What To Do While We Wait

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We take comfort in that thought today.

That you came and you will come again.

And so, Lord, ready our hearts with joy today for your second coming, for your return.

Because this is real.

We don't have to seek justice all the time because you're a God of justice, and when you come, you're gonna right all the wrongs and you're gonna speak to and deal with all the injustices that we've experienced in this life.

So the Bible says, leave room for the wrath of God, for I will repay, thus saith the Lord.

So we ain't gotta be all about, we don't have to be all about clap back and payback in this life.

Because our God is a God of justice.

And so, Lord, remind us today what to rejoice over.

This is our prayer, God, make it our experience.

We pray in Jesus' name, and everyone said.

Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

And I want to talk to you that day's the third Sunday of Advent.

If you're if you're visiting with us today and you're kind of like, hey, that was a lot, what's going on here?

Uh, Advent is the four Sundays that lead up to Christmas, uh, and each one has a theme, and and we try to use them to get our hearts and our heads ready uh uh for the worship of Christ and the recognition of his birth.

And so uh today I want to talk to you about what you do while you wait.

Because look at me, Advent is uh Jesus came and his first coming.

The Bible teaches that he's coming again.

You realize that, right?

Hello, let's try that again.

You realize he's coming again, right?

Because if he's not, then disregard everything he ever says and just do whatever you want.

And so we live in this deliberate tension between his first coming and his second coming.

And so it's his second coming, and I want us to be about joy, but you shouldn't dread that.

You should anticipate that, you shouldn't fear that, okay?

So I want to talk to you about what do you do while you wait?

Uh, and I had a tangible lesson about waiting uh last Friday because we ordered some new rocking chairs for the warehouse.

They go on the back porch out there where our kids hang out, our student ministry.

If you're new to our church, you go, hey, where are all the students?

They come to the first service, and at this hour, they're and they have their own building in the back of our property called the student build of the warehouse.

There's probably about 180 of them in there right now, seven to twelfth graders.

Uh, and our bridge ministry is four, fifth, and sixth.

There's about 80 to 100 of them uh in our old sanctuary right across the parking lot there.

But anyway, we ordered some new rocking chairs, and they and FedEx said they're coming on Thursday.

I said, Great, I'll be here.

I got uh an email on Tuesday that said, accidentally a delayed day, they'll be there on Friday.

Not great, we're closed on Friday.

And so I just thought, well, I'll check my email because they send you an email and say, hey, your package is out for delivery, and then it's coming.

And so I got up, drinking coffee Friday morning.

I ding, got an email at 8:33.

Your package is out for delivery.

Oh man, I flew down here like my hair was on fire.

Uh goddamn.

I hate every one of you, and I'm gonna get you.

Uh no, and so I get down here and I just thought, oh, okay, it's out for delivery.

Any minute now.

8:30.

I I got down here about 8.45, actually.

Nine o'clock, 9.30, 9.45, 10:15.

I'm starting to start to feel it.

Uh, and I'm kind of walking to the front lobby, and my wife is texting me.

There's a FedEx truck in our neighborhood, which is right over here.

I was like, oh my gosh, they're probably on their way.

I went to the front lobby over there and I stood, got pulled out of my neighborhood and just drove down for I was like, oh about 11:30, about about 11:25, I got a second email and said, You're next.

Oh man, I can't wait.

So I just went and stood by the front door looking out the road, waiting for FedEx to roll up any minute.

Now that was at about 11:26, not that I was counting.

11:50, they're not here.

1215, they're not here.

About 1245, you know, by the way, none of these companies put a phone number on the website.

They want you to chat with them.

I don't want to chat with you.

Due to the call volume, the best way to do is say, no, I want somebody to hear my voice and feel the weight of my pain.

Where's my stuff?

I'm tired of waiting up in here.

It's my day off.

That takes my day off on Friday.

So I'm down here just thinking, oh, the humanity.

And so I found an 800 number.

I noodled around, finding an 800 number, and I call the guy and go, sir, what can I help you with today?

You can help me with what do you mean when you say you're next?

Because I've been next for a long time.

And I got stuff to do besides sitting down here just waiting on you to show up.

Well, our driver may be at lunch.

No, we're not doing lunch today.

We're delivering today, bro.

Come on.

He said, Sir, I can't make any promises.

I can just reassure you that you're next.

I don't find any reassurance and you're telling me I'm next.

I've been next for a long time.

I want, I want to be now.

I want to be next.

Sir, what do you mean you want to be?

I want to be next now.

He said, sir, I understand.

No, you don't understand.

Are you working on your day off?

He said, No, I'm working right now.

Great.

It's my day off, okay?

And I'm down here waiting on you to do your job.

It pulled up at 210.

Now, here's the good news.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, believe it or not, this little thought inside of me that was not original with me said, Is this the best thing for you to do while you wait?

So I started reading and praying and thinking and writing.

And that little voice said, Maybe we should talk about this next Sunday.

