There's a grace to mixing things up. You know,
this morning, you know, sometimes things become
so familiar, we become complacent in them. We
lose sight of what's important. You know, speaking
of familiarity, there's a saying of Jesus that
has been a source of contention for me personally
during my entire Christian walk. It's likely
that you're familiar with it as well. It was
our call to worship today and it appears in some
form in all four gospel accounts. And essentially
it's this, Jesus is telling us, if we want life,
we have to lose it. And the trouble with that
familiar statement, it's that juxtaposition,
life versus death. And it's a bit confusing if
you think about it. It's like saying, if you
really want something, you want to lay hold of
it, you have to let it go. That's hard for us
to comprehend and to understand. How does it
make any sense? Now I was raised in an evangelical
church. I've wrestled with the concept of losing
your life for Christ in order to gain it many
times. Over the years, I've thought I've gained
insight at various points and learned what it's
meant, but that happens over and over again.
I keep learning what it means more and more.
So I'll confess to you this morning, I haven't
mastered the meaning or the application of it,
but this past month when I was traveling with
Christian brothers and sisters through South
Africa and Zimbabwe, I learned it some more.
And I think it's worth it to share it with you
today because there's a connection, I think,
with where we've been in 1 Corinthians. One theme
that kept sticking out to me is that in losing
our lives for the sake of Christ, risk is involved.
In losing our lives for Christ, risk is involved.
Living for Christ is not safe. Let me say that
again. Living for Christ is not safe, but it's
always secure. And we're gonna try to understand
the difference between those two concepts today.
To set the stage, I wanna read today's passage
in Matthew chapter 10. So if you have your Bibles,
go ahead and turn there or tap there, Matthew
chapter 10. And let me set the context for you.
The context of that passage in Matthew 10 is
the sending of the 12 disciples. during Jesus'
earthly ministry, what we would come to call
the apostles. And chapter 10, verse 1 makes it
clear, this is directly to those 12, verses 2
through 4, name them specifically. It's important
for our sake because sometimes, you know, we
come to the Bible and we're reading and we're
wanting to get a word from the Lord, and sometimes
we just miss the specific context. We've got
to recognize here, he is speaking to the 12,
but there are timeless principles. for us to
learn, even though that was a particular time
in Jesus' ministry. So here, Jesus is instructing
the 12 really regarding their apostolic authority.
If you look at verse one, it speaks of them having
authority to cleanse spiritually and physically.
And that's something unique to apostolic authority
that today's believers do not receive. And we
know this because the Great Commission for all
believers doesn't mention anything. about healing.
It's all about gospel proclamation and teaching
people to obey Jesus. Now additionally, the sending
of the 12, if you look at where the target audience
is, it's to all Israel and not to the Gentiles.
Look at verses five and six. Now some scholars
have said, we're going to read later, but you
can look in your text. Some scholars have said
Jesus was just preparing his disciples to preach
before his death and resurrection. That they
were to go through all the towns of Israel and
proclaim that the kingdom has arrived. And it's
possible that that's the case, but I would not
limit the instruction that Jesus gives here to
the apostles simply to prior to his death and
resurrection. It's really their overall priority
in ministry and even after Jesus' ascension.
The message there to bring, according to verse
7, is the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What
they've been waiting for, what the Israelites
have been waiting for, has arrived. But Jesus
warns his disciples of coming persecution, that
pain and difficulty are going to come, and yet
that the Spirit will speak through them in their
hours of trial. This, again, I would say is proof
of the instruction being not just pre -crucifixion,
but also post his ascension. Because the spirit
comes later at Pentecost. And what else? Well,
the persecution that Jesus' followers face come
after his departure. Some of you are familiar
that church history holds that most of the 12
had absolutely brutal deaths because of their
allegiance to Christ. Jesus told them persecution
would come to them specifically. And it did.
