance as it falls away from us will destroy us and carry us into eternal fire.

656
00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:27,480
That's what he's alleging.

657
00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:33,480
In verse 5 it says, You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of want and pleasure.

658
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:36,480
You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

659
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:38,480
You have condemned and put to death the righteous man.

660
00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:41,480
He does not resist you.

661
00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:44,480
Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.

662
00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:47,480
Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil,

663
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:52,480
being patient about it until it gets the early and latter rains.

664
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:53,480
You too be patient.

665
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:58,480
Strengthen your hearts and the coming of the Lord is at hand.

666
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:04,480
We are warned that whatever treasures we are blessed with, we should be using them for the kingdom of advance.

667
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:12,480
And if we do not do so, God calls it robbery and says that there is a just reward.

668
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:16,480
1 Timothy chapter 6 and then we're in the conclusion.

669
00:42:16,480 --> 00:42:22,480
1 Timothy chapter 6.

670
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:23,480
I'm finding it.

671
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:24,480
There we go.

672
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:33,480
1 Timothy chapter 6 beginning in verse 6.

673
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:38,480
But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.

674
00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:43,480
We have brought nothing into the world so we cannot take anything out of it either.

675
00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:47,480
And if we have food and covering with these, we shall be content.

676
00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:52,480
But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires,

677
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,480
which plunge men into the ruin and destruction.

678
00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:57,480
We're in verse 10 now.

679
00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:59,480
But the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil.

680
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:04,480
Note, not money, but the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil.

681
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:10,480
And some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many a pang.

682
00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:19,480
But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, and perseverance, and gentleness.

683
00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:20,480
Fight the good fight of faith.

684
00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:23,480
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.

685
00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:27,480
And you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

686
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:32,480
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus,

687
00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:35,480
who testifies the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

688
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:41,480
that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

689
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:44,480
which he will bring about at the proper time.

690
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:49,480
He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of the kings and Lord of lords,

691
00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:56,480
who alone possesses immortality and dwells in the unapproachable light,

692
00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:04,480
whom no man has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

693
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:10,480
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches,

694
00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:15,480
but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

695
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:20,480
Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

696
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:24,480
storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future,

697
00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:29,480
so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

698
00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:31,480
That brings us to our conclusion.

699
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:36,480
You remember when we studied 1 Corinthians 13, we talked about love.

700
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:42,480
We talked about how love abides and remains, and nothing else really does.

701
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:48,480
There are three great things that do remain, faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.

702
00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:55,480
And so in that we were reminded that investing in love will never fail.

703
00:44:55,480 --> 00:45:03,480
If you have a dollar, use it to genuinely love somebody, and you translate it into the vaults of heaven.

704
00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:10,480
If you have a bit of an hour, use it to serve and to love somebody, and you invest in true treasures.

705
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:15,480
You become a person who spends their time, money, health, strength, creativity, and more

706
00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:23,480
on being an example of love and loving others even when they do not deserve to be loved.

707
00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:29,480
We see it as our basic identity. We were dead and brought to life, translated in a new kingdom.

708
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:38,480
This kingdom has its coffers not on this earth, but in heaven.

709
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:45,480
We invest in this identity, not just who we once were or who we've changed a little bit to be,

710
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:52,480
but the one whom God sees us as. It's nuts. It's crazy.

711
00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:58,480
I'm literally feeling like to live this way, I would be absolutely insane.

712
00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:03,480
I would be investing my money in vaults I cannot see.

713
00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:10,480
I would be storing up my time in treasure troves that I will never see with these eyes,

714
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:13,480
that I will never feel with my hands.

715
00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:18,480
Now I can feel the dollar that's in my pocket, and I can taste the candy bar,

716
00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:23,480
albeit a small one these days, that I can buy with it.

717
00:46:23,480 --> 00:46:31,480
But I would be divorcing myself of my physical reality to do this very thing that Jesus called me to.

718
00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:40,480
That I would be taking all that I am and all that I have and sacrificing it on an altar of praise to God.

719
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:44,480
Yes, He's the Creator God. Yes, He sent His only Son to die for me.

720
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:54,480
But on a daily basis, I would have to decide not to taste, not to touch, not to invest in all that I have desired.

721
00:46:54,480 --> 00:47:05,480
And instead, to store up my treasures in a place which I will not go until I am dead or until Jesus comes again.

722
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:09,480
Well, they'll think we've gone bonkers.

723
00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:17,480
They'll think we've gone over the edge. We've lost our self-respect as we deny ourselves and instead invest in others.

