WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 This week we get to continue in the collection 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:04.219 of talks that we've been in. This is the fourth 00:00:04.219 --> 00:00:07.559 week of this five -week collection. So next week 00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:09.839 is the last week of this. But we were in this 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:13.140 collection called Stories as Told by Jesus. And 00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:15.099 what it is is it's looking at the stories that 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:17.460 Jesus told, which are called parables in the 00:00:17.460 --> 00:00:19.739 Bible. And so in the Bible, Jesus tells these 00:00:19.739 --> 00:00:21.480 parables that a lot of times we scratch our head 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:23.739 and go, what does that even mean? And so we're 00:00:23.739 --> 00:00:26.059 unpacking these parables. We're unpacking these 00:00:26.059 --> 00:00:30.050 stories that Jesus tells us. And so as we hop 00:00:30.050 --> 00:00:31.890 in today, let me ask you this. Have you ever 00:00:31.890 --> 00:00:33.950 thought you were ready for something until the 00:00:33.950 --> 00:00:36.450 time actually came? You know what I mean? You're 00:00:36.450 --> 00:00:38.229 like, man, I'm prepared. I'm ready. And then 00:00:38.229 --> 00:00:41.509 you actually have to do it. I mean, I remember 00:00:41.509 --> 00:00:44.170 when I got into high school. And the way that 00:00:44.170 --> 00:00:46.530 my church did youth group is that we had life 00:00:46.530 --> 00:00:49.390 groups that met in homes. And so I went to this 00:00:49.390 --> 00:00:51.850 house. And I was really lucky because my leader, 00:00:51.890 --> 00:00:54.630 he was a single guy who wanted to have a family 00:00:54.630 --> 00:00:57.130 in the future. And so he had just bought a brand 00:00:57.130 --> 00:01:01.149 new four bedroom home. And so a single guy living 00:01:01.149 --> 00:01:02.890 in this four -bedroom home, some of his rooms 00:01:02.890 --> 00:01:05.870 were empty. And as I got there, I was wondering, 00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:07.629 I was like, where's all the people? There's more 00:01:07.629 --> 00:01:09.390 cars outside than there are people. And someone 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:11.829 says, oh, they're in the boxing room. And I was 00:01:11.829 --> 00:01:14.090 like, the boxing room? What is that? Well, it 00:01:14.090 --> 00:01:16.909 was an empty room, like I said, where a bunch 00:01:16.909 --> 00:01:19.409 of high school guys decided to bring boxing gloves, 00:01:19.730 --> 00:01:21.769 go in there, beat the snot out of each other, 00:01:21.810 --> 00:01:24.519 and then open the Word of God. It was awesome. 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:26.500 All right, it was amazing. And I was like, this 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:28.200 is the coolest thing I've ever seen. All the 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:30.719 people are in there. We're just boxed, just fighting 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:32.599 each other. And so the guy next to me who's also 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:34.620 a freshman, it was his first time. And he looked 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:37.299 at me and he goes, we gotta jump in there. And 00:01:37.299 --> 00:01:39.799 I was like, you said we. Why'd you say we? I 00:01:39.799 --> 00:01:41.879 ain't going anywhere. He's like, no, we gotta 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:44.359 challenge some people. We gotta hop, us two versus 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:45.879 them two. And I'm like, that's not happening, 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:48.040 man. He goes, next week, you gotta get ready. 00:01:48.219 --> 00:01:50.659 I'm like, OK, I'll get ready. So that week, I'm 00:01:50.659 --> 00:01:52.359 asking people, I'm like, can you give me some 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:53.920 advice on boxing? I don't know what to do. I'm 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:55.420 trying not to die next week. Can someone help 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:58.180 me out here? And I kind of got ready. But as 00:01:58.180 --> 00:01:59.780 I showed up the next week, I asked this guy, 00:01:59.819 --> 00:02:02.060 I was like, hey, are you ready? And he's like, 00:02:02.140 --> 00:02:04.219 yeah, I'm ready. I was like, did you do anything 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:06.019 to prepare? And he's like, no, man, I'm good. 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:09.659 I'm ready. I'm like, okay, here we go. And so 00:02:09.659 --> 00:02:11.159 we get the boxing gloves on and we're about to 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:12.800 hop in there and I look over at him and this 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:14.840 guy already had big eyes, but his eyes were like 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.659 the size of saucers. And he's like, let's go. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:19.500 And I'm like, this is not the type of energy 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:22.280 I need right now. Like, and he just ran in and 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:24.280 all of a sudden we're in there boxing. And I'm 00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:27.439 not kidding you. It was five seconds before this 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:29.300 dude got popped in the nose and started bleeding 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:32.000 everywhere and he was out. The fight was over. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.939 It was done. We lost. And I was like, bro, you 00:02:35.939 --> 00:02:38.419 said you were prepared. You said you were ready. 00:02:38.780 --> 00:02:40.919 And he's like, I thought I was ready until the 00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:43.759 time came to actually do it. See, I think in 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:46.159 our faith, sometimes that's us. We, we think 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:48.379 that we're prepared. We think that we're ready. 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:51.419 And we, until the time actually comes, because 00:02:51.419 --> 00:02:53.979 what we do, our preparation is really just coasting. 00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:56.599 We just coast along and we're not actually ready 00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:59.919 when the time comes. It reminds me of the dad 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:02.400 joke. When my kids started losing teeth, I used 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:04.250 to tell them, Hey, you have summer teeth. And 00:03:04.250 --> 00:03:05.669 they're like, what is summer teeth? I'm like, 00:03:05.750 --> 00:03:09.349 some are there, some are not. I think we have 00:03:09.349 --> 00:03:11.210 summer Christians in the church where sometimes 00:03:11.210 --> 00:03:14.069 you're at church, sometimes you're not. Sometimes 00:03:14.069 --> 00:03:16.370 you open the word of God, sometimes you don't. 00:03:16.870 --> 00:03:20.509 Sometimes you pray, sometimes you don't. Sometimes 00:03:20.509 --> 00:03:22.789 you actually think about God and invite him into 00:03:22.789 --> 00:03:26.090 your life, and sometimes you don't. And I think 00:03:26.090 --> 00:03:28.349 we live this life sometimes where we miss what 00:03:28.349 --> 00:03:30.569 God has called us to. We don't understand the 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:33.560 seriousness of this. This is serious. And we 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:35.580 have to take it seriously. And because it's serious 00:03:35.580 --> 00:03:37.500 and we have to take it seriously, we have to 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:40.979 ask ourselves the serious questions. And we have 00:03:40.979 --> 00:03:43.699 to search ourselves to go, man, am I actually 00:03:43.699 --> 00:03:47.259 prepared? Am I actually ready? We're going to 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:50.439 be in Matthew chapter 25 today, Matthew chapter 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:53.379 25. And to set this up, I love this because the 00:03:53.379 --> 00:03:55.080 disciples, man, they started asking questions. 