When this life is over. Because we are slightly
lower percentage voices than normal, I need you
to help me get through it. I hate to be talking
to myself. That's true. That's right. You will?
I love it. All right. Okay. Continuing with the
series, Commands and Promises. Okay? And the
reference is... is Matthew, and the clues are
there for the numbers. So what's the first number?
Nope. The clue is 6. 6. Yeah, so 6. And then
it says, the next clue is 7th prime. Josh, do
you know the 7th prime off the top of your head?
No mathematicians, we're missing out. Let's count
them up. Is he getting there? 17 is correct.
Good job. And then 2 .9. 18, right. So it's Matthew
6, 17, and 18. So that's the text. And verse
1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, and the big old 17. When
people say prime numbers, like 13 is the very
first number that pops in my head. I don't know
why that is. Seven. I love seven. Seven is like
my favorite number. Almost. Okay. Matthew 6,
17 to 18. Okay. Oh, geez. I left my Bible. Matthew
6. As soon as I start to read it, you're going
to go, oh, I kind of know that verse. It says,
but when you fast, anoint your head and wash
your face so that you may not be seen fasting
by men, but by your Father who is in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay
you. I could have gone a little bit before that,
right? Because it talks a little bit about the
fasting before that. So I broke up the topic.
But the command is here, what we're supposed
to do. So it starts with W. It says when, YF.
When you fast. That's easy, right? And then what?
Perfect. Anoint your head and wash your face.
What does anoint your head mean? Yeah. So back
then that was a thing. So now we have shampoo
and we wash our hair probably way too much. But
a fine oil for your hair to make it look nice
and be able to keep it straight and your skin,
that kind of thing, anoints your head. But there
was also symbolism in it about health and strength
and closeness to God. And anointing, like in
the Old Testament, they would pour oil down over
their head. In fact, there's a really cool image
of it in that series that's out right now, The
House of David. When he anointed David, that
was really cool to see. No, it's a lightweight
oil, like extra virgin olive oil. In fact, if
you ever need to anoint, as a Christian, if you
ever need to anoint anybody, the closest thing
we can get to the oil that they would have used
is extra virgin olive oil. Which is not even
terribly expensive. Hi there! Sarah? Yes. Welcome,
welcome. I know you. You're okay. I know you.
All right. So when you fast, anoint your head
and wash your face. And we know what washing
our faces is, right? And so you wash your face
to look better, to look okay, right? So you won't
look peaked or you won't look sick or weak or
anything like that, right? So Matthew 6, 17 to
18 says, when you fast, anoint your head and
wash your face. That's the command. Okay? And
the purpose of the command then, he says, and
it's also part of the command, I guess now that
I think about it, I didn't realize it was worded
that way, is to appear. You want to take a stab
at it? We're going to appear not too fast. Okay,
so we're going to look like we're not fasting.
That is the command. Jesus says, look like you're
not fasting. And then it says two men. That's
right. So the blanks are two men. So you're going
to appear not to fast to men. So people should
not know. So when you're talking about like,
I gave up food for a day or a week or like that,
you shouldn't be doing that. Jesus was telling
them, when you fast, anoint your head, wash your
face, appear not to fast to men. And he goes
on to say, the next line, only to God in secret.
And then I put in parentheses there, I'll give
it to you, where he alone sees. So there's a
teaching about private prayer space in your house,
like a prayer closet or an internal room that
you go get away from everybody. The war room,
yeah. That's a biblical teaching. And if you
get in there, what goes on in there should be
just between you and God, especially if you are
smart enough not to take your phone in when you
go in. So you pretty much divorce yourself from
the world, and it's just between you and God.
And then when you go out into the world, you
don't have to go, oh, I spent four hours in my
prayer closet today and tell everybody about
that. And it's the same kind of thing. When you
spend time alone with God, what happens there
a lot of times is just between you and God. And
God is working in you and on you and so on. So
Jesus is telling them, when you fast, anoint
your head, wash your face, appear not to fast
to men, only to God. So only God would be the
only one that knows that, if possible, and sometimes
you can't really do that because somebody is
close in your life and you have to kind of give
it up. But otherwise, you're trying to only let
God know. And, and I mean it's all capitals,
A -N -D, and here comes the promise. Did you
catch it? In verse 18, this is what it says.
So that you may not be seen fasting by men, but
by your father who is in secret, and your father
who sees in secret will repay you. Or in other
translations it says will award you openly. And
so that's what I put on the page. So the first
word is God, and it is will award you openly.