Yeah, these people need to know how to wait.

They need to get better at waiting, don't they, God?

I'm talking about you, Neil, not them.

So I want to talk to you and me about what do you do while you wait?

He's already come the first time, he's coming again.

Does that mean you run around like some doomsday prepper?

No.

What does it mean?

Jesus said it like this in Luke chapter 12, verse 35 Say, dress for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home for the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

Luke 12:35

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.

Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

If he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them awake, blessed are those servants.

But know this that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.

You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Peter said, Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?

Translation, look at me.

Peter's like, Hey Jesus, is this gonna be on the final?

Don't ask Jesus questions because he'll pop you back with a question.

Look what he does.

He said, Peter said, Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?

And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise manager whose master will set over his household to give them their portion of food at the proper time?

Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

Truly I say to you, he will set him over all of his possessions.

But if that servant says to himself, My master is delayed in coming, and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and get drunk, and the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and in an hour he does not know, and he will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.

Verse 47, another kind of servant.

And that servant who knew his master's uh whose master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, he will receive a severe beating.

But the one, another servant, but the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a lighting.

Everyone to whom much was given of him, much will be required.

And from him to whom they have entrusted much, they will demand the more.

So what do you do while you wait?

There's not 800 number you can call heaven and go, Jesus, when are you coming?

Because I want to live like hell, and then the day before I want to get myself right and go to heaven.

No.

So you've got to live with this deliberate tension.

And I'm serious, I the Bible does not call us to be some spiritual doomsday prepper.

You know what I mean when I say doomsday prepper?

Say amen.

People have a like a bomb shelter and they're storing water and dehydrated food and everything.

No, no, no.

You should be, if you're a Christian, you should be the most winsome, certain person anybody knows.

So what do we do while we wait?

Three things from the text.

Number one, be ready.

Be ready.

It's verse 36 and 37.

He says, Jesus says, Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning.

What that means is that once a year you ought to sleep in your clothes.

Shoes and everything.

And let your kids find you.

Like, hey, Dad, what are you doing?

I'm ready.

I don't want to go to heaven in my pajamas.

I'm ready.

I'm looking good.

I got my puffy vest and my Jonathan Murphy loafers on.

No, that was last year.

Anyway.

Now, be ready.

He says, stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning.

Now, most people fear the day when Jesus returns, but deep inside, because deep inside they know they're not ready.

Okay?

This is why the whole idea of the second coming kind of makes people a little uneasy.

And what doesn't help is the way the church has used the return of Christ, which has stirred up more fear than understanding.

So much so you get stirred up in fear and then it doesn't happen.

You get stirred up in fear and it doesn't happen.

So much so that people pretty much in the church and outside of the church have become desensitized to the fact that Christ is going to come again.

Like when I was in the eighth grade, 1978, for the record, those of you trying to do the math, there was a movie that came out.

It was called The Distant Thunder, okay?

And it was about the second coming and the rapture.

All right.

Now, by the way, the word rapture appears nowhere in the Bible, Bible fun fact.

But it was about the rapture, and this is how this is what how small of a town I grew up in.

If you've ever been to a football game now, imagine this.

At the high school football game, I'm in the eighth grade, hanging out with my buddies, playing tackle football in the end zone.

Between the third and fourth quarter, the announcer comes on and says, Uh, parents, I want to make you aware that the first Baptist church is having a fifth quarter.

If you know what a fifth quarter is, say amen.

There's somebody that grew up in a small town.

The rest of you heathens that don't know what a fifth quarter is.

In a football game, there's four quarters: the first, second, third, fourth quarter.

Fourth quarter is after that, time runs out, game's over.

Fifth quarter is the aftergame fellowship.

The churches came up with a cool little name, and you'd go to the first Baptist church and have pizza, and they would show a movie that would scare the bejesus right out of you.

Well, when I was the eighth grade, now imagine this happened at a high school football game.

They said, Parents, I want to make you aware that uh First Baptist Church is having a fifth quarter 30 minutes after the game ends tonight, and they're showing a great movie called The Distant Thunder.

Now, parents, you need to get your kids down there.

Your kids need to see this.

Just hear that.

At a public football, high school football game.

It's going to be my buddy's like, hey, you going, you go?

And they said, There's going to be free Frito pie.

I'm going.

If you know what a Frito pie is, say amen.

You take a bag of Fritos, turn it a long way, cut it with scissors, scoop some chili in there, get a plastic spoon.

It's like heaven in your hand, my man.

It is incredible.

It's like free Frito pie.

So we go down there, me and my buddy, we're eating the Frito pie.

And then Tamer Hartley, the youth minister, old guy.

I mean, he went to high school with Moses.

He gets up, says a few things, and starts the projector, the movie called The Distant Thunder.

And it troubled me as an eighth grader.

Because I talked about the second coming.

Jesus was coming back, and you better get ready.

My dad pulled up to pick me up and my brother up.