00:03:55.219 --> 00:03:57.199 And the disciples are amazing because they give 00:03:57.199 --> 00:03:59.719 me hope. They're just as big of idiots as I am. 00:04:00.180 --> 00:04:02.020 If you've read through the Bible, a lot of times 00:04:02.020 --> 00:04:03.759 I'm reading it and I have questions. I'm going, 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.400 what does Jesus even mean? And then I read one 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:08.379 line further and the disciples ask the exact 00:04:08.379 --> 00:04:11.419 same question that I ask. And then you get to 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:13.780 understand what they're saying. So Jesus is teaching 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:15.759 and he's saying, hey, I'm going to leave, but 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:17.519 then I'm coming back. It's called a second coming. 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:19.620 I'm going to come back again. And his disciples 00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:21.180 are like, what does that mean, Jesus? When are 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:23.879 you coming back? I don't get it. When are you 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:27.260 coming back? And Jesus says, I don't know. Jesus 00:04:27.260 --> 00:04:29.180 himself said, I don't know, the angels don't 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:32.220 know, only the Father knows. And the reason Jesus 00:04:32.220 --> 00:04:34.399 didn't tell us when he's coming back, the reason 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:36.680 why God the Father did not even reveal to Jesus 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:38.839 when Jesus is coming back is because he wants 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:41.379 us to live in a way where Jesus could come back 00:04:41.379 --> 00:04:43.899 anytime. Because you and I, when we know that 00:04:43.899 --> 00:04:46.199 there's a deadline, we like to push it up to 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:48.899 that deadline. I have a lot of kids that are 00:04:48.899 --> 00:04:51.220 involved in different activities. And so usually 00:04:51.220 --> 00:04:52.800 on the weekend when my kids have tournaments, 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:55.180 my wife will take one of them, whose tournament 00:04:55.180 --> 00:04:57.439 it is, away for the weekend, and I'll have the 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.199 other kids at home. And while she's away, I'll 00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:01.939 tell you right now, we live like we live in a 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:04.500 frat house, all right? The dishes just stack 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:07.519 up in the sink. Trash is everywhere. Stuff is 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:08.879 everywhere. Things are everywhere. I'm stepping 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:10.600 over things. I'm stepping over people. I'm like, 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:12.339 oh, how did you get there, right? Like, that's 00:05:12.339 --> 00:05:15.490 where we live. But when I know she's coming home 00:05:15.490 --> 00:05:17.209 at seven o 'clock on a Sunday night, guess what 00:05:17.209 --> 00:05:19.089 I'm doing at six o 'clock on a Sunday night? 00:05:19.709 --> 00:05:22.129 I'm cleaning, man. That place is spotless. Because 00:05:22.129 --> 00:05:23.949 the second she walks in, she looks around and 00:05:23.949 --> 00:05:25.550 she's like, oh, this is amazing. And I'm like, 00:05:25.589 --> 00:05:27.490 I know. It's how it's been the whole time. You 00:05:27.490 --> 00:05:30.730 know what I'm saying? But we like to push it 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:32.430 to the last second. When you have a deadline, 00:05:32.529 --> 00:05:34.129 you push it there. And Jesus is going, I'm not 00:05:34.129 --> 00:05:36.290 telling you when I'm coming back because I want 00:05:36.290 --> 00:05:39.879 you to live like it could be any time. And he 00:05:39.879 --> 00:05:42.459 says, let me say it this way. And he engages, 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:44.180 he starts engaging them in this parable. He starts 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:48.040 telling this story, Matthew 25 verse one. At 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:49.860 that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:52.939 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out 00:05:52.939 --> 00:05:56.060 to meet the bridegroom. Okay, now this parable 00:05:56.060 --> 00:05:58.199 is one that a lot of us go, okay, this is too 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:00.360 scary to touch. I don't understand it. And the 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:02.000 word virgin throws us off because we're like, 00:06:02.019 --> 00:06:03.860 what does this even mean? I know there's another 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:05.740 religion that talks about 72 virgins. What does 00:06:05.740 --> 00:06:07.879 this mean? And we get scared and we don't know 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:09.879 what to do with it. But when you understand the 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.019 context of us, it makes a lot of sense. It's 00:06:12.019 --> 00:06:14.139 actually a very simple parable to understand. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:16.980 When we're referring to virgins here, what he's 00:06:16.980 --> 00:06:20.199 referring to is young women that were of marriage 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:23.240 age, but were not married yet. And every young 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:25.579 woman who was of marriage age, but not married 00:06:25.579 --> 00:06:27.819 yet was a virgin. Because if they were not, they 00:06:27.819 --> 00:06:29.459 were kicked out by their family. They were kicked 00:06:29.459 --> 00:06:31.639 out by their community. They were ostracized 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:34.360 completely. So everyone was there. So what this 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:37.019 actually is saying is just saying, bridesmaids, 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:39.860 these bridesmaids that were there to help the 00:06:39.860 --> 00:06:42.759 bride on her wedding day. That's who he's referring 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:44.439 to. That's who the virgins are. And the reason 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:46.300 that that's so important is because their custom, 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:49.079 what they did is that the groom would be at his 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:52.600 house and he would leave his house to go and 00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:54.319 get the bride and the bridesmaids would meet 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:56.860 him there. And then he would take the bride back 00:06:56.860 --> 00:06:59.379 to his house. But the thing is, is they didn't 00:06:59.379 --> 00:07:01.629 know when the groom was going to come. because 00:07:01.629 --> 00:07:04.250 what he was doing at his house is he was in discussion 00:07:04.250 --> 00:07:07.389 with the family over the price to marry the girl, 00:07:08.329 --> 00:07:10.509 the dowry, what it would be. And so the longer 00:07:10.509 --> 00:07:13.250 the discussion took, the more value she had. 00:07:13.290 --> 00:07:15.149 So they wanted it to take long. They didn't want 00:07:15.149 --> 00:07:16.610 it to be a quick agreement that they reached 00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:18.589 and she wouldn't have a lot of value. And so 00:07:18.589 --> 00:07:21.029 they didn't know when