God will award you openly. Now that sounds great,
right? And there are a few verses in the Bible
that are like this, that have these blatant and
obvious promises of the Lord. Malachi 3 says,
test me in this one. But here's one. Obviously,
we looked at a couple the last time I was up
here, and RJ did Isaiah 53 last week. So, there
is a problem here, though, because it says, if
you will do this, if you will fast in this way,
So what is the motivation for fasting? There
are several possible motivations for fasting.
But he says, if you will fast and you will do
it where only you and God know, God will repay
you or will award you openly. And so then it
becomes about, and the next two big words are
faithfulness. So the first part is faithfulness
versus sorcery. Now, Christians should never
do sorcery, right? You can nod, yes, Christians
should never do sorcery. Sorcery is not our thing.
We don't have anything to do with sorcery. Now,
somebody will argue, well, sorcery has a word
like where pharmaceuticals come from, and so
Christians should never do drugs. And I agree
with that, generally speaking, but it doesn't
mean you can't take medicine. So they use some
of the drugs they use as medicine, and there's
nothing wrong with medicine as long as it's prescribed
properly and it's for the right reasons, and
you want to do it under the leadership of the
Lord. But sorcery is really about forcing God
or forcing the spiritual realm to do what you
want it to do. So let's look at it backwards.
If we would say, well, I want to be openly rewarded
by God. Therefore, I am going to fast this way.
Keep it a secret. Know it in my head. Wash my
face. No men will know. And then I'll be rewarded
by God. That is sorcery. That is trying to force
God to do what you want him to do. I mean, you
hear it all the time, right? So, well, I'm struggling
with depression, anxiety, whatever. Well, read
your Bible more. If you read your Bible more,
you'll have faith and trust in the Lord. Your
heart will not be distressed. That's not the
way it works. We don't get to do that. You don't
get to wield the disciplines that the Lord has
given us for your own purposes. That's sorcery
if you do that, okay? And we say, well, God says
if you pray and you believe that you have what
you pray for, you shall have it. And we say,
well, I want to have what I pray for, so I'm
going to believe what I pray for. So that's sorcery.
You're twisting the words of the Bible, coming
at it from the backside. You're trying to get
to the good thing that you want by doing the
things that God has told you to do. And that's
not how that works. We do the things of fullness.
We do them because it's what God wants us to
do. Because we love him. Now, he first loved
us. We didn't know love when we were unsaved.
We love him because he first loved us, but we
do it because we love him. And Jesus said, those
who love me will follow my commands. And so we
do it out of faithfulness. But if you do it out
of sorcery, look out. That's going to be a problem.
In fact, it goes so far as to say, the Bible
says that those who practice sorcery will not
inherit the kingdom of heaven. So be careful.
About saying, well, I want this, so I'm going
to do this that God told me to do just so I can
get that, that sorcery. So we can't want to be
rewarded openly by God and then say, okay, we're
going to fast the way that Jesus commanded us
to. It's a command. We have to follow Jesus'
command and faithfulness. And it happens when
we follow Jesus' command and faithfulness that
God will openly reward us, which is what I want.
But I just can't want it before I want being
faithful to the Lord. Does that make sense? Okay.
All right. So the next one, I worded it a little
bit confused, but I will explain. Okay. It says,
if, comma, not, when you fast. And then put a
big old fat question mark right behind that.
Okay. So here's what's happening with Christians
all over the world. I don't know what percentage,
and I'm not trying to slam anybody or anything
like that, but there are lots of people who are
not fasting in any way, shape, or form. I'll
never forget, many years ago, we did the Purpose
Driven Life by Rick Warren. I see this would
be 24 years ago. We did that as a Bible study.
And in there, it talked about fasting. And we
went around the room, and we talked about how
we were going to fast, because we felt... He
taught us from the Bible what it was supposed
to be, and we said, we're going to do it. And
Rick Warren, in the writing, he said, consider
how God will lead you to do this. So we all were
supposed to be, we talked about it, come back
the next week, and how God's going to do this.
And around the room it was, well, I can't fast
because, I can't fast because, I can't fast because.
And I hadn't gone yet. Well, hold up a second.
I said, you know, he even says in the book you
can fast in a light way. Like you can decide
not to watch TV or you can give up caffeine or
you could give up something that entertains you
or makes you feel good for a while. And you're
saying you can't? Well, they were all just thinking
of it as food. And two of the people were on
medication and one of the person had a heart
disorder or whatever. And they're like, well,
I can't do that. I can't starve my body of what
it needs and blah, blah, blah. And by the time
we got done, everybody did agree to fast on something.
