WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.220 For the last few weeks, across 16 or so chapters, 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:06.339 we have been following or trying to follow the 00:00:06.339 --> 00:00:10.019 way of Jesus through the gospel of Luke. And 00:00:10.019 --> 00:00:13.000 this morning, we follow Jesus to Jerusalem, the 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:17.559 holy city. At the time Jesus enters Jerusalem, 00:00:17.780 --> 00:00:20.440 he's already proven himself to be more than just 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:22.800 a rabbi. He's proven to be more than just a good 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:25.899 teacher. He's done miracles. He's taught things 00:00:25.899 --> 00:00:29.640 that nobody could explain by earthly means. And 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:32.039 he's not only taught and done things that were 00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:35.719 otherworldly, he's claimed to be otherworldly. 00:00:35.740 --> 00:00:38.960 He's claimed to be God, the Son of God, the Messiah, 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:42.039 the Savior that the Jews have been waiting for. 00:00:42.780 --> 00:00:46.439 And he's proven it. So far, he has proven to 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:50.539 be the long -awaited Savior. He's fulfilled a 00:00:50.539 --> 00:00:52.820 lot of these prophecies. He's lived the life 00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:57.359 that they would expect from their Savior. So 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:01.299 as he arrives to Jerusalem, the response of the 00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:03.859 crowd is as intense as you would imagine it would 00:01:03.859 --> 00:01:08.359 be for a people that are now receiving this thousands 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:14.109 of years -awaited Savior. The crowds shout. I 00:01:14.109 --> 00:01:16.590 want you to read this boldly with me. Blessed 00:01:16.590 --> 00:01:19.310 is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. 00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:23.569 Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And 00:01:23.569 --> 00:01:26.310 they celebrate just as we would, just loudly 00:01:26.310 --> 00:01:28.730 and proudly. Just imagine if like your favorite 00:01:28.730 --> 00:01:31.290 celebrity came to town or they came into your 00:01:31.290 --> 00:01:32.950 business, they came into your restaurant, whatever 00:01:32.950 --> 00:01:35.290 it is, and you saw them and they came up and 00:01:35.290 --> 00:01:39.420 talked to you. You would be awestruck. And maybe 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:41.739 if we knew they were coming, we would have like 00:01:41.739 --> 00:01:44.480 a parade going ready for them to come into town. 00:01:44.659 --> 00:01:46.540 You think about like your favorite sports team 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:48.819 when they win a championship and they come back 00:01:48.819 --> 00:01:51.659 from wherever the championship was and people 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:54.079 meet them at the airport celebrating, shouting, 00:01:54.379 --> 00:01:57.140 proclaiming their victory. That's what's happening 00:01:57.140 --> 00:02:01.060 here. The crowds are declaring victory. They're 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:04.060 declaring glory because the king has arrived. 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:07.719 But we have to realize that this is the same 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:12.139 crowd. that in just a few short days, after Jesus 00:02:12.139 --> 00:02:18.400 arrives in their town, will cry crucify. This 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.419 is the same crowd that would gladly cheer for 00:02:22.419 --> 00:02:25.900 his arrest, the same crowd that would put him 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:30.719 forward to be beaten. They're chanting victory 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:34.699 and glory today, but in just a few short days. 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:38.300 they will be singing an entirely different tune. 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:42.080 The voices right now that are praising him, they'll 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:46.280 go silent. The crowds that are currently following 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:49.719 him and cheering for him, they will run far away. 00:02:51.219 --> 00:02:53.500 The same people celebrating him, they're going 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:56.719 to be the ones that go off into hiding. The same 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:58.759 ones that will pretend that they never knew him. 