724
00:47:17,480 --> 00:47:24,480
They'll think we're absolutely crazy as we stop desiring ourselves to do as well as we possibly can

725
00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:30,480
and instead investing in the kingdom that the gospel might prosper.

726
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:40,480
At the very same time, we will be propelled in Christ to the very same eternal victory that God purchased us for.

727
00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:44,480
That's how we will become a fanatic.

728
00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:53,480
We will look at the good things of this life no longer as a thing to be tasted or a thing to be experienced or a thing to make me stronger.

729
00:47:53,480 --> 00:48:07,480
And we will look at the good things of this life now as a gateway, a method, a possibility, a thing that can be used to store up treasures in heaven.

730
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:10,480
Do you like something?

731
00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:13,480
Do you like your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your spouse?

732
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:18,480
Do you like your car, your house, your income?

733
00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:31,480
What if you began as Jesus led us to to look at that very same list of things as a means to store up treasure for yourself in heaven?

734
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:33,480
We're going home one day.

735
00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:40,480
Not everything that is on this earth is automatically connected to our bank there.

736
00:48:40,480 --> 00:48:53,480
But because Christ died for us and made us new, we can take the things of this earth and translate them to a new currency, a currency that can only be held in the bank of heaven.

737
00:48:53,480 --> 00:48:56,480
And we can trust that he will do just that.

738
00:48:56,480 --> 00:49:07,480
That's why Paul could write, I know in whom I have trusted and that he is able to keep unto that day that which I have entrusted to him.

739
00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:14,480
People are wonderful investments because people can go to heaven and begin to invest themselves.

740
00:49:14,480 --> 00:49:17,480
So people make wonderful investments.

741
00:49:17,480 --> 00:49:31,480
But cars and houses and bank accounts and food and hobbies and pastimes, none of those things make good investments because they're all going to end.

742
00:49:31,480 --> 00:49:35,480
Rather, you will need to invest in the things of the kingdom.

743
00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:40,480
And so let's say, for example, you love food.

744
00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:46,480
It's of no earthly use to you unless you can use it to win souls.

745
00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:52,480
Let's say, for example, you love a certain hobby or certain sport.

746
00:49:52,480 --> 00:50:01,480
It's of no earthly use to you unless you can use it to reach people with the gospel, to draw closer to Jesus.

747
00:50:01,480 --> 00:50:04,480
Now this proposes a real problem, doesn't it?

748
00:50:04,480 --> 00:50:15,480
Because all of these hobbies, all of these recreations, all of these activities, even cooking, even eating, even working your job, all of them are parts of life that exist.

749
00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:18,480
And we kind of have to, don't we?

750
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:20,480
We're kind of obligated, aren't we?

751
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:22,480
Don't we have to get up and go to work?

752
00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:24,480
Don't we have to pay our electric bill?

753
00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:26,480
Don't we have to pay for gas in the car?

754
00:50:26,480 --> 00:50:28,480
Don't we have to pay for medicine when we're sick?

755
00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:30,480
We're kind of obligated.

756
00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:35,480
And so then how do we do those things that we're obligated to?

757
00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:46,480
How do we become good at the thing that we think God wants to use without being in a place where the investments are lost on this earth?

758
00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:49,480
It's tough.

759
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:54,480
I want you to think right now about the single thing that you invest the most time in.

760
00:50:54,480 --> 00:50:56,480
It might be your job.

761
00:50:56,480 --> 00:50:59,480
It might be your hobby.

762
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:02,480
It might be a relationship you have with another person.

763
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:04,480
It might be social media.

764
00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:14,480
Now I want you to ask yourself, how are you translating that labor of love into something that can be stored in heaven?

765
00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:17,480
It will not be your winning record.

766
00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:20,480
It will not be your number of likes.

767
00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:23,480
It will not be the dollar amounts in your bank account.

768
00:51:23,480 --> 00:51:27,480
None of those things will be translated into heaven.

769
00:51:27,480 --> 00:51:30,480
When you get to heaven, there won't be one person up there saying,

770
00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:36,480
Yeah, when I ended, I had $4 million in the bank or $40 billion in the bank.

771
00:51:36,480 --> 00:51:38,480
I owned all the newest sports cars.

772
00:51:38,480 --> 00:51:42,480
None of them will be saying, I owned all the newest sports cars.

773
00:51:42,480 --> 00:51:47,480
They'll all be singing, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty.