And at the end of this warning is where we're
picking up for this morning. If you don't mind
just to stretch your legs because we're outside,
let's stand for the reading of God's word. I'm
going to read Matthew chapter 10 verses 34 through
39. 24 through 39, sorry. A disciple is not above
his teacher nor slave above his master. It's
enough for the disciple that he becomes like
his teacher and the slave like his master. If
they have called the head of the house Beelzebul,
how much more the members of his household. Therefore
do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed
that will not be revealed and hidden that will
not be known. What I tell you in the darkness,
speak in the light, and what you hear whispered
in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. And
do not fear those who kill the body, but are
unable to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for an Assyrian? And
yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart
from your father. But the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. So do not fear. You are
more valuable than many sparrows. Therefore,
everyone who confesses me before men, I will
also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.
But whoever denies me before men, I will also
deny him before my Father who is in heaven. Do
not think that I came to bring peace on the earth.
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For
I came to set a man against his father and a
daughter against her mother and a daughter -in
-law against her mother -in -law. And a man's
enemies will be the members of his household.
He who loves father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me. And he who
does not take his cross and follow after me is
not worthy of me. He who has found his life will
lose it. And he who has lost his life for my
sake will find it. You can be seated. Now, I
was in Africa a couple weeks ago for Children's
Hunger Fund to gather with all of our partners
across the continent. We had nine different nations
represented from Ethiopia in the north all the
way to South Africa and even east to Madagascar.
And those partners represented about 200 churches
that work with us to practice biblically faithful
mercy ministry. And the goal Some of you have
heard this before, but it never hurts to share.
The goal is to use compassionate gifts of food
to build gospel relationships for evangelism,
for discipleship, and that is all within the
context of the local church. These partners,
they're also leaders in many respects, from Bible
college founders and pastoral seminary trainers
to medical ministry and self -sustainability
visionaries and everything in between. While
I spent time listening to their latest life and
ministry updates, one thing was clear. These
men knew the meaning of Matthew 10, 39 better
than I do. Their lives, their ministries, are
marked by consistent sacrifice, duty to the Lord,
and a seemingly never -ending drive to do more
for the kingdom that is at hand. There's nothing
safe about the challenges that they face. Some
of their testimonies involve personal hardship,
persecution from governments and gangs, even
familial attacks, family members being attacked
via physical health or spiritual health. Yet
as much as these men risk, and even their wives
risk, and they embrace this risk as much as they
do, you'd have to be a fool to call their faithfulness
foolish. Now, to some of us, we might be risk
averse. And to the risk averse person, a zeal
to serve in the face of danger may appear to
be unwise. It may even appear to be arrogant
in a zeal to serve the Lord. And surely, sometimes
people can be absolutely foolish in serving the
Lord. They can think themselves to be the Savior
rather than focusing on the Savior. They can
rush into situations without thinking and considering,
without preparing. Sometimes people can neglect
sound counsel and they can isolate themselves
in immaturity and take on unnecessary risks.
That's all true. But those I spent time with
in South Africa were anything but unwise. They
were anything but immature. Their testimonies
of faithfulness through hardship, they showed
that no earthly caution outweighs the reality
of risky living for Christ. And on the heels
of considering rewards for service unto the king,
I think this is something pertinent for us to
consider. Now, I know some of you here today
are gonna bring a first objection, say, but what
about dangers? Should we not care? Should we
not care about the dangers? Shouldn't we try
to be safe? I know that's a common objection.
Now, wisdom says, don't be a fool. Some of you
were here in the sermon a couple months ago,
I guess, Ecclesiastes chapter 10. Solomon said
only a fool would crash through a wall without
considering what's on the other side. Ecclesiastes
10b says the fool crashes through a wall only
to be bitten by a snake, right? He's unwise.