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:03.340 And knowing that part of the story, after seeing 00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:06.479 what Jesus taught them and knowing that he had 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:09.680 tried to prepare them, I asked the question, 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:14.419 where is the faith? You see, when Jesus is coming 00:03:14.419 --> 00:03:16.960 into the holy city, after all the great things 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:19.080 he had done, after all the amazing things he 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:21.960 said, everything was sunshine and roses. But 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:24.159 now when the adversity, when the persecution 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:27.819 starts to approach, when it hits, we're nowhere 00:03:27.819 --> 00:03:31.280 to be found. And I want you to think about your 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.139 life, your faith journey, your walk with God. 00:03:34.659 --> 00:03:37.780 It's easy right now to sing praises. It's easy 00:03:37.780 --> 00:03:40.300 to say, we love you, Lord. It's easy to declare 00:03:40.300 --> 00:03:45.039 how good God is. But when life hits you, when 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:48.560 things get hard, when society makes it questionable 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:52.460 to be a follower of Jesus, where is your faith? 00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:58.340 When you're challenged, where is your faith? 00:03:58.969 --> 00:04:01.110 See, when Jesus is coming into the holy city 00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:03.569 after all the great things he had done, it was 00:04:03.569 --> 00:04:09.050 good. But what happens after that? When life 00:04:09.050 --> 00:04:15.490 gets complicated? Is it possible that we as followers 00:04:15.490 --> 00:04:19.550 of Jesus find it easy to celebrate him without 00:04:19.550 --> 00:04:24.610 actually being faithful to him? Now that can 00:04:24.610 --> 00:04:29.040 be kind of troubling to think about. So I do 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:31.839 want to offer some good news. The good news is 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:34.459 that none of this surprises Jesus. None of it 00:04:34.459 --> 00:04:36.980 is surprising to him that the same people that 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:39.540 could cheer him on will be the same ones that 00:04:39.540 --> 00:04:41.740 would offer him up to death. The same people 00:04:41.740 --> 00:04:45.000 that will follow him are not going to be faithful 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.339 to him. That's not surprising to him. Before 00:04:47.339 --> 00:04:49.699 he entered Jerusalem, he had been preparing the 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:52.620 disciples for this very moment. He had taught 00:04:52.620 --> 00:04:55.000 them what it meant and what it looked like to 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.939 be faithful, even under not so great circumstances. 00:04:58.500 --> 00:05:00.970 I want us to go back a couple of chapters. and 00:05:00.970 --> 00:05:04.589 go back to some moments leading up to this scene 00:05:04.589 --> 00:05:07.509 here in Jerusalem. And we'll start in Luke 18, 00:05:07.670 --> 00:05:11.050 verses 1 through 8. In Luke 18, verses 1 through 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:14.009 8, Jesus tells a story about a widow. And this 00:05:14.009 --> 00:05:17.029 widow keeps coming back over and over and over 00:05:17.029 --> 00:05:19.970 again to a judge, and she refuses to give up. 00:05:20.029 --> 00:05:23.129 She's seeking justice from this judge who wasn't 00:05:23.129 --> 00:05:26.230 exactly a follower of God, and he wasn't really 00:05:26.230 --> 00:05:30.550 a kind guy. So this is like if Kristen Stanley 00:05:30.550 --> 00:05:36.470 was the judge. Not very nice. A little bit mean, 00:05:36.649 --> 00:05:39.939 hard to deal with. She gave me permission to 00:05:39.939 --> 00:05:42.800 say that. She did not. So if I ever get in trouble 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:45.000 and have to go see her, you'll know what happened. 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:50.199 But seriously, this is a not so nice judge. But 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:53.079 this woman, she keeps going back to the judge 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:56.339 seeking justice. And here's what Jesus says happens. 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:01.120 For a while, he, the judge, refused. But afterward, 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.740 he said to himself, though I neither fear God 00:06:03.740 --> 00:06:07.129 nor respect man. Yet because this widow keeps 00:06:07.129 --> 00:06:10.550 bothering me, I will give her justice so that 00:06:10.550 --> 00:06:13.209 she will not beat me down by her continual coming. 00:06:13.949 --> 00:06:16.910 And Jesus explains the relevance here to those 00:06:16.910 --> 00:06:18.850 who are listening. And this is what he says in 00:06:18.850 --> 00:06:21.290 verses seven through eight. Will not God give 00:06:21.290 --> 00:06:24.269 justice to his elect who cry to him day and night? 00:06:24.430 --> 00:06:27.990 Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he 00:06:27.990 --> 00:06:30.689 will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, 00:06:30.970 --> 00:06:33.889 when the son of man comes, will he find faith 00:06:33.889 --> 00:06:37.600 on earth? Jesus is teaching them about persistence. 