774
00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:54,480
They'll all be praising Jesus for bringing them out if they're there at all.

775
00:51:54,480 --> 00:52:08,480
How will you make sure that the things that you're invested in are translated into kingdom currency and stored in heaven for when you arrive?

776
00:52:08,480 --> 00:52:16,480
There's a story told by an old preacher probably over a hundred years ago.

777
00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:23,480
And he talked about being at the bedside of an old saint, a person who professed the name of Jesus Christ.

778
00:52:23,480 --> 00:52:27,480
And they had lived and give as far as he knew.

779
00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:31,480
They had served in the church and give a lot over the years.

780
00:52:31,480 --> 00:52:35,480
Pay for this, pay for that, help people when they're in trouble, that kind of thing.

781
00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:42,480
He was laying next to them. They seemed to be suffering greatly as they were dying, which is not normal the way Christians go out.

782
00:52:42,480 --> 00:52:48,480
Most true Christians go out praising the Lord because they know where they're going next.

783
00:52:48,480 --> 00:52:55,480
But he was, thought it was bizarre and he said, well, let me pray with you. And he asked the old saint laying in the bed, all covered up to her neck.

784
00:52:55,480 --> 00:52:58,480
He asked, let me take your hand and pray with you. And she wouldn't give him his hand.

785
00:52:58,480 --> 00:53:03,480
And he asked her several times over a couple of hours, take my hand and pray with me.

786
00:53:03,480 --> 00:53:07,480
And she lay there and she was struggling and she was in angst.

787
00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:11,480
She was worried about where she was going next and what was going to happen.

788
00:53:11,480 --> 00:53:18,480
She acted like she was more than just in pain even and she wasn't supposed to really be in pain.

789
00:53:18,480 --> 00:53:21,480
And she would never take his hand.

790
00:53:21,480 --> 00:53:25,480
A couple of hours later he sat by her bedside for a couple of hours and he prayed over her.

791
00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:27,480
A couple of hours later she passed away.

792
00:53:27,480 --> 00:53:35,480
And then they went to pull the covers back and take her out of her bed to go to the mortician or whatever.

793
00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:43,480
And they found that under the covers she was clenching with both hands the safe key, the key to the safe in her house.

794
00:53:43,480 --> 00:53:48,480
So she had given. She had served.

795
00:53:48,480 --> 00:53:55,480
But at the moment of her death, rather than Jesus being on her lips, rather than peace knowing where she was going,

796
00:53:55,480 --> 00:54:02,480
she was clutching the key to the safe in her house, which was filled with a lot of wealth that went to her heirs and did a lot of good.

797
00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:06,480
She wrote a will that did a lot of good.

798
00:54:06,480 --> 00:54:13,480
But the preacher said he wondered, and we'll never know until we get to heaven,

799
00:54:13,480 --> 00:54:21,480
he wondered whether or not in the moment of her passing the God of her life had not become the God of her eternity.

800
00:54:21,480 --> 00:54:28,480
And if it happens, don't doubt, you will still stand before God.

801
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:33,480
And you will be asked, what did you do with this lifetime?

802
00:54:33,480 --> 00:54:36,480
And if your answer is, well, I collected.

803
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:42,480
I invested in charities or I invested in activities.

804
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:44,480
I paid for things.

805
00:54:44,480 --> 00:54:51,480
If that's your answer, that has nothing to do with Jesus.

806
00:54:51,480 --> 00:54:54,480
And you just may not wind up where you want to be.

807
00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:56,480
There are a lot of treasures in this lifetime.

808
00:54:56,480 --> 00:55:06,480
There are many currencies that we deal in and we must translate them into the currencies of heaven.

809
00:55:06,480 --> 00:55:11,480
Is it possible, though, that even this thought, this is confusing,

810
00:55:11,480 --> 00:55:16,480
even this desire to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven,

811
00:55:16,480 --> 00:55:20,480
even that could stop us from storing up treasures for ourselves.

812
00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:27,480
What if you now did this and you said, I choose from now on to be loving and giving and serving all the time.

813
00:55:27,480 --> 00:55:30,480
That's all I'm ever going to do. From now on, I'll only do that.

814
00:55:30,480 --> 00:55:32,480
If somebody needs, I'm there. If somebody needs money, I'm there.

815
00:55:32,480 --> 00:55:34,480
I'll always do it. From now on, I'll always do it.

816
00:55:34,480 --> 00:55:40,480
Because that way, I'll become a translator of currency and store up for myself treasures in heaven.