he was going to come back. 00:07:21.089 --> 00:07:23.410 And so after he would have these discussions, 00:07:23.750 --> 00:07:26.689 then he would go back and he would go to her 00:07:26.689 --> 00:07:28.910 house and the bridesmaids would meet him and 00:07:28.910 --> 00:07:30.959 go, let me go get the bride. And then they would 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:33.379 get the bride and have a parade on the way back 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:36.000 to his house, a procession on the way back to 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.000 his house where the wedding would be. And so 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.259 Jesus is telling this to a context of people 00:07:41.259 --> 00:07:43.980 that understand this. They know what it's like 00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:46.819 for the marriage customs of their day. And as 00:07:46.819 --> 00:07:48.920 he says this, he then tells them this in verse 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.500 two, five of them, five of the bridesmaids were 00:07:52.500 --> 00:07:56.319 foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.279 took their lamps, but did not take any oil with 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:03.209 them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars 00:08:03.209 --> 00:08:07.129 along with their lamps. See, everyone in the 00:08:07.129 --> 00:08:10.810 procession was expected to carry their own torch 00:08:10.810 --> 00:08:13.310 because if they didn't, they were assumed to 00:08:13.310 --> 00:08:15.970 be party crashers because weddings of those days 00:08:15.970 --> 00:08:17.790 were not just two hours, not just three hour 00:08:17.790 --> 00:08:20.550 ordeal. They were like full on day long event, 00:08:20.769 --> 00:08:22.790 couple days long. Right, you remember Jesus at 00:08:22.790 --> 00:08:25.050 the wedding in Cana? They drank all the wine. 00:08:25.089 --> 00:08:26.850 They ran out of it. They partied so hard that 00:08:26.850 --> 00:08:28.410 the wine was gone. And then Jesus said, hold 00:08:28.410 --> 00:08:30.250 on, let me make you more wine. Keep partying. 00:08:31.610 --> 00:08:33.370 There's a lot of food. There's a lot of drink. 00:08:33.450 --> 00:08:35.149 There's a lot of stuff going on. And it's a couple 00:08:35.149 --> 00:08:37.169 of days. So when you saw a procession of people 00:08:37.169 --> 00:08:39.990 holding these torches going across town, if you 00:08:39.990 --> 00:08:41.830 were smart, you'd go, hey, I'm going to hop in 00:08:41.830 --> 00:08:44.149 on this procession because I know what's at the 00:08:44.149 --> 00:08:47.330 end of it. Food and drink and party. And it's 00:08:47.330 --> 00:08:49.230 going to be awesome. And so there are party crashers. 00:08:49.500 --> 00:08:51.600 I remember when I was in high school, late high 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:54.120 school and early college, I used to do this very 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:56.820 strategic thing. I would go down to downtown 00:08:56.820 --> 00:08:59.379 San Diego as soon as the Padres game was starting, 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:01.480 and I would go to dinner. And as soon as I was 00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:02.980 done with dinner, I'd go over to the front of 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:04.320 the stadium. It was probably about the third 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:06.279 or fourth inning, and people would start leaving. 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:07.960 Like, I don't know why they're leaving in the 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:09.759 third and fourth inning. Maybe it's because it's 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:12.159 the Padres. I'm not sure. But they'd be leaving. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:14.960 And so I would ask them, hey, can I have your 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.169 ticket stub? All right, this is before digital 00:09:17.169 --> 00:09:18.629 tickets. And so they would literally give me 00:09:18.629 --> 00:09:20.669 their ticket stub. And it was awesome because 00:09:20.669 --> 00:09:21.789 you never knew what you were going to get. You 00:09:21.789 --> 00:09:23.470 get their ticket stub and you're like, wow, I 00:09:23.470 --> 00:09:26.110 am very far on the upper deck today, right? Or 00:09:26.110 --> 00:09:28.929 I'm on the field. This is amazing. But the important 00:09:28.929 --> 00:09:30.789 thing was to have that ticket stub because it 00:09:30.789 --> 00:09:34.029 was what got you in. And it proved that you were 00:09:34.029 --> 00:09:37.029 supposed to be there. These torches that they 00:09:37.029 --> 00:09:39.230 carried in this procession, they proved that 00:09:39.230 --> 00:09:40.990 they were supposed to be there, that they were 00:09:40.990 --> 00:09:44.490 not just wedding crashers. All right, the foolish 00:09:44.490 --> 00:09:48.500 bridesmaids The foolish bridesmaids, they miss 00:09:48.500 --> 00:09:50.500 the part that identifies them as a part of the 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:53.179 group. Sometimes we have foolish bridesmaids 00:09:53.179 --> 00:09:56.940 in church. We have foolish bridesmaids in church 00:09:56.940 --> 00:09:59.980 because it's somebody who just hangs out but 00:09:59.980 --> 00:10:02.120 doesn't actually desire a real relationship with 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:04.100 Jesus. And listen, if you're just here to hang 00:10:04.100 --> 00:10:06.649 out, we're glad you're here. This is a church 00:10:06.649 --> 00:10:09.309 that I am proud to say that if I was not a pastor 00:10:09.309 --> 00:10:12.809 of, I would be a participant in. I would attend 00:10:12.809 --> 00:10:15.009 this church if I wasn't on staff. I love this 00:10:15.009 --> 00:10:17.149 church. I think it is a great place to hang out 00:10:17.149 --> 00:10:18.490 and to be a part of. But if you're just here 00:10:18.490 --> 00:10:22.370 to hang out, you've missed the point. These bridesmaids, 00:10:22.450 --> 00:10:24.370 they were foolish because they missed the thing 00:10:24.370 --> 00:10:25.830 that actually made them a part of the group. 00:10:25.929 --> 00:10:28.529 It's all about a relationship with Jesus. Jesus 00:10:28.529 --> 00:10:31.409 says it this way in Matthew seven. Not everyone 00:10:31.409 --> 00:10:34.330 who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom 00:10:34.330 --> 00:10:37.759 of heaven. but only one who does the will of 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:40.759 my father who's in heaven. Many will say to me 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:43.460 on that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all these 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:45.600 things for you? Didn't we prophesy in your name? 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.779 Didn't we drive out demons? And in your name, 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:51.679 we performed many miracles. Then I will tell 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:55.559 them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, 00:10:55.639 --> 00:11:00.139 you evil doers. And this is scary. This is scary 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:04.330 because sometimes we think that our torch, We 00:11:04.330 --> 00:11:06.429 think that our ticket stub is all the things 00:11:06.429 --> 00:11:09.450 that we do for God. But God, I've done this for 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:11.009 you. God, I serve in this ministry. But God, 00:11:11.169 --> 00:11:14.230 I give. But God, I show up. But God, I'm here. 00:11:14.250 --> 00:11:16.009 And we have all these things that say, God, but 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:17.509 look what I've done for you. But you missed the 00:11:17.509 --> 00:11:19.389 point that it's not what you do for God. It's 00:11:19.389 --> 00:11:23.250 a relationship with God. And that's not the torch. 