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:40.939 He's teaching them about not giving up, about 00:06:40.939 --> 00:06:43.740 not quitting when it gets hard. He's telling 00:06:43.740 --> 00:06:47.639 them that faith isn't so quick to give up. And 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:49.480 I want you to notice, he isn't making it sound 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:52.959 like life is or life will be easy, but what he 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:56.300 is saying is because God is faithful, because 00:06:56.300 --> 00:06:59.360 God is faithful to do right by his people, by 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:03.199 those that follow him, by those who he has redeemed, 00:07:05.230 --> 00:07:10.449 made right. Justice will be served to the faithful 00:07:10.449 --> 00:07:14.089 because our God is faithful. And I love that 00:07:14.089 --> 00:07:15.970 question that he asked at the end, but it's also 00:07:15.970 --> 00:07:18.810 kind of troubling for me where Jesus says, will 00:07:18.810 --> 00:07:23.550 the son of man find faith on earth? What he's 00:07:23.550 --> 00:07:27.939 saying is, will he find people? Will he find 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:30.839 people that trust? And what he's not asking is, 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:33.000 are there going to be people that believe right 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.579 now? Because while Jesus is sitting with them, 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.819 while Jesus is in their presence teaching them, 00:07:38.939 --> 00:07:41.779 it's easy to believe in him. It's easy to believe 00:07:41.779 --> 00:07:44.100 in the guy that's healing people that can't walk 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:46.459 and healing people that can't see. It's easy 00:07:46.459 --> 00:07:48.839 to believe in the guy that shows compassion and 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:51.420 shows love to the outcast, to the widow. It's 00:07:51.420 --> 00:07:55.199 easy to believe and trust and follow that guy. 00:07:56.009 --> 00:07:58.829 But is it easy to trust and follow the guy who 00:07:58.829 --> 00:08:03.730 is hanging on a cross? Is it easy to trust the 00:08:03.730 --> 00:08:08.269 one who is dead, laying in a tomb? You see, this 00:08:08.269 --> 00:08:12.529 week, we look at this life of Jesus and we see 00:08:12.529 --> 00:08:15.329 on Palm Sunday where he enters Jerusalem and 00:08:15.329 --> 00:08:18.350 people cheer his victory. And then just a few 00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:21.889 days later, he gives his life and he dies and 00:08:21.889 --> 00:08:25.360 nobody wants to be known as a follower. of Jesus 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:29.040 because it's not safe. It doesn't make sense 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:31.699 to follow someone who has been killed when they 00:08:31.699 --> 00:08:35.600 thought he was coming to be a king. And so Jesus 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:38.000 says, yeah, you trust me right now, but will 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:43.159 you trust me down the line when it's hard? Will 00:08:43.159 --> 00:08:48.440 your faith last over time? Because we know we'll 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:51.360 have trouble in this life. Maybe you're in a 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.120 spot right now where you are experiencing trouble. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:59.960 There's uncertainty. Maybe you're seeking justice 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:02.840 because someone did something wrong to you. Maybe 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.259 you're seeking healing and you've been praying 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:07.440 and praying and praying, but you're not feeling 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:10.220 it. You aren't seeing the results and you just 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:13.580 wonder, should I give up? And what Jesus is saying 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:18.720 is, no, you've got to hold on. Faith is understanding 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:23.980 that you have to hold on because our God is faithful. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.580 And you may not see it right now. You may not 00:09:28.580 --> 00:09:32.500 see it a week from now, but he will do right. 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:37.720 And not only is faith persistent, not only does 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:39.820 faith hold on, but faith is humble. I want you 00:09:39.820 --> 00:09:42.779 to look at Luke 18 verses 9 through 14 with me. 00:09:43.690 --> 00:09:46.870 We see Jesus contrasting these two men that are 00:09:46.870 --> 00:09:49.490 praying. And on one hand, you've got a very confident 00:09:49.490 --> 00:09:51.309 man who wants to tell you about all the good 00:09:51.309 --> 00:09:53.809 things he's done. And well, he's talking to God, 00:09:53.850 --> 00:09:55.929 but he's saying it so loudly that everybody can 00:09:55.929 --> 00:09:59.019 hear it. And he is a good guy. At least that's 00:09:59.019 --> 00:10:00.720 what he wants you to hear. And then you've got 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:03.500 the other guy who's not so confident. He's a 00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:07.480 little bit more maybe shameful. He understands 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:11.000 that he isn't capable of as much good. He understands 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:13.879 that he is fully dependent on the mercy of God. 