817
00:55:40,480 --> 00:55:42,480
What if you chose to do that?

818
00:55:42,480 --> 00:55:47,480
And the motivation was so that when you get there, you'll have a great big bank account awaiting you.

819
00:55:47,480 --> 00:55:48,480
What if that's it?

820
00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:53,480
No, no, we mustn't forget last week's sermon.

821
00:55:53,480 --> 00:55:56,480
Because if you are still dead in your trespasses and sins,

822
00:55:56,480 --> 00:55:58,480
then you can do that for your whole life.

823
00:55:58,480 --> 00:56:06,480
And the currency that you store in the bank of heaven will be there, but you won't be.

824
00:56:06,480 --> 00:56:13,480
Hebrews 13-12 says, Therefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people through his own blood suffered outside the gate.

825
00:56:13,480 --> 00:56:17,480
So let us go out to him outside the camp bearing his reproach.

826
00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:22,480
For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

827
00:56:22,480 --> 00:56:31,480
You see, we want to surrender all our sources of blessing and income and whatever to the Lord.

828
00:56:31,480 --> 00:56:34,480
To do so, we will suffer.

829
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:40,480
The lady who gave her tiny two coins gave so much more than all those who dumped their treasure chests in.

830
00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:47,480
Because she was giving out of her need and they were giving out of their abundance.

831
00:56:47,480 --> 00:56:50,480
If you become rich, you're in trouble.

832
00:56:50,480 --> 00:56:55,480
Because it is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

833
00:56:55,480 --> 00:56:57,480
And how is that fair, the disciples basically asked.

834
00:56:57,480 --> 00:57:00,480
And Jesus said, With God all things are possible.

835
00:57:00,480 --> 00:57:04,480
If you should become rich, keep your eyes on the prize.

836
00:57:04,480 --> 00:57:06,480
Jesus is the prize.

837
00:57:06,480 --> 00:57:09,480
Keep your eyes on what's to come.

838
00:57:09,480 --> 00:57:11,480
Because that is the prize.

839
00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:16,480
Clutch on to the gospel and its center focus, which is Christ and his sacrifice.

840
00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:22,480
Not because we may lose it, but because only he may avail us in the end.

841
00:57:22,480 --> 00:57:27,480
No matter what your bank account says, no matter what your score is, no matter what your winning record is,

842
00:57:27,480 --> 00:57:33,480
no matter what you have accomplished in this lifetime, if you do not translate it into the currency of heaven,

843
00:57:33,480 --> 00:57:37,480
you will have nothing in the end.

844
00:57:37,480 --> 00:57:42,480
One last illustration and we'll be through.

845
00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:44,480
Let me ask you this.

846
00:57:44,480 --> 00:57:48,480
Did Jesus expect zeal from his disciples?

847
00:57:48,480 --> 00:57:52,480
Energy to go and do the kingdom work? I submit to you, he did.

848
00:57:52,480 --> 00:57:57,480
Take up your cross daily, deny yourself, follow after me.

849
00:57:57,480 --> 00:58:00,480
There's a story about a woman who had a young boy.

850
00:58:00,480 --> 00:58:06,480
She lived in Wales, which is in Scotland also.

851
00:58:06,480 --> 00:58:11,480
She tells the story, actually I'm sorry, and an English friend of hers, a mother, had a child that was sick.

852
00:58:11,480 --> 00:58:18,480
At first they considered there was no danger until one day the doctor came in and said that the symptoms were very unfavorable.

853
00:58:18,480 --> 00:58:24,480
He took the mother out of the room and told her that the child could not live, that he would die.

854
00:58:24,480 --> 00:58:26,480
It came like a thunderbolt.

855
00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:33,480
After the doctor had gone, the mother went into the room where the child lay and began to talk to the child and tried to divert his mind.

856
00:58:33,480 --> 00:58:37,480
Darling, do you know you will soon hear the music of heaven?

857
00:58:37,480 --> 00:58:41,480
You will hear a sweeter song than you have ever heard on earth.

858
00:58:41,480 --> 00:58:44,480
You will hear them sing the song of Moses and the lamb.

859
00:58:44,480 --> 00:58:46,480
You are very fond of music.

860
00:58:46,480 --> 00:58:48,480
Won't it be sweet, my darling?

861
00:58:48,480 --> 00:58:52,480
And the little tired sick child turned his head away and said,

862
00:58:52,480 --> 00:58:58,480
Oh mama, I am so tired and so sick that I think it would make me worse to hear all that music.