00:11:23.309 --> 00:11:26.289 All that is is you're just hanging around the 00:11:26.289 --> 00:11:29.929 party. You don't have a relationship with God. 00:11:31.180 --> 00:11:34.980 Verse five, he says this, the bridegroom was 00:11:34.980 --> 00:11:39.159 a long time in coming and they became drowsy 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:42.379 and fell asleep. At midnight, the cry rang out, 00:11:42.700 --> 00:11:44.919 here's the bridegroom, come out to meet him. 00:11:45.299 --> 00:11:47.659 Then all of the bridesmaids woke up and trimmed 00:11:47.659 --> 00:11:50.600 their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:53.139 give us some of your oil, our lamps are going 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:56.799 out. No, they replied, there may not be enough 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:00.740 for both us and you. Instead, go to those who 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:05.279 sell oil and buy some for yourself. Now, some 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:06.480 of you are reading this and you're like, okay, 00:12:06.519 --> 00:12:08.039 they must have missed preschool when sharing 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:11.080 is caring, right? Why are they being selfish? 00:12:11.179 --> 00:12:13.419 Why wouldn't they just give the oil that they 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:15.539 have? And you need to understand that these bridesmaids 00:12:15.539 --> 00:12:17.440 are not being selfish. What in fact they are 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.399 doing is they are setting healthy boundaries. 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:21.639 Some of you need to set healthy boundaries in 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:23.340 your life and that is not selfish. You need to 00:12:23.340 --> 00:12:25.539 be able to say, this is a boundary that I'm setting. 00:12:26.009 --> 00:12:28.029 And I love their response because they said, 00:12:28.090 --> 00:12:30.090 listen, you can't ride my coattails. There's 00:12:30.090 --> 00:12:32.409 a price that's required. You need to go buy it 00:12:32.409 --> 00:12:35.529 yourself. There becomes a point in our faith 00:12:35.529 --> 00:12:38.710 where we need to own it ourself. I was in middle 00:12:38.710 --> 00:12:41.190 school when I grew up in church my entire life. 00:12:41.269 --> 00:12:43.190 I'd been in church every single weekend. And 00:12:43.190 --> 00:12:44.850 I went to church because that's what my parents 00:12:44.850 --> 00:12:48.070 did. My faith was completely based off of my 00:12:48.070 --> 00:12:50.230 parents' choice that they wanted me to believe. 00:12:50.490 --> 00:12:52.070 And it wasn't until I was in middle school that 00:12:52.070 --> 00:12:54.029 I realized that it wasn't about my parents' faith. 00:12:54.110 --> 00:12:56.950 I needed to make the choice myself to follow 00:12:56.950 --> 00:12:59.870 Jesus. And I needed to say, I'm choosing to accept 00:12:59.870 --> 00:13:01.850 what Jesus has done, not because my parents want 00:13:01.850 --> 00:13:03.909 me to, but because it's what I want to do. And 00:13:03.909 --> 00:13:06.970 I owned my own faith. You cannot have a faith 00:13:06.970 --> 00:13:09.470 that is dependent on your spouse. Just because 00:13:09.470 --> 00:13:11.309 your spouse wants you to be here, that is not 00:13:11.309 --> 00:13:13.029 your faith. Just because your parents went to 00:13:13.029 --> 00:13:14.669 church their whole life, and when you come to 00:13:14.669 --> 00:13:17.049 church, it reminds you of them, that's not what 00:13:17.049 --> 00:13:20.340 it's about. You need to have a relationship with 00:13:20.340 --> 00:13:23.279 Jesus. They're saying, no, no, no, you can't 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:24.960 just go ahead and borrow this. You need to go 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:29.100 out and you need to pay the price for it. Verse 00:13:29.100 --> 00:13:31.860 10, but while they were on their way to buy oil, 00:13:32.860 --> 00:13:36.179 the groom arrived and the bridesmaids who were 00:13:36.179 --> 00:13:38.399 ready went in with him to the wedding banquet 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.759 and the door was shut. Later, the others came 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:44.139 and they said, Lord, Lord, open the door for 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:48.480 us. But he replied, truly, I tell you, I don't 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:54.769 know you. How prepared are you? How prepared 00:13:54.769 --> 00:13:56.450 are you? Because sometimes we go, okay, I'm prepared 00:13:56.450 --> 00:13:58.830 because I read a book. I'm prepared because I 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:01.950 know some knowledge. I think about this. Remember 00:14:01.950 --> 00:14:04.330 when you had your first kid and you were prepared 00:14:04.330 --> 00:14:06.549 because you read what to expect when you're expecting? 00:14:07.389 --> 00:14:09.690 And you're like, I know, I read the book. I took 00:14:09.690 --> 00:14:12.460 a parenting class. I'm good. And then you go 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:15.139 in and you have this baby and then the nurse 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:16.919 is there to help you and tell you like, no, no, 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:18.559 no, this is the way the diaper goes. And like, 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:20.200 you put the diaper on and then they do the craziest 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.279 thing ever. They put the baby in a car seat and 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.220 they let you take it home with you. And you're 00:14:26.220 --> 00:14:28.539 like, what am I supposed to do now? Who's here 00:14:28.539 --> 00:14:30.220 to help me? I don't know what the heck I'm doing. 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:32.059 And you can read every book in the world. And 00:14:32.059 --> 00:14:34.340 at that moment, the panic inside of you is like, 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:38.629 I'm not ready. I'm not there. Listen, how prepared 00:14:38.629 --> 00:14:42.629 are you? Because preparation requires action. 00:14:43.809 --> 00:14:45.990 And just knowing something is not good enough. 00:14:46.029 --> 00:14:49.690 You have to have action. Preparation requires 00:14:49.690 --> 00:14:53.210 action. How prepared are you? Do you know Jesus? 00:14:54.110 --> 00:14:57.330 Do you know Jesus? Because Jesus wants to know 00:14:57.330 --> 00:14:59.789 you and his invitation for you to know him is 00:14:59.789 --> 00:15:03.480 this. He went to a cross and died for you. His 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:05.840 invitation is this, is that God wanted a relationship 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:08.039 with you, but because of your sin and because 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:11.320 of my sin, we are separated from God. We cannot 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:13.299 associate with a perfect and holy God because 00:15:13.299 --> 00:15:15.980 of our sin. And because of that gap, it says 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:18.000 that God so loved the world that he sent his 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:21.019 son. And Jesus came because the penalty for our 00:15:21.019 --> 00:15:23.940 sin is death. The wages of sin is death. And 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:26.919 so Jesus paid the penalty. He paid the wages. 00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:29.059 He said, I will pay the price that you deserve. 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:31.960 And he went to a cross. And Jesus died on a cross 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:35.159 for you and for me. And when we put our trust 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:37.580 in Jesus, we have a restored relationship with 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:40.779 God. That is the gospel. That is the good news. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:43.519 That is what he's saying. Hey, listen, this is 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:46.500 what matters. It's not if you go to church. It's 00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:49.259 not if you were a good person. It's not if you 00:15:49.259 --> 00:15:51.220 just gave back. Oh, I've just given back to a 00:15:51.220 --> 00:15:53.240 lot of people. It's not if you're on a serve 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:55.360 team. It's not if you're in a life group. It's 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:57.419 not if you just hung around church for 30 years. 00:15:57.419 --> 00:15:59.240 That's awesome. We're glad you're here. It's 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:01.899 not about that. All that is is a torch with no 00:16:01.899 --> 00:16:05.320 oil. All that is is carrying around a torch that 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:10.000 has absolutely no oil. It doesn't matter at all 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.019 because hanging around church is not the same 00:16:12.019 --> 00:16:16.240 as having a relationship with Jesus. But I think 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.700 a lot of us are content with borrowed oil. All 00:16:18.700 --> 00:16:20.679 right, we're content with just borrowing oil. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:22.960 These bridesmaids are like, oh, I just wanna 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.740 borrow oil. Listen, you need to understand that 00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:26.820 you don't need to borrow oil. There's an abundance 00:16:26.820 --> 00:16:30.740 in Jesus. There's an abundance in Jesus for you. 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:33.120 And listen, my Catholic friends in here, I love 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.000 you, you're awesome, but you need to understand 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.899 that you have access to the same God that I have 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:40.240 access to. I always think it's crazy when people 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:41.980 are like, hey, will you pray for me? And yes, 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:43.779 I'll pray for you. The Bible says we should pray 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:45.960 for each other and we will. But you need to understand, 00:16:46.019 --> 00:16:48.299 I don't have any special access to God because 00:16:48.299 --> 00:16:50.740 I'm a pastor. You have the exact same access 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:54.659 to God through Jesus. The exact same access to 00:16:54.659 --> 00:16:57.759 God through Jesus. You do not need to borrow 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:01.059 oil because you have the reservoir of where oil 00:17:01.059 --> 00:17:05.400 comes from. And it's available to you. But sometimes 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:10.109 we rely so much on borrowed oil. We like listening 00:17:10.109 --> 00:17:12.390 to messages and messages are great. We have a 00:17:12.390 --> 00:17:14.609 good stockpile of messages on our website. You 00:17:14.609 --> 00:17:16.369 can go back and listen to every single week. 00:17:16.410 --> 00:17:19.509 They're incredibly helpful for you to build up 00:17:19.509 --> 00:17:21.470 who you are and to live the life that you were 00:17:21.470 --> 00:17:23.789 created for in Jesus. And we have the incredible 00:17:23.789 --> 00:17:26.509 privilege of having an incredible pastor, lead 00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:28.809 pastor that is a wonderful teacher like John. 00:17:28.869 --> 00:17:31.089 We get to sit under his teaching. It's incredible. 00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:33.170 And some of you are like, speaking of him, when 00:17:33.170 --> 00:17:37.349 is he coming back? You're like, I want a pastor 00:17:37.349 --> 00:17:39.329 who wears a sweatshirt. When is he coming back? 00:17:39.829 --> 00:17:42.170 He'll be back. Don't worry. Don't worry. You'll 00:17:42.170 --> 00:17:43.910 only have to deal with this for a couple more 00:17:43.910 --> 00:17:45.710 weeks. All right. I'm saying it's going to get 00:17:45.710 --> 00:17:48.990 better. Don't worry. We like those messages and 00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:51.670 that's great. We like to listen to podcasts. 00:17:51.829 --> 00:17:53.589 And listen, I'm telling you right now, if the 00:17:53.589 --> 00:17:55.990 unedited podcast is not in your weekly routine, 00:17:56.130 --> 00:17:57.950 you need to add it into your weekly routine. 00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:00.740 because it is designed to help you live the life 00:18:00.740 --> 00:18:03.039 that you were created for in Jesus. It's amazing. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:05.180 It's something that can help you on your walk 00:18:05.180 --> 00:18:08.000 and be a part of your week. All right, there's 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:09.700 books that are incredible to help you live the 00:18:09.700 --> 00:18:11.160 life that you were created for in Jesus. They're 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:13.319 all out there and you can find those books. You 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:15.539 can read those books. You can consume that content 00:18:15.539 --> 00:18:17.539 and every single one of those things, even though 00:18:17.539 --> 00:18:20.759 it's amazing, it is secondhand. It is not from 00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:23.039 the source. You have access to go to the source. 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:25.240 You have access to the word of God. You have 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:28.700 access to the living and active word of God himself 00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:31.920 in your hand. You can read what he said. The 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.900 sword of the spirit that's sharper than any two 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:35.960 -edged sword that you have access to. You have 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:38.640 access to a conversation at any time, any place 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:41.279 with the God of the universe, the all -powerful, 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:43.539 all -knowing, all -present God of the universe 00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:46.400 that wants to talk with you through prayer. You 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:48.900 have access to the Holy Spirit on the inside. 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:52.140 himself to guide you and walk with you and push 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:53.759 you through your life. When the difficulties 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.460 come, you have God inside of you to walk through 00:18:56.460 --> 00:19:00.720 all of it. Do not settle for borrowed oil. Some 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:02.799 of you are settling for secondhand borrowed oil 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:05.000 when God is saying there is more. There's more 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:08.380 for you. You can go to the source. You can go 00:19:08.380 --> 00:19:12.900 to the unending source. Scarcity is not a thing 00:19:12.900 --> 00:19:15.720 with our God. And here's the thing about these 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:18.970 bridesmaids. All 10 of them looked exactly the 00:19:18.970 --> 00:19:22.289 same on the outside. They were all invited there. 00:19:22.950 --> 00:19:27.549 They all were there. They all had a lamp. But 00:19:27.549 --> 00:19:30.309 what was on the inside is what matters. Having 00:19:30.309 --> 00:19:33.710 extra oil. You can show up to church and you 00:19:33.710 --> 00:19:35.589 can be here and on the outside you can look great. 00:19:35.609 --> 00:19:37.130 You can do the right thing and say the right 00:19:37.130 --> 00:19:38.970 thing and be in the right place and that's great. 