But my point is, in America, we're training ourselves
not to give anything up. You don't have to. You
can have it and have it too and have it too and
have it too. You can just keep eating. You can
just keep buying. You can keep shopping. You
can keep getting it. You want something, but
you don't want to go to the store. Well, you
can buy it online. It'll show up at your house
overnight. So we're training ourselves to be
able to have everything that we want. That's
not biblical. It is not biblical to have everything
that you want. In fact, if you're sitting here
right now thinking, I have everything that I
want, you need to fast. Because God has so much
more for us than we can ever have in this lifetime.
What you really want are the things that God
has yet in store for you. You just don't know
what they are yet, so you don't know enough to
want them yet. When you fast and get close to
the Lord, He will show you exactly how good his
presence is. He will show you exactly how good
he is and what's coming in the future. So backing
up on fasting then, he's talking about giving
up food. That's what they were talking about.
They're not talking about giving up sex or caffeine
or nicotine. They're talking about giving up
food for a period of time. In fact, the Pharisees,
they would give up food two days a week and they
would not eat at all. Now, I'm not saying we
should follow that pattern, but this is a pattern
commanded by Jesus that we should follow. You
should find something to fast from as Jesus leads
you to do. If it is food, then it's food. If
it's caffeine, then it's caffeine. As God would
lead you to, you give it up for whatever period
of time. And if it's going to be a discipline,
it has to have a set period of time. So you say,
well, I'm going to give up food until sundown.
I'll give up food for 24 hours. I'm going to
give up caffeine for 40 days. I'm going to give
up sugar for... Whatever period of time. And
you set it in advance. And what you'll find is,
if you set one day or 40 days, it doesn't matter.
Somewhere in there, you're going to struggle
with it. Because the enemy likes to mess with
you, and the flesh gets involved, and whatever.
Somewhere in there, you're going to struggle.
And then you're going to go to God and say, okay,
God, I set a day, but I'm struggling to get through
a day here. And God helps you, shows up in stronger
presence. Now, you don't go around yammering
to all your friends about it, telling them all
how awesome you did. Right? Just between you
and God. And then... God will show you things
that you do not currently know. He will reward
you openly for your doing it alone with him.
So the reason I phrase it that way is because
for most people the question is, if I fast. As
in, will I ever fast? Will I ever give up anything
that I don't have to give up? That's how most
people are thinking. But in reality, it's not
if. Notice the verse. When you fast. It's not
if. It's when. Go ahead, RJ. What's the word
after sorcery? So it goes faithfulness versus
sorcery. That's it. The Y is the Y in sorcery.
That's not a separate blank. The Y is the last
letter in sorcery. And notice that if you take
the Y off, it becomes sorcerer. There's no reason
to be a sorcerer. There's no reason to practice
sorcery. Anyway, so it's not if, it's when. So
we will fast. It's just a question of how will
we fast. That's what Jesus was asking us was
to fast in a certain way. He wasn't commanding
us to fast. He was assuming that we would and
commanding us to do it a certain way. Then we're
moving on. Some will think stories of faithfulness.
I'm just giving it to you for expedience sake.
Will, anybody want to try to finish it from there?
L, P, 2, F. Some will think stories of faithfulness
will what? Lead people to faithfulness. Some
will think stories of faithfulness will lead
people to faithfulness. So we go talking to people
about how we fast, thinking that that will encourage
them to fast. Or we talk to people about how
we give, thinking that that will encourage them
to give. Or how we serve, thinking that that
will encourage them to serve. We even say things
like, I'll never forget, I was a young Christian,
very young. I hadn't been a Christian more than
three months. And they had a service in the church.
They called it a stewardship service. And they
had all the people in the service who were tithing
potentially raise their hand and give a little
testimony about tithing. And one of the deacons
spoke up and he said, well, we always struggle
with tithing. We never did that. And then we
always struggled with money until that time.
And then we started tithing. And then we never
struggled with money after that. We always had
what we needed after we started tithing. And
I was a very young Christian. And that was a
real stumbling block for me because I didn't
even know what tithing was until that day. Like
at that service, that was the first I ever heard
of what a tithe was. And now I'm going, okay,
now I've got to do this. And so what happened
was I'm like, well, I want to never struggle
with my finances, so I'm going to tithe. And
what is that? That's sorcery. So as a young Christian,
I was led into sorcery by hearing the success
that they had had by practicing that discipline.