He doesn't consider the risk. Now, a wise person,
they don't embrace danger for no reason. Neither
do they disregard it. If you know a snake is
behind a wall, you want to use wisdom to deal
with it. Think about it. Remove some high bricks
so you can gain a vantage point. Feed a mouse
to it so it gets distracted. Maybe make another
exit so it doesn't come after you. There are
ways to deal with it. Wisdom doesn't avoid the
problem. Wisdom navigates it, addresses it in
a manner that minimizes the danger and secures
a good outcome. When we think about risky living
as believers today and the call of Matthew 10,
39 to lose our life for the sake of Christ, we
need to consider a couple things. First, we need
to look for opportunities to give up our lives
for Christ. The first part of verse 39 states
that he who thinks he has found his life is going
to lose it. What do you think that means? Here's
what I think it means. If your best life is now,
if your security is in your earthly finances,
your retirement account, your investments, if
your hope and your longing is in your vacations,
your enjoyable experiences, if your trust is
in your ability to get through each day, your
confidence is in your flesh, if you think that
your happiness and your joy are bound up in this
world, then you're gonna lose it all in the end.
That's what Jesus is teaching. He's saying this
life is going to come to an end. Your hope and
your trust, if they are not in Christ, you will
lose everything. Everything, everything that
you thought life was about, you will lose it.
Now, a few verses earlier, Jesus pits family
against one another. And moms, I know, I'm sorry.
It's Mother's Day, but you gotta hear this. And
there's no really better time to hear this, to
hold the tension line the right way. Jesus teaches
in verse 37, his followers cannot love earthly
family more than him. That's what he says very
clearly. I know it's painful to hear, but it's
only truly painful if we have the wrong focus.
Jesus is not teaching you to actively hate your
family. That's not what he's teaching. He's teaching
us to not love our family more than we love him.
And we sing a song often that's called The First
Place. And it's about how Christ should be the
first place in all things, even when it comes
to family. Now, when it comes to risky living
for Jesus, you have to think about what are you
afraid to lose? What are you afraid to give up?
What would keep you from going all in on serving
the Lord? And maybe it's family. But could you
also be like that rich young ruler who was told
to sell everything and yet he was troubled? Why?
Because he had many possessions. Now the opportunities
for you to give up your life for Christ are going
to be evident when you consider what you struggle
most with giving up. If comfort is your king,
then Christ isn't. If financial security is your
king, then Christ isn't. If family identity is
your king, then Christ isn't. To gain your life
in Christ, you have to give up a life For yourself.
So you have to always ask this question to yourself.
What's holding you back? What's holding you back
from giving Christ the first place in all things?
What's holding you back? That needs to be a regular
question of your own heart. The second thing
in living in light of Matthew 10, 39, is that
we should consider the known dangers. Don't be
a fool. We're not called to walk blindly in the
face of danger, but danger is ahead whether we
want it or not. Earlier, I said that living for
Christ is not safe, but it is secure. That's
not an Adamism. It's a truism. Living for Christ
is not safe. Danger is there. Security, though,
in Christ is what we're promised. Now, some dangers
we see before they come upon us, and we'd be
wise to pay attention. Jesus tells his disciples
in that passage in Matthew 10 that persecution
is coming. that they are going to be a sheep
amongst wolves. And that is a dangerous position
to be in because sheep are hunted by the wolves.
He did not want the disciples to think that they
were going out as sheep amongst other sheep.
It's something that bothers me about many self
-professed evangelists and missionaries today.
They speak about unbelievers as those who earnestly
want to know Christ. They just need the messenger.
And they confuse these different principles in
God's word. Some of you may think of that passage
in Romans chapter 10. Yes, verses 14 and 15,
they tell us, the believer, how are they going
to know unless they hear? The believer should
have the impetus to go and to preach the word
because people need to hear the good news in
order to believe. That is a true statement. But
if you pay attention to that passage in Romans
chapter 10 and to this one. In Matthew chapter
10, you know that Israel is a stubborn and obstinate
people who will hear and yet still not believe.