00:19:39.849 --> 00:19:43.670 But it's what's on the inside that matters. a 00:19:43.670 --> 00:19:46.369 personal relationship with Jesus. How prepared 00:19:46.369 --> 00:19:48.089 are you? Do you have a personal relationship 00:19:48.089 --> 00:19:52.369 with Jesus? How prepared are you? Are you making 00:19:52.369 --> 00:19:56.549 use of the time that you have? Because how you 00:19:56.549 --> 00:20:00.150 live matters. It matters. How you live this life, 00:20:00.170 --> 00:20:02.309 not just in this building, but outside of these 00:20:02.309 --> 00:20:04.769 walls, how you live actually matters. It says 00:20:04.769 --> 00:20:08.369 this in Titus 2, verse 11 through 13, for the 00:20:08.369 --> 00:20:10.710 grace of God has appeared that offers salvation 00:20:10.710 --> 00:20:12.869 to all people. The grace of God, right? That's 00:20:12.869 --> 00:20:14.849 what we talked about, a relationship with Jesus 00:20:14.849 --> 00:20:17.250 because of his grace. But what does it do? It 00:20:17.250 --> 00:20:20.509 teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly 00:20:20.509 --> 00:20:23.970 passions and to live self -controlled, upright, 00:20:24.009 --> 00:20:27.589 godly lives in this present age while we wait. 00:20:27.769 --> 00:20:30.789 for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory 00:20:30.789 --> 00:20:32.849 of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. When 00:20:32.849 --> 00:20:34.930 we wait for the answer to the question the disciples 00:20:34.930 --> 00:20:37.230 ask, when are you coming back? In the meantime, 00:20:37.410 --> 00:20:39.769 what does the gospel do? It helps us say no to 00:20:39.769 --> 00:20:42.589 the worldly passions, to the human impulses and 00:20:42.589 --> 00:20:45.769 choose to live in a godly way. And this has to 00:20:45.769 --> 00:20:47.970 be a daily routine for us. There's a daily routine 00:20:47.970 --> 00:20:50.329 for me to say no to my human impulses and say 00:20:50.329 --> 00:20:53.660 yes to God. Every single time a woman walks past 00:20:53.660 --> 00:20:55.980 me that is not my wife and everything inside 00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:58.660 of me wants me to look, I have to say no to my 00:20:58.660 --> 00:21:00.839 human passions and desires in order to say yes 00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:04.059 to God. Because what's in me wants to, and it's 00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:05.599 like, man, I wanna do it, I wanna look, but I 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.119 have to say no because the gospel is teaching 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:09.160 me to say no to my human passions and desires. 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:12.200 Every time I'm interacting with some dumb people, 00:21:12.500 --> 00:21:14.880 listen, there's some dumb people out there. None 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:18.299 of you guys, I'm just saying, out there. And 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:21.119 my anger's bubbling up. and it wants to take 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:23.240 control of me, I gotta say no to my human passions, 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:25.920 what I want to do in order to say yes to Jesus. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:28.240 Every single time that I am on the internet, 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:30.960 I have to say no to the things that I want to 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:33.099 go to, and I want to look at, and I want to click 00:21:33.099 --> 00:21:35.259 on, and I want to go to because my human desires 00:21:35.259 --> 00:21:36.880 and passions are saying no, this is what you 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:38.319 wanna look at, this is what you wanna do, and 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:40.220 I have to say no because the gospel is teaching 00:21:40.220 --> 00:21:42.900 me to say no to those things, to say yes to Jesus. 00:21:43.940 --> 00:21:45.960 Listen, every time that thought in your brain, 00:21:46.619 --> 00:21:48.119 this is the place where we get messed up the 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:50.289 most, is our thoughts. Every time you want to 00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:52.569 start thinking something about somebody or about 00:21:52.569 --> 00:21:56.490 yourself that's not true. We have to stop. We 00:21:56.490 --> 00:21:58.470 have to go, no, no, no, no. I'm not saying yes 00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:01.309 to what the world wants, my human passion. I 00:22:01.309 --> 00:22:04.670 need to take captive my thoughts. All right, 00:22:04.670 --> 00:22:06.390 some of you guys suffer from stinking thinking. 00:22:06.869 --> 00:22:08.630 All right, that's your ailment. That's what you 00:22:08.630 --> 00:22:11.769 got. And it starts in here for us to say, no, 00:22:11.769 --> 00:22:14.650 no, no. The gospel teaches me to say no, because 00:22:14.650 --> 00:22:18.700 how I live matters. How I live matters. And it's 00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:21.400 hard because that's what's inside of us. It's 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:23.039 hard to do that because what's inside of us wants 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:24.559 to come out of us. And a lot of us are like, 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:26.819 listen, you mess with me too much and my pre 00:22:26.819 --> 00:22:29.420 -Jesus is gonna come out. You're like, I'm saved, 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:33.759 but I'm not soft. And that's what's inside of 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:35.480 us. But you need to realize this, check it out. 00:22:35.500 --> 00:22:38.200 When God freed the Israelites from Egypt and 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:40.740 he took the Israelites out of Egypt, out of slavery. 00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:43.569 He said, I'm taking you out of Egypt. But then 00:22:43.569 --> 00:22:46.329 he spent the next 40 years taking Egypt out of 00:22:46.329 --> 00:22:49.630 the Israelites. He spent the next 40 years going, 00:22:49.769 --> 00:22:52.210 okay, listen, you are saved. You are no longer 00:22:52.210 --> 00:22:54.849 a slave, but you keep wanting to go back and 00:22:54.849 --> 00:22:57.170 live like a slave. Listen to me, church, you 00:22:57.170 --> 00:22:59.609 no longer need to live like a slave because you've 00:22:59.609 --> 00:23:02.769 been set free. You've been set free. You have 00:23:02.769 --> 00:23:04.450 the power of God inside of you. And you don't 00:23:04.450 --> 00:23:06.329 have to keep going back to living like a slave 00:23:06.329 --> 00:23:09.759 when he said, no, no, no, you're free now. Living 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:13.279 a way that God has called you to live through 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:15.019 the gospel. Do you understand? The power is not 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:17.599 on your own. You want to watch someone fail in 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:19.119 the way that they live? It's when they think 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:21.680 that they have to do it on their own. Because 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:23.660 I can't say no to those internet sites that I 00:23:23.660 --> 00:23:25.720 want to look at. Because I can't say no to the 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:27.900 people that I want to blow up on. I can't say 00:23:27.900 --> 00:23:29.599 no to those things, but it's the power of God 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:33.440 inside of us. That's who does it. Some of us 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:37.480 are operating on the wrong power system. You 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.660 cannot do this on your own church. I cannot plead 00:23:39.660 --> 00:23:41.619 with you enough for you to understand that you 00:23:41.619 --> 00:23:43.299 don't have the strength to do this, but it is 00:23:43.299 --> 00:23:45.559 God through you that has the strength in order 00:23:45.559 --> 00:23:48.339 for you to say yes to what Jesus wants and say 00:23:48.339 --> 00:23:51.960 no to what you want. And what that looks like 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:54.140 is this. The Bible says they will know you by 00:23:54.140 --> 00:23:57.500 your love. They're not gonna know you by what 00:23:57.500 --> 00:23:58.859 you said. They're not gonna know you by if you 00:23:58.859 --> 00:24:00.079 came to church. They're not gonna know you by 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:04.359 your love. That's what we need to understand. 