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:16.179 You've got one guy who's a religious leader. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.639 He's described as a Pharisee, and he's telling 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:20.559 God about all this good. And you have the other 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:23.740 guy who's this scummy tax collector. Not my description. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.080 And here's what Jesus says the tax collector 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:29.039 was doing. But the tax collector standing far 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:31.940 off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, 00:10:32.059 --> 00:10:35.139 but he beat his breast saying, God, be merciful 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:40.940 to me, a sinner. Do you see the difference in 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:46.799 these two men? Do you see the difference between 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:50.559 the confidence of one man, the boldness of one 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:54.740 man to say, I'm good and I've done good, and 00:10:54.740 --> 00:11:00.080 the other man who says, I just need help. I just 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:05.539 need mercy. And I think Jesus sees the difference. 00:11:05.620 --> 00:11:10.139 You can imagine this because he says in Luke 00:11:10.139 --> 00:11:13.419 18, verse 14, I tell you, this man went down 00:11:13.419 --> 00:11:16.360 to his house justified rather than the other. 00:11:16.460 --> 00:11:19.419 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, 00:11:19.580 --> 00:11:22.659 but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.799 You see, none of us are able to impress God. 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:30.879 None of us are able to prove anything to God. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:33.860 None of us are able to give enough. We're not 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:36.480 able to earn enough. We're not able to prove 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:41.659 ourselves worthy or good enough. So having faith 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:44.639 is looking to God, trusting that he will look 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:47.580 upon us with mercy. It's letting go of my own 00:11:47.580 --> 00:11:50.879 ability, letting go of my own status and my own 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:53.440 qualifications and understanding, God, I just 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:58.659 need you to do the work. Because I am just a 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:04.320 sinner. I'm just a wicked person. I'm just a 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:09.019 human. I'm incapable of saving myself. I have 00:12:09.019 --> 00:12:13.039 no ability to redeem myself. I can't heal myself. 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:17.100 I can't make myself right. God, only you can. 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:24.600 And so we look to God, trusting. And I think 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:27.340 that's exactly why Jesus follows this by saying 00:12:27.340 --> 00:12:32.740 this in Luke 18 verse 17. Truly I say to you, 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:36.360 whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:40.919 a child shall not enter it. Faith is humble. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:47.340 Faith realizes that I've got no ability. And 00:12:47.340 --> 00:12:49.960 maybe you understand this concept of a child 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:55.409 because you have a baby. And a baby can't feed 00:12:55.409 --> 00:12:58.289 itself, it has to be fed. And a baby can't get 00:12:58.289 --> 00:13:00.490 up and go to the bathroom, it needs its diaper 00:13:00.490 --> 00:13:03.070 changed. And a baby can't put a blanket on itself. 00:13:03.350 --> 00:13:08.210 A baby can't go and do for itself. And even as 00:13:08.210 --> 00:13:10.669 the baby gets older, it becomes a five -year 00:13:10.669 --> 00:13:12.990 -old and it still needs help. And it becomes 00:13:12.990 --> 00:13:14.509 an eight -year -old and it still needs help. 00:13:14.529 --> 00:13:16.929 And maybe you've got a 16, 17 -year -old in your 00:13:16.929 --> 00:13:21.450 house and you realize they still need help. And 00:13:21.450 --> 00:13:23.690 maybe you can relate to this when you were in 00:13:23.690 --> 00:13:26.590 college or you were just starting out on your 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:29.009 own and you were calling home to mom and dad 00:13:29.009 --> 00:13:33.970 because you still needed help. And that's what 00:13:33.970 --> 00:13:39.269 I see when Jesus says, receive the kingdom of 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:44.929 God like a child. Understand that you can't do 00:13:44.929 --> 00:13:48.220 for yourself. You can't make this kingdom happen. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:52.480 You can't establish this kingdom. You need God. 00:13:54.940 --> 00:13:58.379 And so we look at faith and we say faith understands 00:13:58.379 --> 00:14:01.799 that it needs to hold on. And faith understands 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:05.840 that it needs to be able to let go and let God. 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:12.399 Faith is humble. It's dependent on God's grace. 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.899 It's dependent on God's mercy, on God's might. 00:14:17.419 --> 00:14:19.960 Essentially, faith knows when to let go and let 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:24.200 God. And you see, when we put the parable of 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:26.899 the persistent widow and we put the parable of 00:14:26.899 --> 00:14:31.899 the men praying together, you see this example. 00:14:32.259 --> 00:14:34.919 Faith is holding on to what we believe and being 00:14:34.919 --> 00:14:38.659 able to let go and let God handle what we can't. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:44.440 We get to Luke 19 verse 13. And we see this story 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:47.460 of a man who he has servants and he's going to 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:50.720 go away. He's a very noble man. That's what scripture 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:52.860 calls him. He's going to go away. So before he 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:55.360 leaves, he calls 10 of his servants in. He gives 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.419 them 10 minus. He gives them responsibility. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:01.000 He gives them a job to do. And he entrusts them 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.720 with this. And so he leaves. Well, he comes back 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:06.899 and he wants to see what his men did with what 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:10.220 they were entrusted. And you have a few men and 00:15:10.220 --> 00:15:12.539 what they did was they invested and they kind 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:15.659 of made the money work, right? They did something 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:18.279 with it. But you had one man and he didn't really 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:21.039 do anything with it. He just kind of trusted 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:24.720 or really he lacked trust. And so he was thinking, 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:27.679 okay, if I just hold on to the 10, if I don't 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:31.259 lose it, then we're good. And so the man comes 00:15:31.259 --> 00:15:33.480 back and he wants to see what his servants did 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:37.110 with what they were entrusted with. And he commends 00:15:37.110 --> 00:15:39.190 the men that made something happen with what 00:15:39.190 --> 00:15:41.370 they were entrusted with. And then he kind of 00:15:41.370 --> 00:15:45.710 rebukes the one who did nothing, who sat on his 00:15:45.710 --> 00:15:48.370 hands. And this is what scripture says, calling 00:15:48.370 --> 00:15:50.750 10 of his servants, he gave them 10 minus and 00:15:50.750 --> 00:15:52.970 said to them, engage in business until I come. 00:15:53.110 --> 00:15:56.730 He gave them a responsibility. Faithfulness is 00:15:56.730 --> 00:15:59.970 about being steady in the work that God has already 00:15:59.970 --> 00:16:04.480 placed in our hands. It's trusting. that when 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:09.220 he returns, he will find us working in faith, 00:16:09.419 --> 00:16:13.240 not working to earn anything, but working because 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:16.460 he's given us responsibility. From the beginning 00:16:16.460 --> 00:16:19.240 of time, man has had work to do. When God put 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:22.740 man in the garden, he gave man a job. And so 00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:25.299 when Jesus comes and he establishes his kingdom 00:16:25.299 --> 00:16:28.340 and he gives us the gospel, he gives us these 00:16:28.340 --> 00:16:31.059 blessings, he says, I need you to work until 00:16:31.059 --> 00:16:35.860 I come back. And so again, he's telling you, 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:40.080 I'm going somewhere. I'm leaving. But I'm going 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:42.340 to come back. And when I come back, just like 00:16:42.340 --> 00:16:44.879 he said in Luke 18, will the Son of Man find 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:51.919 faith on earth? Luke 19 verse 17 is what we want 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:55.039 to hear. It's