And don't forget, who put Jesus on the cross?
Yeah, it was under Roman rule, but it was the
Jewish leaders who sought his death. Romans 3,
verses 10 through 18, teach us that no one, no
one, seeks after God. And that godless people,
they shed blood without remorse. To bring the
good news to those who are perishing is a good
thing, but don't forget this, friends. Those
who are disobedient to God, they have no desire
to hear such good news unless God changes hearts.
That doesn't negate the responsibility to preach,
but it sets your expectation rightly. The unbeliever
doesn't want to hear. So when you bring the gospel
to unbelieving people, it involves risk. It involves
risk of your own safety because the world hates
God and the world hates his son. And Jesus says,
if they hated me, how much more are they gonna
hate you? Now persecution's not only for the
apostles. It's also for us. You may not be crucified.
It's not a practice today, like so many of the
apostles had happened to them, but you might
be rejected. In bringing the gospel to unbelievers,
you might lose that job opportunity. You might
lose the promotion. You might upset family members
by calling sin, sin. You might limit fields of
work for yourself. You might lose friends because
you're unashamed of the gospel of Christ. That's
all a reality. The world is not going to love
you if you love the Lord. But note that that
doesn't mean that you're unloving. But like Jesus,
you have to be willing to suffer loss in service
to the Father. That's the principle that he's
teaching us. Let me ask you a couple questions
for you to think about here. What dangers are
you okay with in terms of gospel service? And
what dangers are you not okay with? That's a
question for your own heart. Are you willing
to serve the king as long as it doesn't cost
you your job? Are you willing to serve the king
as long as it doesn't cost you friends? Are you
willing to serve the king as long as your family
is protected from any hardship? Now, I know these
are hard questions, but we have to take the words
of our Lord seriously. The encouragement is that
he gives us confidence that even in the face
of known dangers, known persecutions that people,
they can kill the body, but they cannot kill
the soul. That's what's secure. The value that
the father places on his children, it's immensely
more than you and I can fathom. Scripture tries
to help us understand this. If you've grown up
hearing sermons on this passage, you know that
there's that coin that's mentioned in verse 29,
that Assyrian, it's the smallest Roman coin,
like a penny. And he says two sparrows are sold
for one. That's the ancient world's two for one
deal, right? He says not even one of these creatures,
which is barely worth anything to humans, not
even one of them is gonna fall to the ground
apart from the Father. That's what he teaches.
If God cares for the cheapest bird, the cheapest
animal, how much more? Is he going to care for
those whom he loves? If he knows the number of
hairs on your head, and some of us, our hairs
are reducing. It shows his intimate knowledge
and his care. So the question is, why would we
value anything here on earth more than him? Why
would we pursue things that moth and rust destroy?
If we are so dearly loved that even the numbers
of hairs on our head is remembered by him, is
known by him, then do you really have any earthly
worry when it comes to living for his sake? So
you ask your heart the question again, what dangers
hold you back from seeking the greatest treasure?
Friends, I'd encourage this, that our allegiance
to the Lord would not have any self -imposed
Don't tell the Lord, I will serve you up to this
point. Don't make those handshake deals with
him in your heart. Commit to serve him wherever,
with all people, in all circumstances, in all
aspects of your life, in all situations, without
compromising. I can imagine some of you here,
if you've grown up, In churches, you've heard
sermons and encouragements like this, and you
might just be saying, Adam, so what do I need
to do next? Give me the list, right? Well, let
me give that word of caution here. The goal here
is not to give you a to -do list. That's not
what I'm trying to do. I'm not trying to tell
you here's five ways to holy living that you
need to follow. Our goal when we preach every
single Sunday is to see the Spirit conform your
daily habit of life according to God's word.