And all that's true, but you can't do that. You
can't say, I want the results, so I'm going to
do it. And so when you share stories of your
faithfulness with people, that is not necessarily
going to lead them to faithfulness. You can encourage
them to be faithful. And you might use anecdotally
stories from your life to encourage them to be
faithful. But unless you say, please be faithful,
here's what you can do, please do this, this
is what God would want us to do, show them the
Bible verses. I mean, just, I did this, that's
not going to do it. And that's what you'd be
doing if you're going around telling everybody
you're fasting. You'd just be telling them what
you're doing. That's not going to lead them to
be more faithful. Under the scroll now, it says,
a better message is... So right under the scroll
to the right there, SS. A better message is,
and then you see a colon. I've given you a few
examples. There are probably a lot of examples
here. The first one is, if you're talking to
somebody else, you're talking all about God.
So it shouldn't be about you. If you want to
tell somebody that you managed to fast, let's
say. Then when you talk to them, you don't talk
to them about you fasted. You talk to them about
how God was good to you while you were fasting.
You don't have to tell them how long you fasted.
You don't have to tell them what you fasted from,
whatever. But talk about God and how God was
good to you during that time instead of talking
about you. See, that's the difference. Otherwise,
if you're talking about you, you're breaking
what Jesus, the command that he gave. So all
about God. The next one is what we have seen
and heard. So when we talk to people, 1 John
1 .3 says, we proclaim what we have seen and
heard, your personal experience. You can share
your opinions, but your opinions are colored
by your own personality. But what you have seen
and heard is not colored by your personality,
at least not to any great degree. It's what you
saw. You can say, I saw, I heard, this is what
I know about God, right? But when you start to
say, I think, give your opinions, then now, That's
filtered through your whole life experience.
But if you just say, I saw. And we know that
eyewitnesses' testimony can be altered slightly
by people's opinions, experiences, things like
that. It's not always the same. But a lot less
so if you're talking about what you've seen or
heard and the experiences that you've had than
if you're giving your opinions. And then the
next one we should be able to get is JIA with
an exclamation point. Jesus is alive. Two weeks
ago we talked about that. That's the supreme
message that Jesus called us in Matthew 28 to
go out and share. That's what people were authorized
to be witnesses to in Acts 1. Jesus is alive.
These are all better messages than talking about
your faithfulness. And then the last one also
might be a good guessable thing. Say it again.
I like that one, but that's not what I put, but
I do like that one, so you could put that there.
I put salvation is available, but sin also is
abolished, at least the effects of it. Now you
could add more to that list if you go through
your Bible and look at anything that God or Jesus
has told us to say or do, and you could do that
instead, but what you won't find is a command
to talk about how well you did fasting or tell
people that you're currently fasting. Because
those would be contrary to what Jesus just told
us. Yeah, because they did it so that everybody
could see them. And that's the danger here. So
he very well could have called them sorcerers.
Okay, now we're going to take one more. The next
one is in the scroll there. It's rolled down.
And it is a New Testament book beginning with
L, so it's got to be Luke. That's right. And
then the chapter is three squared, it says. Yep,
it's 924. Three squared, two dozen. 924. Luke
924. I'm going to have to come up with a whole
bunch of little creative clues for verses now
that I started doing that because I don't want
to use them over and over again. All right. So
I'll read Luke 924. You might recognize it. In
fact, if I gave you the first word, somebody
might say it from memory. It is this. For whoever
wishes to save his life shall lose it. But whoever
loses his life for my sake, he is the one who
will save it. Okay, that's 24. And then you can
fill in the blanks. For whoever wants to... save
his life, we'll lose it. So that's the summary
of the first part. I guess you'd call that like
924A. Whoever wants to save his life will lose
it. So this is a little bit like what I was talking
about when I was talking about how we have everything
that we want and we're used to the way things
are in this lifetime and we're doing pretty good.
And then we're not even picturing what's coming.
We don't really have a good, there's nowhere
you can, even in Scripture, you can't get a good
foretaste of what heaven's going to be like.