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:06.640 Just like the torch, it proved that they were 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:09.339 with them. So does us being prepared in the way 00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:13.039 that we live, the way that we love. That's preparation 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:16.819 for people to know that we are with them. That's 00:24:16.819 --> 00:24:20.359 who we follow. Listen, I get it. Life isn't always 00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:23.339 easy. It's hard. And like, okay, I want to live 00:24:23.339 --> 00:24:25.400 that way, but it's real hard because the circumstances 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:27.559 around me are difficult. All right, my boss just 00:24:27.559 --> 00:24:30.829 doesn't get it. My boss is hard. They're like, 00:24:30.829 --> 00:24:32.970 I don't get it. My kids, man, kids have the worst 00:24:32.970 --> 00:24:36.289 timing in the world. They do. Right? Dad, dad, 00:24:36.509 --> 00:24:38.069 dad. I'm like, I'm going to kick you across the 00:24:38.069 --> 00:24:41.569 room right now. I'm not going to kick my kid, 00:24:41.710 --> 00:24:44.390 OK? But I want to. I'm telling you right now. 00:24:44.450 --> 00:24:47.789 There's some times. Right? It's hard sometimes 00:24:47.789 --> 00:24:49.690 because things are hard. Right? Listen, you Prescott 00:24:49.690 --> 00:24:52.250 drivers, you're testing me. You're testing me. 00:24:52.269 --> 00:24:55.049 I'm telling you. Right? But some of you are clapping. 00:24:55.130 --> 00:24:57.380 You're like, oh, I know. I know. That's awesome. 00:24:57.460 --> 00:24:59.160 What part of California are you from? I'm just 00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:02.640 kidding. I'm just kidding. But listen, it's hard 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:05.160 out there. And sometimes we blame our circumstances. 00:25:05.940 --> 00:25:09.400 We blame our circumstances on how why we can't 00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:12.299 live for Jesus. And I love this because Paul 00:25:12.299 --> 00:25:15.200 writes this. Paul says this in Ephesians, and 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:17.299 I love how he starts this. He says, as a prisoner 00:25:17.299 --> 00:25:20.619 for the Lord. Hold up. Where is he? He's obviously 00:25:20.619 --> 00:25:22.799 in jail. That's worse than your circumstance 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.039 right now. And what does he say when his circumstance 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:27.180 is really bad? As a prisoner for the Lord, then 00:25:27.180 --> 00:25:30.960 I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:34.359 you have received, to be completely humble and 00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:38.099 gentle, to be patient, bearing with one another 00:25:38.099 --> 00:25:43.700 in love. In love. So how do you do this? What 00:25:43.700 --> 00:25:46.680 does this look like? First is this, it's living 00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:50.650 with purpose and integrity. Living with purpose 00:25:50.650 --> 00:25:53.990 and integrity. You have a purpose. Your purpose 00:25:53.990 --> 00:25:56.529 is to share the love of God. Let me ask you this. 00:25:56.690 --> 00:25:58.410 When you accepted Christ, how come you weren't 00:25:58.410 --> 00:26:00.190 just taken to heaven right away? This earth is 00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:02.690 difficult. We have a lot of troubles. So why 00:26:02.690 --> 00:26:05.109 wouldn't he just take you? There's two things 00:26:05.109 --> 00:26:07.009 you can do here on earth that you can't do in 00:26:07.009 --> 00:26:11.089 heaven. One is sin, and two is tell people about 00:26:11.089 --> 00:26:13.630 Jesus. Which one do you think you're here for? 00:26:15.029 --> 00:26:20.160 It's not to sin. You have a purpose. Your purpose 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:21.920 is to tell people about Jesus, and where you 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:25.039 find yourself is how you live that purpose. At 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:27.480 work, that's your opportunity to tell people 00:26:27.480 --> 00:26:29.180 about Jesus, to share with them the hope that 00:26:29.180 --> 00:26:32.380 you have. In your neighborhood, there's no accident 00:26:32.380 --> 00:26:34.160 that you're there. You're there because you can 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:37.180 share Jesus with them. That checker you see at 00:26:37.180 --> 00:26:39.720 the grocery store over and over, that's an opportunity 00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:43.339 for you to share Jesus with them. What we like 00:26:43.339 --> 00:26:45.240 to do is we like to compartmentalize our life. 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:48.660 Well, this is me at work. This is how I act at 00:26:48.660 --> 00:26:50.059 work, and these are the things I say at work, 00:26:50.099 --> 00:26:51.660 and this is how people perceive me at work, and 00:26:51.660 --> 00:26:53.599 this is what I do at work. And this is me with 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:55.319 my family, and this is how I act with my family, 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:56.640 and this is what I say with my family, and this 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:58.400 is how people perceive me. And then this is me 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:01.039 at church. And at church, this is how I act, 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:02.279 and this is what I say, and this is what I do. 00:27:02.779 --> 00:27:05.819 And you need to understand that integrity is 00:27:05.819 --> 00:27:07.920 consistency, because every single one of those 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:11.200 people is the same. And when you make each one 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:13.980 of those people the same, you understand that 00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:18.890 you have not only a purpose, But having integrity 00:27:18.890 --> 00:27:21.170 is living that purpose out wherever you find 00:27:21.170 --> 00:27:24.789 yourself. Next is this, is responding unexpectedly. 00:27:26.630 --> 00:27:29.210 What if we just responded unexpectedly? Because 00:27:29.210 --> 00:27:32.410 there's an expected response, right? When someone's 00:27:32.410 --> 00:27:34.849 being dumb, when you started countering those 00:27:34.849 --> 00:27:37.390 dumb people I talked about, what if you just 00:27:37.390 --> 00:27:40.450 treated them with kindness? That's not expected. 00:27:42.420 --> 00:27:44.900 What if when you thought what you wanted to say 00:27:44.900 --> 00:27:46.640 because some of you have quick wit and you can 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:48.619 just fire things with your tongue, you're good 00:27:48.619 --> 00:27:52.059 at that? What if you controlled your tongue instead 00:27:52.059 --> 00:27:56.339 of just firing it? That's unexpected. What if 00:27:56.339 --> 00:27:59.359 in that moment where, man, every sign is pointing 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:02.079 to a blow up on that person, instead you choose 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:07.039 patience? And you acted in an unexpected way. 