863
00:58:58,480 --> 00:59:05,480
Well, the mother said, you will soon see Jesus, you will see the seraphim and the cherubim and the streets all paved with gold.

864
00:59:05,480 --> 00:59:09,480
And she went on picturing heaven as it is described in Revelation.

865
00:59:09,480 --> 00:59:13,480
The little tired child again turned its head away and said,

866
00:59:13,480 --> 00:59:18,480
Oh mama, I am so tired that I think it would make me worse to see all those beautiful things.

867
00:59:18,480 --> 00:59:23,480
At last the mother took the child up in her arms and pressed her to her loving chest.

868
00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:27,480
And the little sick one whispered, Oh mama, that is it.

869
00:59:27,480 --> 00:59:28,480
That is what I want.

870
00:59:28,480 --> 00:59:33,480
If Jesus will only take me in His arms and let me rest.

871
00:59:33,480 --> 00:59:36,480
Are you weary of sin?

872
00:59:36,480 --> 00:59:38,480
Are you weary of suffering?

873
00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:40,480
Or are you excited?

874
00:59:40,480 --> 00:59:42,480
Excited about the things of this life.

875
00:59:42,480 --> 00:59:44,480
Excited about what you get to participate in.

876
00:59:44,480 --> 00:59:51,480
Happy and joyful, even blessed to play another game, to work another day, to pay another bill, to collect a little more money,

877
00:59:51,480 --> 00:59:55,480
to do a hobby or a talent or an art or play a sport or go camping.

878
00:59:55,480 --> 00:59:56,480
Are you blessed?

879
00:59:56,480 --> 00:59:58,480
Are you truly blessed?

880
00:59:58,480 --> 01:00:02,480
If you're truly blessed, then you'll translate that blessing into the things of heaven.

881
01:00:02,480 --> 01:00:05,480
But if you're truly not truly blessed the way God wants you to be,

882
01:00:05,480 --> 01:00:11,480
if you're not risen in the Lord, then you'll use those things for your joy and your sustenance now.

883
01:00:11,480 --> 01:00:15,480
I remember thinking so many times as a lost person before I came to New Jesus,

884
01:00:15,480 --> 01:00:19,480
I was so tired, if only I could get some rest.

885
01:00:19,480 --> 01:00:21,480
I so much wanted this.

886
01:00:21,480 --> 01:00:25,480
The burden in me to have the new play system or a computer.

887
01:00:25,480 --> 01:00:32,480
I remember I literally took out two credit cards and got all the debt I possibly could to get a new computer before Pentium was invented.

888
01:00:32,480 --> 01:00:36,480
It was a 286 and it could play a few games.

889
01:00:36,480 --> 01:00:41,480
And I spent hours and hours and hours playing those games because I thought if I could just get to the next level,

890
01:00:41,480 --> 01:00:47,480
if I could just get my crew up to be this good, I kept thinking I'll be okay.

891
01:00:47,480 --> 01:00:49,480
I'll do well. I'll feel better.

892
01:00:49,480 --> 01:00:53,480
I'll be a better person. I'll be a better gamer. I'll be a better whatever.

893
01:00:53,480 --> 01:00:59,480
I remember thinking when I was not saved and I was dating my wife and we moved in together

894
01:00:59,480 --> 01:01:03,480
and we had a baby before I was married and I didn't know Jesus.

895
01:01:03,480 --> 01:01:06,480
And I remember thinking if I could just get her to do this, I'll be okay.

896
01:01:06,480 --> 01:01:10,480
If I could just get that, when she would do that thing, then I would think, yes, I'm good. I'm good. It's working.

897
01:01:10,480 --> 01:01:12,480
And it would last for a few minutes.

898
01:01:12,480 --> 01:01:14,480
And then I would think, well, if I could just have this for dinner.

899
01:01:14,480 --> 01:01:19,480
I remember thinking always if I could just have, if I could just get, if I could just be,

900
01:01:19,480 --> 01:01:22,480
I yearned and I desired and my desires were out of control.

901
01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:27,480
If your desires are still out of control today, you're not saved.

902
01:01:27,480 --> 01:01:30,480
You're following something and then you're following something else and you're following something else

903
01:01:30,480 --> 01:01:32,480
but you're not following Jesus.

904
01:01:32,480 --> 01:01:36,480
But if you'll go outside the gate, outside the gate is what? Is suffering.