I know that if people, and if people have said
they've had out -of -body experiences and they
died briefly and they experienced heaven and
they came back, and some people said they died
and they experienced hell and they came back,
and they always, always, always say it changed
them forever. Like you don't find a story that
people say, well, I saw heaven, came back, and
eh, wasn't any big deal. So we don't have a foretaste,
really. We have some teaching in Revelation about
New Jerusalem and what it's like. We have some
things where Jesus said what's being done away
with and what will be there. We know that it
will be eternally good, basically. The bottom
line is you don't have a good taste of what it
will be like. So if you think what you're dealing
with, you want to hold real tight to that right
now. Let's say you've become wealthy or you're
doing pretty good financially. Not that you're
rich. but your house is getting paid off or whatever,
your bills are paid and you're feeling really
good. And then God wants you to be generous or
wants you to be a servant and give up some time
at work or whatever. And you're concerned about
keeping control of the things that he's blessed
you with. That's a problem. That means you're
satisfied with this life and you're worried about
saving this life. And then Jesus says, a person
who's in that place will lose their life. So
whoever wants to save his life will lose it.
And then he goes on to say, though, whoever loses
his life for my sake, or for me, for my sake.
And then this is the Billie Jean verse. The musical
people in the room might understand that. It
says, whosoever loses his life for my sake, He
is the one. Remember Billie Jean's Just a Girl
Who Says, I am the one. So whoever loses his
life for my sake, he is the one who will save
it. So now, kind of generically speaking, we're
talking about martyrdom. So if a person dies
for Jesus, they die for Jesus, right? Not they
just die. People die all the time. Even people
who profess to be Christians die all the time,
and some of them go to heaven and some of them
don't. So whether or not their profession is
real or not, remember Matthew 7? He said, not
everyone who says unto me, Lord, Lord, will enter
the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said that. But those
who follow the commands of my Father who is in
heaven. And so if you're not following Jesus,
if you're not a follower of Jesus and you die,
you're not going to heaven, you're going to hell.
There's only one way to go to heaven. That's
through Jesus. So then, if you're a follower
of Jesus, and you die, whether you die from cancer
or a car accident or a bullet to the head or
whatever, but you're legitimately following the
Lord when you die, then you will have your life
and have it for eternity. Right? And so the truth
is, if you have your life and have it for eternity
and you continue to follow Jesus, in other words,
if you're born again and you're truly following
Jesus from all the way through the end, then
we'll all die for Jesus. How we die will be different.
Some of us are older than others and we die of
old age. Some of us are, I'm standing here, might
have cancer. Some of us might have cancer right
now, and that might be what kills us, right?
But if you live for Jesus through the end, he
says, you will save your life, right? But if
you, on the other hand, are worried about it,
like I've known people who were, I've witnessed
people on their deathbed who were professing
Christians. and who were not professing Christians.
And then in the professing Christian category
and in the not professing Christian category
both, I have witnessed the people on their deathbed
who were screaming and hollering like a wounded
beast did not want to leave this life, even though
they were a professing Christian. And also I
have witnessed people who had the greatest peace,
knew where they were going, and they were perfectly
okay as a professing Christian. Then over here,
I have people who were not a professing Christian,
and they were perfectly content, perfectly peaceful
to die. Because they'd had enough, they were
worn out, and they felt like they had done enough
good in their life. And by that measure of salvation,
they'd done more good than bad. They thought
they were going to go to heaven. Which just isn't
true. That's not what the Bible teaches. And
then also, people were screaming like a wounded
beast, did not want to go out. And I tell you
that whether they're a professing Christian or
not a professing Christian, if they're screaming
like a wounded beast and don't want to go out,
according to this, they're not going to heaven.
Because he who tries to hold on to his life will
lose it. That's what he said. So the trick is
to be willing to give your life, however that
looks on a day -to -day basis. You might have
to take some risks. You might have to give up
some money that you don't feel perfectly comfortable
giving up with, or some time. Or you might have
to listen to somebody that kind of grates on
your nerves. You're like, I don't really want
to deal with them. You might have to expend some
resources to be found living for Jesus. And that's
what Jesus requires of us in order for us to
gain our lives. Okay? Then he gives a four, and
we're into verse 25. Okay? And so we just finished
24, and it says four, what? Yeah, four. What
is a man profited if he gains the whole world
and loses or forfeits himself? Now you said that's
one of your favorite verses, but I wonder, is
it this verse or the one over in Matthew 16 that
you love? You have to decide. Or you like them
both so much that they can both be your favorite
verse. Because over there, it ends not with self,
but soul. It's a little different. So Matthew
said that Jesus said soul. Luke records, after
talking to witnesses, that at least on one occasion,
He said, self. So the question is, world or self?