That's what our goal is. I'll tell you this,
though. The reality for many Christians today,
many Christians, and you might find yourself
as one of these, is that our lives are too comfortable,
too busy, too us -focused. And it makes it hard
to take Matthew 10, 39 seriously. We wrestle
with losing our life because we actually found
a life that we kind of enjoy. We don't want to
lose it. So in light of that, let me share a
testimony from Zimbabwe. And this is a chance
when I'll let you go ahead and pull out your
phones if you haven't already. You get an open
church center, please and thank you. I posted
some photos and some of you might say, why didn't
you put it on one sheet? Well, I tried, but church
center has a limit of 50 megabytes. And so I
didn't want a blurry photo. That does no good.
The whole purpose is to look at it. So I wanted
to give you clear photos. So it's under church
resources, all church resources. There's four
photos that are there. In the first photo, you're
going to see a photo of a man who's playing bottle
flip with my son. That man's name is Thomas Hodsey.
He's a husband. He's a father. He's a pastor.
He's a church planter. He's a Bible trainer.
He's an entrepreneur. He's a self -taught farmer.
He's quite good at bottle flip, by the way. Don't
know how that happened. As a smiling guy, though,
you can see he's just a great guy. Thomas was
born in Zim. By God's providence, he came to
the Master's University, then the Master's College,
around the time when my wife and I were there.
He went on to the seminary after getting his
undergrad degree. He excelled as a student. He's
a brilliant man. He was a faithful member of
Church of the Canyon. Some of you here got to
know him there. Thomas' dream, along with his
sister Ruth, was to see the next generation of
Zimbabweans prepared for ministry, to see the
church, grow in a country that is wrought with
strife, difficulty, compromise. Now he didn't
know what that would look like when he wanted
to start that organization or how it would happen.
He just wanted to go back to his country and
help. He wanted to serve Christ. And so he set
up a nonprofit with his sister and it's called
Christ of First Importance Ministries. Christ
of First Importance. Now he encountered risks
all along the way. First, he married a woman
that is a German citizen, and he was constantly
outcast by fellow Zimbabwe churches who expected
him to be married to a black African. His children
were then mixed, so it means that to this day,
they're constantly treated different by other
kids. His wife has had health trouble after health
trouble, and it's meant constant trips to hospitals
around the world to diagnose and to deal with
her ailments. He's worked He's done a lot of
ministry work in a Muslim -controlled area that
has threatened his life on more than one occasion.
Some corrupt authorities have also threatened
his life, wrongly jailed him, and at times even
brought physical violence to him. Now, the nonprofit
he's set up, they've gone through bouts of lacking
adequate resources over the years, as they all
do. There's seasons of blessing and seasons of
burden. He's been tempted by weaker believers
in his country to compromise on biblical principle
to make money. to make more money. If he just
opens up his allegiance to God's word here, he
can gain more finances. Now I could go on and
on about the risks that he's faced over the years
and how God has been so faithful to him and to
those that he's served with, but the testimony
I wanted to give you today is, it's actually
not about his personal risk. The testimony I
wanted to give you today was embraced by faithful
believers in a small town in the middle of nowhere,
Zimbabwe. As some of you remember the picture
a couple weeks ago, it's the second photo. that's
included on Church Center. It's a picture of
not a town, but a place, a place in that town.
In that town, though, Thomas was able to purchase
a small plot of land and began building a training
institute. His desire was to teach men and women
how to study God's word, to train men to be pastors.
to give men and women various skills for life,
like carpentry and welding and cooking and horticulture
training, animal husbandry, nutrition science,
sewing, and more, all within a biblical framework.
Now, to provide classes like this, he would need
laborers. He would need workers. He wasn't going
to teach all of those things himself. He would
need groundskeepers for the campus and more.