905
01:01:36,480 --> 01:01:38,480
If you'll divorce yourself from that thing that you think,

906
01:01:38,480 --> 01:01:41,480
and if you think your ships going to come in and that's going to solve the problem,

907
01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:43,480
or you're going to get a better job and that's going to solve the problem,

908
01:01:43,480 --> 01:01:45,480
you're going to retire, that's going to solve the problem, you get your wife to behave,

909
01:01:45,480 --> 01:01:48,480
that's going to solve the problem with your husband, that's going to solve the problem.

910
01:01:48,480 --> 01:01:51,480
You're going to get a handsome boyfriend or a handsome girlfriend and that's going to solve the problem.

911
01:01:51,480 --> 01:01:54,720
going to solve the problem? None of those things are going to solve the problem.

912
01:01:54,720 --> 01:01:59,840
Someday you're going to meet an end and you have to have taken all of the things

913
01:01:59,840 --> 01:02:04,680
of this life and put them subject to Jesus and stored them in treasures in

914
01:02:04,680 --> 01:02:10,680
the vaults of heaven so that you will have something. Otherwise you will have

915
01:02:10,680 --> 01:02:19,200
nothing. Our lives should not be, oh I'm so yay I scored, yay I took, yay I ate. It

916
01:02:19,200 --> 01:02:27,920
should be I'm waiting for Jesus to hold me, waiting for Jesus to overcome my

917
01:02:27,920 --> 01:02:36,800
suffering, to provide for me because I know He is the only one who can. But if

918
01:02:36,800 --> 01:02:41,560
you're waiting for your ship to come in, if you're storing up treasures here on

919
01:02:41,560 --> 01:02:48,120
earth thinking it'll be good when He comes and He will, you'll be like oh man

920
01:02:48,120 --> 01:02:54,120
gonna miss the game. Oh man can't watch now. Oh man can't eat that. Oh man all

921
01:02:54,120 --> 01:02:58,400
that money I put in the bank I won't get to spend it. And your heart will be where

922
01:02:58,400 --> 01:03:04,920
you stored your treasures and that will not be with Jesus and that results in an

923
01:03:04,920 --> 01:03:11,640
eternity of separation and that is not what you want. I'm asking you today to

924
01:03:11,640 --> 01:03:18,840
nothing less than be born again. Start fresh and let Jesus be first in all

925
01:03:18,840 --> 01:03:24,320
things and invest in the kingdom. Invest in people. Serve and love. You can't take

926
01:03:24,320 --> 01:03:27,680
anything else with you to heaven but you could take a person. Go tell somebody

927
01:03:27,680 --> 01:03:32,560
about Jesus. If they get mad at you and they hate you and you have to

928
01:03:32,560 --> 01:03:39,880
persevere persecution, so be it. Don't be surprised when it happens by the way

929
01:03:39,880 --> 01:03:45,400
because this world will not run on the currency that we're talking about. Once

930
01:03:45,400 --> 01:03:48,040
you translate it stored in heaven now you'll have nothing to pay everybody

931
01:03:48,040 --> 01:03:55,120
with to love you. This concludes the sermon. The praise team is going to come

932
01:03:55,120 --> 01:04:00,000
and lead us in a final song but I want you to stop and think about what you're

933
01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:04,040
investing in and how much great joy you're finding in the things of this

934
01:04:04,040 --> 01:04:09,160
world and if you find yourself finding great joy in the things of this world

935
01:04:09,160 --> 01:04:16,760
then you have to decide either to give up that thing or to give up you and turn

936
01:04:16,760 --> 01:04:21,320
that thing into something that cannot honor the Lord. If you've not accepted

937
01:04:21,320 --> 01:04:24,600
Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior until this moment in time, the Lord is the first

938
01:04:24,600 --> 01:04:28,360
who comes to the kingdom to do it. The Savior is the first person who paid the price of your sins.

939
01:04:28,360 --> 01:04:35,400
Then you do that right now. From now on Jesus through me. From now on. And start fresh.

940
01:04:35,400 --> 01:04:39,480
If you have already done that, then I want you to think about that since you got

941
01:04:39,480 --> 01:04:44,760
saved what are you clinging to in this life? What's that important to you?

942
01:04:44,760 --> 01:04:51,160
And that thing is failing to store up treasures in heaven. Please do not be in

943
01:04:51,160 --> 01:04:54,360
the multipurpose room unless you're checking on your chili. Please do not go

944
01:04:54,360 --> 01:04:58,040
in and out the dock door. Use the end doors. If you want to hang out that's fine.

945
01:04:58,040 --> 01:05:05,800
Just not in there.