That's what you have on your page. The question
is, choose, world or self? There seems to be
an awful lot of people that think they'll be
content if they get the world. But I think if
they knew what losing themselves would really
be like, they wouldn't be so content. There's
a lot of stories about men who became super wealthy,
had a lot of resources, whatever like that, and
became very, very alone. Not only that, but if
you take the Matthew version and lose your soul,
that's eternity in hell. And so we have to be
careful about wanting the things of the world,
basically. So I'll just read the verse one more
time. 25, for what is a man profited if he gains
the whole world? That means you get everything.
You get everything you ever wanted and more.
Get the reins of the world. We know some people
that are in popular media that have that now
or seem to have that. They have so much control,
so much power. billions and billions of dollars,
things like that. But what would that really
be worth if you got all that and lost or forfeit
yourself? Which implies all of you. Everything
that you are was gone. And then verse 26, another
for, so it's another because basically, for whoever
is ashamed of me and my words, Of him will the
Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory,
and the glory of the Father, and of the holy
angels. So the rest of that scroll is whoever
is ashamed, then what happens? Jesus will be
ashamed when he comes in glory. So there's going
to be a moment in time coming. Remember Matthew
28, it says that even under the end of the age,
at the moment of the harvest, Jesus is going
to come again. It's going to be a moment where
everything is sorted out. And at that moment,
you do not want Jesus to be ashamed of you. That's
not what we want, obviously. So why would it
be, taking those verses together, 24, 25, and
26, it says, For whoever wishes to save his life
shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for
my sake, he is the one who will save it. But
what is a man profited if he gains the whole
world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever
is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the
Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory
and the glory of the Father of the holy angels.
So what's the problem? What is Jesus warning
us to avoid? Selfishness, your own desires, pursuit
of what you want. What the world could give you.
In the first verse, it's so true that even your
life can't be that important to you. Then it's
about, you could have everything. What if you
had everything? If you had everything, but lost
yourself, that would suck. That would be messed
up. You wouldn't want that. And then in the end,
he's giving us the... The final, if you will,
nail in the coffin, which is, here's how you
know when somebody is concerned about their life,
when somebody is worried about the world, and
the test is what? They're ashamed of Jesus and
his words. So you can go to work all the time,
go to school all the time, and nobody knows.
Say you're a follower of Jesus, but you go wherever
you go, and nobody knows that you're a follower
of Jesus. Then you better ask yourself if you're
ashamed of his words. Because if you're ashamed
of him and his words, then according to what
he says, when he comes again in his glory, he'll
be ashamed of you. So if you would say, well,
yeah, I don't really talk about Jesus. I don't
think I'm ashamed of him, but I don't really
talk about him. Then ask yourself, well, why?
How could you possibly, a follower of the Lord,
have the Great Commission, Acts 1 -8, all of
those commands, and not talk about him? Okay?
And then the reasoning is kind of over in the
right half there. It says, some say, if you totally
dedicate your life to God, good job, Josh, Anybody
want to finish it? RJ, you should be able to
finish this because you tell the youth that it's
not true all the time. The whole saying is, if
you totally dedicate your life to God, you will
miss out on a lot of fun. That's the worldly
version of Christianity, that Christians miss
out on the fun. Because they dedicate their life
to God. And then inside Christianity, or proposed
Christianity, a lot of people don't totally dedicate
their life to God in order to make sure they
don't miss out on the fun that the world is having.
And I submit to you, they're no better off than
the world who thinks that you will miss out on
a lot of fun if you totally dedicate your life
to God. Apparently, they agree. That's why they're
not totally dedicating their life to God. According
to Jesus, and this is where this becomes interactive,
if I do not totally dedicate my life to God,
And then this is for you. We're not going to
talk about what you write there. You write whatever
you feel is true in those blanks based on what
we've studied today. So the first part says,
if I do not totally dedicate my life to God,
what? What does Jesus say will happen? And then
you write in the blank. You don't have to tell
us what you're putting there, but whatever you
want. And then the last part says, so I will
and he will. So next to me, you write what you're
going to do. And next to God, you write what
God's going to do. Ideally, the me would be responding
to some command of God that you know is true,
something that God is telling you to do. And
the God would be some promise of God, something
that he's telling you he'll do. The only lingering
question that didn't make the worksheet that's
in my mind, is how on earth, how can it be that
the teachings of Jesus are so simple and straightforward
and yet people don't get it? There is an answer.
There's a biblical answer to this question. You
can't just go, oh, it doesn't make any sense.