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:12.910 What if we responded unexpectedly? Next is this. 00:28:13.630 --> 00:28:18.250 Living outward, not inward. Living outward, not 00:28:18.250 --> 00:28:20.410 inward. If you were here a couple weeks ago, 00:28:20.630 --> 00:28:22.130 Pastor Bob talked about forgiveness. You know 00:28:22.130 --> 00:28:23.829 what forgiveness is? It's living outward, not 00:28:23.829 --> 00:28:25.630 inward. Because inward, we want to hold onto 00:28:25.630 --> 00:28:27.309 it. I'm going to hold onto this. I'm not going 00:28:27.309 --> 00:28:29.730 to let it go. Outward is releasing it and saying, 00:28:29.769 --> 00:28:31.690 hey, I'm going to live for you, not just for 00:28:31.690 --> 00:28:35.029 me. I'm going to release you. If you were here 00:28:35.029 --> 00:28:36.970 last week, Pastor Austin talked about, man, we've 00:28:36.970 --> 00:28:38.990 been blessed so much. There's so much that we've 00:28:38.990 --> 00:28:42.299 been given with our time. with our talents, with 00:28:42.299 --> 00:28:44.759 our finances, and living inward is saying, it's 00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:46.460 all for me, but you need to realize that it was 00:28:46.460 --> 00:28:48.980 given to you to be given to other people. Living 00:28:48.980 --> 00:28:51.720 outward is saying, no, it's for you. It's to 00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:57.019 give. Don't live inward, live outward. We live 00:28:57.019 --> 00:29:00.059 in a tough world. If we're gonna stand up here 00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:01.480 and say that we're a family, that means that 00:29:01.480 --> 00:29:03.160 families are there for each other. It's not just 00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:05.079 about you. It's showing up in someone else's 00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:06.819 life when they need you, when they're in pain, 00:29:06.819 --> 00:29:08.140 when they're going through something and saying, 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:10.519 man, I'm here for you because this is what families 00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:12.519 do because I'm not choosing to live inwardly. 00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:14.420 I'm choosing to live outwardly and think about 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:18.579 you instead of thinking about me. But why does 00:29:18.579 --> 00:29:21.720 this matter? Those are all good things. But why 00:29:21.720 --> 00:29:24.440 does this matter? It matters because the way 00:29:24.440 --> 00:29:27.140 that Jesus closes his parables, he says this 00:29:27.140 --> 00:29:32.980 in verse 13. Therefore, keep watch, because you 00:29:32.980 --> 00:29:37.240 do not know the day or the hour. Listen, church, 00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:41.299 you do not have time to put it off. We often 00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:43.299 think we have so much time that it's OK. We'll 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:45.519 get that right another time. I'll start loving 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:47.420 people later. I'll have a relationship with God 00:29:47.420 --> 00:29:51.339 later. You do not know how much time you have. 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:55.799 I heard the story of a teacher who, on the first 00:29:55.799 --> 00:29:58.740 day of school each year, first semester, first 00:29:58.740 --> 00:30:00.500 day of the semester, she'd put a chair, an empty 00:30:00.500 --> 00:30:04.819 chair in front of her classroom. The students 00:30:04.819 --> 00:30:06.119 are like, what's the empty chair for? And she 00:30:06.119 --> 00:30:08.539 said, this empty chair represents the friends, 00:30:08.619 --> 00:30:10.759 the people, people that are around you that may 00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:13.740 not be here. Maybe a loved one, maybe someone 00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:17.220 you know. This is going to leave too early and 00:30:17.220 --> 00:30:20.119 won't be here. It's going to leave this earth. 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:26.069 And this is to remind you to say today, what 00:30:26.069 --> 00:30:28.869 you've been putting off to say tomorrow. This 00:30:28.869 --> 00:30:30.609 is to remind you to speak with kindness. This 00:30:30.609 --> 00:30:32.490 is to remind you to forgive. This is to remind 00:30:32.490 --> 00:30:35.529 you to care. This is to remind you that you don't 00:30:35.529 --> 00:30:37.130 know how much time you have with the people around 00:30:37.130 --> 00:30:40.509 you. And I don't want to get morbid here to like 00:30:40.509 --> 00:30:42.410 end this message on a downer or anything like 00:30:42.410 --> 00:30:44.170 that, but here's the truth, is that chair doesn't 00:30:44.170 --> 00:30:46.230 just represent other people, that chair represents 00:30:46.230 --> 00:30:49.410 you. Because you don't know how much time you 00:30:49.410 --> 00:30:52.710 have. That's the point of this parable. See, 00:30:53.009 --> 00:30:55.660 the groom can come back at any time. And not 00:30:55.660 --> 00:30:57.539 just referring to a second coming, when Jesus 00:30:57.539 --> 00:31:00.519 is coming and you need to be ready, but you also 00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:02.319 don't know when he's going to call you home. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:05.839 You have no idea when your last breath is gonna 00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:09.460 be taken on this earth. You don't have time to 00:31:09.460 --> 00:31:14.500 waste. So let me ask you, are you prepared? Are 00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:20.160 you ready? Do you know Jesus? Because if you're 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:22.660 in here today and you do not know Jesus, you're 00:31:22.660 --> 00:31:24.339 just hanging out around the party, but you do 00:31:24.339 --> 00:31:26.359 not actually know Jesus. Don't let today pass. 00:31:26.859 --> 00:31:30.480 Today is the day of salvation. For those of you 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:33.160 in here, say, yes, I put my faith in Jesus. Let 00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:37.039 me ask you this. Are you making use of the time 00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:40.559 that you have? Because we don't know when he's 00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:44.599 coming, but it's our job to be prepared. Let's 00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:49.240 pray. God, thank you so much. for what you've 00:31:49.240 --> 00:31:51.640 given us. Thank you so much for the blessings 00:31:51.640 --> 00:31:53.319 that you've given us. Thank you so much for the 00:31:53.319 --> 00:31:56.119 blessing of time. And God, thank you for this 00:31:56.119 --> 00:32:00.880 story to remind us that we do not have a lot 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:04.299 of time. God, I pray for the people in the room 00:32:04.299 --> 00:32:06.539 right now that need to say yes to you, Jesus. 00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:09.099 That need to get to a place in their life where 00:32:09.099 --> 00:32:11.400 they can own their faith, where they're not living 00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:14.099 off borrowed oil. But God, they say yes because 00:32:14.099 --> 00:32:15.880 of what you've done on the cross. I'm willing 00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:19.660 to fully trust you. I pray for the people in 00:32:19.660 --> 00:32:21.480 this room, God, that need to change the way that 00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:23.200 they live and they need to understand that the 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:26.859 gospel is the power of God for salvation, for 00:32:26.859 --> 00:32:32.000 us to say no to our desires to say yes to you, 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:34.579 that we would live in a way where we take advantage 00:32:34.579 --> 00:32:36.920 of the time that we have because how we live 00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:42.099 matters. God, I pray that this would not just 00:32:42.099 --> 00:32:44.380 be another weekend, but it would be a weekend 00:32:44.380 --> 00:32:48.049 of surrender. We say, God, I'm tired of doing 00:32:48.049 --> 00:32:50.470 it on my own. And because I do not have a lot 00:32:50.470 --> 00:32:53.730 of time, I surrender it to You. I give up. I'm 00:32:53.730 --> 00:32:57.869 tired of doing it on my own. But God, it is because 00:32:57.869 --> 00:33:00.750 of You that we are even here. And we praise You. 00:33:01.470 --> 00:33:05.029 And we pray this in Your Son's name. Amen.