So Thomas set out to provide jobs for qualified
individuals, all professing believers, who caught
on to Thomas' vision. and desired to pour into
the next generation. And the picture that you
see of that tree and the sunlight coming in from
sunrise, it's a picture from the exact spot that
he stood, that he kneeled, that he prayed in
when he was asking the Lord, how is this all
gonna be possible? It was an early Sunday morning
for him when he was out there before the church
plant launched, when he was asking the Lord,
is this possible? How can we do this? That's
been many years and we were able to see incredible
faithfulness from the Lord throughout those years,
but it's not without hardship. Every believer
is gonna face hardship in life no matter where
you are, whether you're in Zimbabwe or Santa
Clarita, you're gonna face the cost of discipleship.
I remember earlier I said he had to hire individuals
to work the campus, right? Men and women of various
trades. Some moved from other areas into that
town. to be able to serve. During the day, they
would need to send their kids off to school.
There was a local school that was in town, and
he would send them there. There's no buses. It's
rural Zimbabwe, so the kids need to walk. So
kids as young as four or five years old would
be walking on their own to school. Then their
parents would walk the other direction to the
edge of town and go to this campus to serve.
About a year ago, Thomas and the other leaders,
heard of the most tragic and heartbreaking situation.
It was discovered that one of the young girls
who had been walking to school was physically
assaulted several times on her way to school
over the course of a couple months. Now the parents
were crushed, as you can imagine, when they learned
this. They wept as they came to Thomas and the
other leaders. Thomas was crushed when he heard
this. He couldn't help but feel responsible.
because he felt like he put the family in harm's
way. He invited them out to this area to serve.
They were essentially missionaries that he brought
in. And Thomas went home that night absolutely
devastated. He was trying to do good, to serve
the Lord, to progress the gospel, and yet here
evil was showing its face, and not just to an
adult, but to a child. He fell to his knees in
prayer, and after a few days of praying, considering
and seeking counsel with some other ministry
friends, he came up with a plan to try to address
this teenage perpetrator along with his parents.
So Thomas and another leader, they did just that.
But the response was almost as heartbreaking
as the initial situation. He got to sit down
with the parents and as Thomas explained what
happened, they dismissed his concerns. They told
him, we went through the same thing growing up.
So did our parents. This is how things are. You
can't change it. Thomas and the other leader,
they left with heavy hearts, downcast eyes. Not
even appealing to the other parents would help.
That was Romans 3 on display for them. There
is no one righteous, no, not one. No one who
seeks after God. Now in response, Thomas and
the parents, they resolved to accompany the kids,
to not let them walk alone to school each day
to ensure that nothing like that would happen
in the future. But Thomas was still so burdened.
He felt sick to his stomach. These parents had
put their kids at risk each and every day and
he had no idea. Now he was aware this wasn't
just an isolated problem. This was a reality
of life among an unsafe population. And if that's
a problem there in the middle of nowhere Zimbabwe,
how much greater could the problem be throughout
the whole entire country? Even the whole entire
continent. As Thomas met with the parents again,
he asked for their forgiveness for putting their
children at risk. And he wanted to brainstorm
what to do in the future. And the response of
the parents, These faithful Christians who love
Jesus, who serve him with zeal, with integrity,
it astounded him. They told him that though they're
devastated by the sin, they've been praying for
the perpetrator, for the young teen boy, and
for his parents to come to know the Lord. They
shared with him that amidst their prayers for
their daughter, that she has limited memory of
anything that happened, almost as if God is shielding
her. from the evil deeds that were done to her.
Now they didn't know the risks ahead of time.
The parents didn't know. But once the danger
presented itself, they appealed to the Lord for
help. They found their hope in him. They didn't
find their hope in changed circumstances. Now
you and I, sitting here today, we might hear
that testimony and in our rage, against that
perpetrator in our rage against the nature of
sin and brokenness, we might be prone to call
those parents foolish for ever even allowing
them to walk alone in the first place. But I
would severely caution you from doing so. See,
the parents, they didn't put their children in
harm's way knowingly. They weren't aware of that
particular risk before they moved to the town.
And once that danger was known, once that danger
was seen, They didn't allow it to happen again.