It's not me railing. I'm not just saying, oh,
how can they possibly not get it? There is an
answer. How is it that people do not, sometimes
do not understand these simple commands and promises?
What do you think? What does Scripture say? Say
that again. Yeah, their eyes are closed, they're
blind, they're fooled. There's duplicity, right?
There is a great trick played upon mankind since
the Garden of Eden. And God, Jesus, came to dispel
that and to give freedom, to give an opportunity.
So if that's the reason why people can't see
these basic commands and promises and respond
to them and say, okay, well, I'm going to do
what God's telling me to do. That's the reason.
And what would it take? What does it take for
them to go, oh, my eyes are opened. I see. Somebody
has to go and tell them. How will they know unless
they hear? And how will they hear unless somebody
goes and tells them? I paraphrase that, but that's
Romans 10. And so that's it. That's what Jesus
did. He died to start this process. Really, he
rose again to start this process and spent 40
days with the disciples, teaching them to start
the beginning of the church and the gospel, the
whole thing. So now we can dedicate our lives
to God and tell others that they can too. We
can tell others all about God, what we have seen
and heard, that Jesus is alive and salvation
is available. And it's not about us. It's not
about our church. I can't tell you the number
of times that I've said, if our church isn't
really for you, if it's not really a fit for
you, or you don't want to hang out with people
of all ages, and sometimes people don't like
being around kids, or you don't want to have
upbeat worship music, or you don't want everything
to be straight out of the Bible, you want some
more poetry or things. I'm not saying that it's
good or bad or whatever. I'm saying if they want
it differently, then I'll help them find differently.
As long as they can draw close to God in that.
I'm happy to do that. So it's not about a certain
church. It's not about a certain feeling or a
certain opinion. Or one doctrine. Like at one
point, I just absolutely believe this one thing
is true and I can't get past it. Now if that
doctrine is Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation,
then it is about that. I won't compromise on
that either. But if they would say, for example,
they believe in a doctrine of girls have to wear...
long skirts who can never wear pants and they
have to go to a church where that is, then that's
fine with me. I think it can be saved in a church
like that just the same. They're wrong in my
opinion, but they can be saved in a church like
that just the same. So I'm okay with that. But
what I would say is we've got to get the message
out that salvation is available. We've got to
go and find people. And they say, I just don't
see it. I just don't see it. And you can say
to them, but I am it. You can say it, right,
Jason? You can say, I am it. I can tell you with
absolute certainty about the things that God
has done in me. Right? All right. So we're closing
prayer, and I'll give Jason and our honorary
teenagers candy and stuff afterwards. We do have
donuts and snack cakes and Kool -Aid and fruit
in the cafeteria. And my guess is the kids will
probably have beaten us there, which is okay
because there's plenty by the time we get there.
because they were doing crafts, and then I don't
know if they were going to games, so I'm not
sure what they were doing. Okay, so they may
not be in there when we get there. All right.
Any questions? Anyone want to add a personal
little snippet of testimony to anything that
I said? Do you think this needs to be known?
God's speaking in your heart and like that. All
right. Well, let's pray together, and then we'll
be through. And I will be lifting up a number
of names as I pray, and you may not know all
of them, but we are missing quite a host of individuals
who are sick or hurting in some way. And I'll
try to name as many as I can, and then I'll just
blanket pray for those that are... Yes, sir?
Okay. That's why they're missing today. Inside
their family? Yes, within their family. They
are having a bunch of problems. I don't know
any of the logistics. I don't want to know. We
would want to know that anyway. So, okay, good,
good. We'll do that. And I was going to break
down. Caleb, yep, I was going to break down too.
Just had his consults and had noise out yesterday.
Well, it was bad news. Oh, they didn't take their
consults. Oh, okay, well, there you go. But,
you know, so I couldn't say anything. I was struggling
really bad within the morning here. It hurts
really bad. Well, it's drained. It's the prophet.
It was full for months. She said the one here
didn't have anything in it, but the other one
was pretty bad. And that's the one that has hurt
him a lot. Father in heaven, we do praise you
for the good things of this life. By no means
are we becoming monks in a monastery somewhere
or giving up all of the good things that you've
blessed us with for no reason at all. We're not.
starting a convent -style community where everybody
puts all their money in one kind of generic pot
and then we just pay all the bills that way.
We know that you have made us stewards of a variety
of resources. There is first our time, 24 hours
in a day to be used, we hope, in ways to honor
you. There is our finances. whatever money that's
been earned or whatever money that you've blessed
us with. And we know that it is far more than
we deserve. And I know that in America, it seems
like everybody thinks that money equates to lifestyle
or whatever, and it doesn't have to be that way.