what we all hope to hear when Jesus 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:59.299 comes back. And I want you to think about your 00:16:59.299 --> 00:17:03.809 life and the way you're living today. The way 00:17:03.809 --> 00:17:06.029 you are treating what you've been entrusted with, 00:17:06.170 --> 00:17:08.849 the influence you have, the people you have around 00:17:08.849 --> 00:17:11.450 you that you've been trusted to take care of, 00:17:11.470 --> 00:17:14.509 to show love to, the people you work with, the 00:17:14.509 --> 00:17:16.890 job that you have, the resources that you have. 00:17:16.990 --> 00:17:19.789 And I want you to ask yourself, when Jesus comes 00:17:19.789 --> 00:17:24.089 back, will he say, well done, good servant? Because 00:17:24.089 --> 00:17:26.930 you have been faithful in a very little, you 00:17:26.930 --> 00:17:30.849 shall have authority over 10 cities. Now, I don't 00:17:30.849 --> 00:17:33.309 know that when we get to heaven, God is going 00:17:33.309 --> 00:17:36.849 to put us in charge over cities. I don't know 00:17:36.849 --> 00:17:39.809 that God's going to give us these places to rule 00:17:39.809 --> 00:17:43.049 over. But what I do know is that God is going 00:17:43.049 --> 00:17:45.569 to make one of two judgments. He's either going 00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:48.789 to say, well done, good servant, or he's going 00:17:48.789 --> 00:17:52.960 to say, what in the world were you doing? What 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:55.920 did you think I gave you the money for? What 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:57.819 did you think I gave you the influence for? What 00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:00.039 did you think I gave you the people for? What 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:02.420 did you think I gave you this life for? And you 00:18:02.420 --> 00:18:04.680 look at our life here in America, we are very, 00:18:04.779 --> 00:18:08.700 very blessed. We are among the richest people 00:18:08.700 --> 00:18:12.200 in the world. And so when Jesus comes back, he's 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:14.039 going to look at us and he's going to say, what 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:17.559 did you do with the blessings that you had? You 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:19.839 look at America, we are among the freest people 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:23.859 in the world. We have no worries about proclaiming 00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:26.059 the gospel. We don't have to worry about sharing 00:18:26.059 --> 00:18:28.240 the good news. And so he's going to look back 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.259 and he's going to say, what'd you do with the 00:18:30.259 --> 00:18:34.140 freedom you had? Why didn't you share the gospel 00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:36.599 with more people? You had so much ability to 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:38.720 plant seeds, but you just sat at home and you 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.640 just sat in a pew. What were you doing? And so 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:46.859 ask yourself, when Jesus comes back, will he 00:18:46.859 --> 00:18:50.680 say you were faithful with what you had? Or will 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:55.259 he say, you just sat on your hands? You see, 00:18:55.299 --> 00:18:57.839 faith is steady even when we don't understand 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:02.819 exactly what's going on. It is a faith that works 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:05.400 even when we don't know where our master is, 00:19:05.619 --> 00:19:07.799 when we don't know when he's coming back, when 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:10.539 we don't know what business he's doing. Faith 00:19:10.539 --> 00:19:14.920 just says, I'm going to work. You see, the servant 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:17.980 that didn't really do anything with his responsibilities, 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:25.400 That servant was afraid. He didn't trust. Essentially, 00:19:25.420 --> 00:19:30.380 he lacked faith because he didn't know, what's 00:19:30.380 --> 00:19:33.940 my master going to do when he comes home? And 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:39.539 so we work trusting that what we do, the seed 00:19:39.539 --> 00:19:43.119 we plant, the things that we do with what we've 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:46.039 been entrusted in will result in good for the 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:48.859 kingdom. So that when our master comes back, 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:53.339 he says, you were faithful. And faith holds on. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:58.920 It lets go and it lets God work. And it stays 00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:04.460 steady. So I want to ask you, in your life today, 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:08.859 whether it's... Something that you're struggling 00:20:08.859 --> 00:20:11.440 to hold on to. You've decided in your mind it 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.519 makes sense to you and you've believed it and 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:18.220 you do believe it to be true. Logically, it makes 00:20:18.220 --> 00:20:21.420 sense and you've agreed to believing this and 00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:24.319 living by this, but maybe life has gotten hard 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:26.940 and now it's hard for you to hold on to this 00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:30.339 conviction. You know, I've had the blessing of 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:33.700 working with college students and one thing in 00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:35.759 working with college students is you get to see 00:20:36.619 --> 00:20:39.500 That they do believe in certain things. They 00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:42.359 do have convictions. Even I know sometimes young 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:44.500 people, it seems like they don't really have 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:48.759 any real convictions. They do. And they believe 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:54.160 that drinking to excess is wrong. They believe 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:56.819 that sleeping together outside of marriage is 00:20:56.819 --> 00:20:59.539 wrong. They believe that doing drugs is wrong. 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:03.250 They have those convictions. But you get into 00:21:03.250 --> 00:21:05.589 certain social circles and you get into certain 00:21:05.589 --> 00:21:08.369 situations and life happens and you find yourself 00:21:08.369 --> 00:21:12.470 doing things that you believe are wrong, but 00:21:12.470 --> 00:21:14.289 it's hard to hold on to those beliefs because 00:21:14.289 --> 00:21:17.569 life happens, right? And so I don't know what 00:21:17.569 --> 00:21:21.170 that is for you. Maybe for you it's struggling 00:21:21.170 --> 00:21:25.509 with where are the lines of sin? Maybe it's struggling 00:21:25.509 --> 00:21:28.089 to understand what you need to be doing because 00:21:28.089 --> 00:21:30.670 you believe that you need to be living a certain 00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:33.390 way, but life happens and it's hard to do that. 00:21:33.430 --> 00:21:35.569 It's kind of like, you know, I used to, when 00:21:35.569 --> 00:21:37.309 I was in youth ministry, I would hear from parents 00:21:37.309 --> 00:21:39.829 all the time. Well, we know we need to be at 00:21:39.829 --> 00:21:43.250 church, but we've got the ball game. We know 00:21:43.250 --> 00:21:46.109 we need to be at that youth thing, but we've 00:21:46.109 --> 00:21:50.579 got some other responsibilities. And maybe that's 00:21:50.579 --> 00:21:52.440 the struggle for you is you've got the thing 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:55.259 that pulls you away. I don't know what it is, 00:21:55.279 --> 00:22:00.019 but what I do know is faith holds on. Because 00:22:00.019 --> 00:22:02.619 when you are convicted, when you believe something, 00:22:02.779 --> 00:22:05.940 if you have faith in that, you have to hold on. 00:22:06.299 --> 00:22:09.519 And faith lets go. It stops trying to fix everything 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:11.720 on its own. And this is hard for me because I'm 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:14.480 a hands -on person. I want to have control. But 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:17.119 faith says, I can't do it on my own. I've got 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:20.099 to trust in someone who is much more qualified 00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:22.960 than me. And I don't know what you're trying 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:25.400 to fix in your life. I don't know what it is 00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:27.619 that you're trying to handle on your own. I don't 00:22:27.619 --> 00:22:30.059 know who it is that you're trying to save on 00:22:30.059 --> 00:22:34.039 your own. I don't know. But what I do know is 00:22:34.039 --> 00:22:38.539 you need, I need to let go. And that doesn't 00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:40.819 mean we get lazy. It doesn't mean we get complacent. 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:45.460 It just means we stay steady in our walk with 00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:50.160 Jesus as we let him figure it out. We let him 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:53.099 do the work because he's so much more qualified 00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:59.599 than us. Faith holds on, it lets go, and it stays 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:04.490 steady while it waits. And if that sounds hard 00:23:04.490 --> 00:23:08.109 for you, if that feels like something for you 00:23:08.109 --> 00:23:11.109 that you just don't know if you can trust because 00:23:11.109 --> 00:23:15.369 you can't see Jesus right now because he's not 00:23:15.369 --> 00:23:21.950 here. If it feels like life is way too stressful. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:25.599 It's way too chaotic. It's way too hard to just 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:29.319 let go or to just hold on. Wherever you're at, 00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:31.980 I want you to know that if you will be faithful, 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:35.319 it is not going to be in vain. If you will be 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:37.880 faithful, it will not be wasted. Faithfulness 00:23:37.880 --> 00:23:41.220 is never wasted when you are being faithful to 00:23:41.220 --> 00:23:44.140 the one who is the ultimate promise keeper. And 00:23:44.140 --> 00:23:47.019 I will say this every time I get up here if I 00:23:47.019 --> 00:23:51.440 need to, that our God always constantly keeps 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:56.359 his promises. He has proven it time and time 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:59.819 and time again. So I don't know what you're struggling 00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:02.869 with. I don't know where life is hurting you, 00:24:02.930 --> 00:24:05.509 where Satan is attacking you. I don't know what 00:24:05.509 --> 00:24:10.130 the waves of life are doing to your ship. But 00:24:10.130 --> 00:24:15.109 I do know who our promise keeper is. I do know 00:24:15.109 --> 00:24:18.910 who our anchor should be. And if you will trust 00:24:18.910 --> 00:24:22.410 in Jesus and everything he has taught and everything 00:24:22.410 --> 00:24:25.769 that he has proven to be true, it will be worth 00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:31.660 it. And so we hold on in faith. to the one who 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:37.839 has proven to be good. We let go and let God 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:43.880 work because he has proven to do good work. And 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:46.940 we stay steady even when life wants us to veer 00:24:46.940 --> 00:24:50.039 off course, even when life wants us to sit on 00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:53.140 our hands and do nothing. When Satan tells us 00:24:53.140 --> 00:24:57.430 to give up, we keep holding. We keep letting 00:24:57.430 --> 00:25:01.789 God work. And I promise you, it will be worth 00:25:01.789 --> 00:25:05.970 it. Because right now, in this scene that we're 00:25:05.970 --> 00:25:09.130 looking at, when Jesus enters Jerusalem and he's 00:25:09.130 --> 00:25:11.410 arrested and he's beaten and he's hanging on 00:25:11.410 --> 00:25:14.930 a cross, everything seems dark. Everything seems 00:25:14.930 --> 00:25:18.069 hopeless. Everything seems like it's over. And 00:25:18.069 --> 00:25:20.230 the disciples, I can imagine, are probably sitting 00:25:20.230 --> 00:25:22.509 there thinking we wasted the last three years 00:25:22.509 --> 00:25:26.740 of our life. Because we're following a dead man. 00:25:27.380 --> 00:25:30.559 And right now, you may be feeling like that. 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:33.200 You may be thinking, he's not here. I can't see 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:35.319 him. It's been 2 ,000 years. He still hasn't 00:25:35.319 --> 00:25:39.599 come back yet. Maybe he's never coming. I promise 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:45.900 you, the resurrection is coming. Jesus will not 00:25:45.900 --> 00:25:51.740 be defeated by death. And I promise you, he is 00:25:51.740 --> 00:25:55.559 coming back. You see, we're in the same place 00:25:55.559 --> 00:25:59.799 the followers of Jesus were from Friday to Sunday. 00:26:00.779 --> 00:26:06.599 We're waiting, scared. But my hope for us is 00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:10.500 that we do not live with a spirit of fear, but 00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:15.759 we live in faith knowing that he is coming back 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:20.480 because our God makes good on his promises. And 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:22.559 I don't know about you, but when somebody has 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:26.049 proven, that they can be held to their promises, 00:26:26.349 --> 00:26:31.490 I tend to trust them. And my God has proven over 00:26:31.490 --> 00:26:34.390 and over again to make good on his promises. 00:26:35.069 --> 00:26:38.990 So I ask you to follow him in faith. Today, whatever 00:26:38.990 --> 00:26:42.150 your struggle is, whatever is hurting you, whatever 00:26:42.150 --> 00:26:46.289 is making it hard for you to just keep the faith, 00:26:46.430 --> 00:26:51.410 my prayer is that you remember Jesus is coming 00:26:51.410 --> 00:26:54.200 back. And if you need prayers from the church 00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:57.000 to help you to keep holding on, if you need someone 00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:59.640 to help you in your walk, if you just need to 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:02.140 take a step in faith and give your life to Jesus, 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:05.359 we offer you an invitation now. And we mean it 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:08.039 sincerely when we ask you to please come as we 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:09.019 stand and as we sing.