But what they did evidence in their response
was a trust in a savior through the risks and
the dangers and even through their own heartache.
Now, after Thomas heard of these parents' faith
and their willingness to see sinners come to
faith, sinners who sinned against them, he decided
it was time for him to risk. Now with limited
funding, without much to work with, he committed
to building a small primary school on that campus
so that the kids of those who are working there
can just come with their parents. They don't
have to walk somewhere else. They just come with
their parents and they can be taught a biblical
worldview in a safe environment. And within two
months of this whole situation beginning, he
had two teachers and he was able to start a preschool
kindergarten class along with an early education
primary school class. Now that third photo, that
you see on Church Center, that third photo of
the school children, one of those is the little
girl that I just told you about. And here's the
praise. She's doing so well. She has no memory
of the incidents. She's loving school. She's
loving coming to the campus with her parents,
and she's loving her teacher and her classmates.
Now her parents, they still see the teenage boy
and his parents around town. And every time they
do, they pray for them to come to know the Lord.
They are actively ready to minister to them should
the Lord open the door. Thomas never planned
to open a school. He hasn't raised money to even
do so. It's not even highlighted on the website.
If you go looking at his nonprofit, it's not
something that he's promoting because It's not
the main thing that they've been doing, but he
was so burdened that he even gave of their own
finances to be able to support this school so
the parents wouldn't have to risk their children.
In light of the parents' faith, he was challenged.
What is he willing to risk? What wouldn't he
do to serve the Lord? Financial support isn't
king. Jesus is king. And in light of thinking
about rewards in the Bema Seat, I wanted to encourage
us about the risk. You know, the world always
talks about this, big risk, big reward. You've
heard that before, right? They always think it's
a gamble though. That's what the world thinks,
that risk is a gamble. But let me reframe that
for you in light of Matthew chapter 10. There's
no gamble when you serve the Lord. There's no
gamble. The risk is intrinsic because you're
not of this world. The risk is unavoidable because
the world hates your master and it hates you.
The risk is embraced with wisdom because living
for Jesus is not about temporary safety. It's
about eternal security. The key to finding life
in Christ is loosening your grip of this momentary
life. That's the key. The tighter you hold on
to this world, the more likely you're gonna gain
this world. And as Mark said, Mark chapter eight,
you'll forfeit your soul. On the fourth photo,
you're gonna see just a photo of a Bible in the
hands of a man. That man is Nazan. He's a faithful
brother. He teaches at the Bible Institute. He
manages finances. He disciples young men. And
we were able to bring him a Bible from the States,
a special edition of the Legacy Standard Bible,
a shepherd's Bible. that was donated from the
publisher. And when we gave it to him, he had
the biggest smile on his face and hugged us in
gratitude. He said it was the best gift that
we could have ever given him, that it would be
the most treasured possession that he has. And
he said he never expected such a gift. As we
sat in chapel one morning and he opened that
new Bible with a big grin on his face, that's
when I took the picture. I couldn't help but
wonder from my own heart. Do I treasure God's
word as much as he does? Have I been gripping
onto this world too much? Have I been finding
a life here and not hoping in the life to come?
Now the daily cure for losing your life for the
sake of Christ is identifying the things you're
prone to love more than the Lord. That's the
cure. Identify what you are prone to love more
than the Lord. And if you're a believer, here's
the thing. Those things are likely gonna be good
things. They're gonna be good things, but they
become bad because they rule and they reign in
your heart, and then Christ doesn't. Now, if
you're an unbeliever here today, the things that
rule and reign in your heart, they're likely
gonna be bad because the Spirit is not directing
your steps. So the things that rule your heart
are selfish desires. But my appeal for everyone
here today is that in light of Matthew 10, that
we would not be misled into thinking that following
Jesus is safe. That we would understand following
Jesus means letting go of our grip on this life.
Holding loosely even to the people that we love
and the people that we care for. Not hating them,
but not loving them more than we love the Lord.