We can live normal, happy, healthy, kingdom -focused
lives without acting like we're rich. And I know
people who have done so and passed away. And
then everybody went, wow, they were that rich?
That's just crazy. And it's not about the money.
And then, Lord, there's our strength, our creativity,
our mental processing ability, intelligence and
wisdom and keen thought. Lord, there's our presence,
being around people, being willing to invest
in them, just to be present, to let them know
that we care. There's our mouths. And we can
talk about a lot of different things, and a lot
of things that we talk about probably aren't
worth the time, but we can certainly talk about
you and all the things that you're doing. Lord,
even this is an example of that, that we can
pray together and lift up verbally the concerns
that we have. You have blessed us immeasurably.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made, each of
us individually, and then this group as a corporate
whole, the church, the church at large in the
world, all people who truly profess to be Christians.
truly are following you, Lord. The kingdom is
vast and powerful, and the fields are wide unto
the harvest. And so we pray, Lord, that you would
forgive us where in past days, weeks, months,
years, decades, our childhood, whatever, where
we failed to use the resources that you've blessed
us with in a way that would honor you. We pray
that as we go forward, we will regularly encounter
opportunities to do just the opposite, that we
will be able to glorify you, we will be able
to serve you, we will be able to give. Let somebody
look at us and say, why are you doing that? And
we'll say, well, because God. Because salvation.
Because Jesus. And we'll be found faithful. Forgive
us for we failed you. Thank you that that forgiveness
is available through Jesus. We thank you for
every person who did make it here this evening.
We thank you for those who are healing. The healing
has been incredible. That Sherry did so well
after her surgery. Caleb is doing well. We pray,
Lord, that he will do even better. But it's already
a huge blessing. And we pray for those who are
struggling in their families. We don't know the
full details. We pray for their response to the
Macquarie family, Lord, that you just lift them
up, pull them together, help them be clear and
clean and strong and your people faithfully bound.
We pray for healing for Sherry, healing for Kayla.
We pray for healing physically and mentally for
Mike Smith and for Tiffany. Lord, we pray for
the new believers that came on Sunday and that
are talking about joining the church. and trying
to find their way. Lord, we pray that they'll
not be scared off by what it means to dedicate
your life to you, but rather be super excited
about the things that you can do in their lives.
Lord, we pray for Erin as an eye infection, and
I guess it's contagious. And so we pray for Caitlin,
that you gird her up and give her strength and
keep her clean and help her to not follow the
path that he's marching down right now, and that
his healing would be quick. and he's had a lot
of school work going on and screen time and stuff
like that, but most of his school work is screen
time, and so that's not good. His eye can't be
messed up for long, Lord. You've got to fix it
right away. We thank you that medicine and doctors
are available, and we trust in them in as much
as that you lead in that way. Lord, we pray for
Tim Hundley, who's just getting better. He's
been sick for all week, and he's just getting
better. We pray for Jamie. for the thing that's
going on with the imbalance and the pressure
in her head and that she would, that they would
get to the bottom of it, get it solved once and
for all. At least now they know part of what
the problem is and whether they know exactly
a solution, I don't know. Lord, pray for healing
there. Thank you, Lord, for the way that you've
healed Michael. He's back to work. He's working
full time. I pray that he would be healed once
and for all permanently. Lord, we pray for Chris
Mitchell. Just got over kind of a nasty yuck,
and she's back to work, and she's feeling stronger.
We pray that it'll be like that ongoing. Thank
you for the good report Ron had. He doesn't have
cancer in his colon. It was a real fear, and
now he's cleared, and that's awesome. Thank you
that Josh is here tonight. He was sick on Sunday,
and the head stuff that he has, Lord, especially
in allergy season and whatever, we just pray
that you'll clear it completely. We pray for
Devin. with the anxiety that he's facing, and
a lot of that has to do with his baby Mavis,
and they had a massive senior, and they hadn't
figured out exactly why. So we pray for the doctors
to be at the bottom of it and provide healing.
I know there are names I'm not mentioning. That's
okay, because you know every one of these situations.
You love these people. There is no love like
the love you have for us. You are almighty and
all worthy. You are holy. We commend ourselves
with your hands. Go with us as we go. Help us
represent you well and take the gospel wherever
we are. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Thank you very much. This concludes our Bible
study. Praise ye the Lord.