We need to remember the truest treasure is found
in Christ. It's life eternal in him. It's life
eternal with him. So friends, ask yourselves
these questions. What aren't you willing to lose?
What would be a struggle for you to lose and
to let go of? What would hold you back from full
allegiance to him? What aspect of life is the
hardest for you to yield to him in? Is your job
or your family or your likability or your earthly
treasures or any of those impeding your allegiance
to him? How are you planning each day to let
go of yourself so you can cling to him? If you're
not thinking about that, you're missing what
Jesus taught in Matthew 10. Let me give one encouragement
though for everyone here as a wrap up. You know,
today, there's a big push in Christian nationalism
to just see Americans, Californians, leave the
state, go to Idaho, right? That's the dream.
Not messing with you if you're from Idaho, I'm
sorry. But the dream is get out of California,
wicked government, leave LA, such a bad culture,
go start up a new commune over in a very peaceful
place where you can bring the kingdom to you
today. Friends, I wanna commend those of you
who have made this your home and at least encourage
you that in one way, you have not yielded to
this earthly treasure because it'd be very easy,
it'd be very easy to just give up on any sense
of ministry or life here in Los Angeles. It'd
be very easy to go to start that commune or go
to Moscow, Idaho and join those Christian nationalists.
It'd be very easy to live your best life now
and to find all of your security in a safe environment.
But that is not what the Lord has called us to.
So for those of you that have embraced the difficulty
of living in California, I will not name any
politics. For those of you who have embraced
the ministry difficulty of living in the LA area,
for those of you who have said, yes, life could
be easier somewhere else, but the Lord has me
here serving, I wanna say amen. I wanna commend
you and encourage you to continue pressing on
for the sake of the Lord. That doesn't mean it's
evil if the Lord ends up moving you somewhere
like Idaho. Talk to an elder before you do is
what I would encourage. But I do want to commend
this church body for committing to living here
and living uncomfortably. We don't have a building.
Our home is not found within four walls. We set
up every single Sunday. We ask a lot of you to
be members. On purpose. Because we're convicted
and we think that the Lord has commanded us to
live life together. And that's a good thing.
So in my close today, I don't want this to come
across as a finger wagging that all of you need
to move to Zimbabwe. Please, that's not my call
for you. That's not my encouragement. But my
encouragement is that each of us would evaluate
our own hearts to consider what are those things
that we're unwilling to let go of. What are those
things that limit or hinder us from giving our
full allegiance to the Lord? What are the things
we say, Lord, I'll serve you up to here and let's
test our heart and let's yield to him and let's
let go so that we can gain life in him. Amen?
Amen. Would you pray with me? Father, we're grateful
for our time together this morning under the
sun being reminded that our Even our place of
gathering is not where we find our security and
where we find our comfort. We recognize that
our security is found in Christ. And so we ask
you this morning, would you help us to understand
risky living for your sake? Not as unwise people.
So we pray, help us to identify the dangers in
following after Christ. Help us to wisely navigate.
even the unknown risks when they present themselves.
But please, Father, help us to let go of this
life appropriately. Help us to cling to Christ
for our eternal hope. And we pray that you would
grow our obedience and our willingness to lose
our lives for his sake, to get a sunburn for
his sake, to let go of fame for his sake, to
let go of likability for his sake. To let go
of all of our earthly comforts and treasures
that we may be found in him. So we pray, break
us. Break us of ourselves. Help us to see the
things that we cling to that are not of you,
from you, and for you. And would you strengthen
us by your spirit? Convict us by your word to
help us go a good way. That every day we would
be denying ourselves, picking up our cross, following
after you more and more. less of us and more
of you, that we would decrease and that you would
increase. So help us even now in this moment
that our mouths would profess that Christ is
king and that leaving here today, our lives also
would show that Christ is our king. We pray this
in his name, amen.