And he said, Well, how was the movie?

I said, Dad, you know, sorry, oh, you ain't gotta worry about that.

I'm like, Dad, you don't understand.

Oh boy, don't worry about that.

They're just trying to scare you.

And I remember thinking, I'm not good, and I need you to help me, and you don't know how to help me.

And in that moment, I just realized, oh man, never mind.

This, this, this is my dad's weekend visit, by the way.

I'm going back to his place.

I tried to ask my dad, spiritual, by the way, your kids know what you're really like.

They know.

I just knew in that moment, I just realized I can't look to my dad ever for spiritual advice or spiritual information.

Because he's not a spiritual person.

He doesn't know what he's talking about.

If my dad tried to talk to me in that moment, it'd be a bunch of bull jive.

Well, you know, I so I just look at it.

I felt sad and angry at the same time.

And I just thought, I'm scared and ain't nobody helping me.

So when we hear be ready, it can stir up fears in us.

So the question then becomes how does a person get ready so they can be ready?

And let me just say it like this: this only comes by way of the gospel.

This readiness only comes from the gospel.

What do you mean, the gospel?

The good news of Christianity.

What do you mean?

In Ephesians chapter 6, it's a book towards the end of the New Testament.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

The Apostle Paul is trying to explain these people.

He takes something that's very familiar to them.

He's talking about a soldiers' outfit, and he's explaining to them that he's making spiritual connections for them.

He says, Hey, put on the helmet of salvation.

First of all, make sure you have a relationship with Christ and the breastplate of righteousness and have your loins girded about with truth.

That means they would cinch up their robe and they'd tuck it in and get ready for battle so they don't could grab onto them.

And then he says this in verse 15 of Ephesians 6.

He said, And as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

Hear it again.

He's saying, Hey, this is how you get dressed out spiritually, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness that given by the gospel of peace.

Some translations say the readiness that comes with the gospel of peace.

This is what I mean when I say nothing gives us more readiness than the gospel.

The gospel, again, is the good news that a holy God has intervened in history to reconcile his people to himself.

Let me say that again.

A holy God has intervened in the lives of unholy people to reconcile them to himself.

Let me draw your attention to that word reconcile, okay?

Because without any alienation, you don't need reconciliation.

Without hostility, you don't need peace.

Now, see, let me give you two words if you're a note taker, because we've not taught the church, typically not this church, but the church universal has stopped years ago, probably 20 years ago, uh, when we wanted to grow churches instead of grow Christians.

We stopped teaching what the Bible says about the nature of man.

And when you forfeit a biblical understanding of the nature of man, then you don't have any need.

And so the church is just talking to people who aren't listening.

So I just want to reel it back and just kind of say the nature of man is simply the here's why reconciliation is a big deal, because you're not born God's children.

You're not born Christians, you're God's creation, but you're not by nature God's child.

By nature, you're a sinner who is separated, you're alienated from God, you're strangers to the promises of God, you're hostile to God, and God is hostile towards you.

Yes, Psalm 5.5, God says, I am angry with the wicked every day.

He says, I'm angry with these people every day.

And the anger of God is intended to drive you to the love of God.

Parents, if you all you tell your kids is that God loves you, God loves you, God loves you, God forgives you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, your child will grow up with no fear of God before their eyes.

And you will have contributed to the fact that they don't think rightly about God.

Now, ask yourself, how does that strike you today?

Now you may be thinking right now, hey dude, can you bring back the kids, choir?

They were happy, and you're kind of a downer.

No.

Again, ask yourself, how does this strike you?

And I ask you that because uh we don't teach what the Bible says about man, about humanity in our natural state.

And because we don't teach what the Bible says is true about all people, we don't have we don't understand the sinful nature of humanity.

That we are alienated and hostile towards God.

And by the way, because God's holy and we're unholy, he's hostile towards you.

Yeah.

Because we don't teach man's nature, we don't understand humanity's need.

Only the gospel can give us this readiness that the gospel demands.

Let me say that again.

Only the gospel can give us the readiness that the gospel demands.

And so you have to ask yourself, have I ever known this peace?

Have I ever known this peace?

I ask people in counseling a lot.

I'm not a psychologist, I'm not a psychiatrist, I am a pastor who does a lot of counseling.

I don't mind doing that.

I remind people all the time Julian does counseling, Blake does counseling, Wade Burgess does counseling.

Uh, I'm not the only person who sees people, so feel free to ring them up as well.

But I ask people, hey, hey, uh uh before we start down all this therapeutic uh uh uh angles, let me ask this question.

Have you ever made peace with God?

And you'd be surprised how many times people go, what's that got to do with this?

Dude, I got anxiety.

And I say, because I'm not good, you should go see these other people.

Oh, you're gonna have anxiety until you make your peace with God.

Matter of fact, anxiety, as you call it, the word you anxiety, that is a byproduct of being alienated and hostile towards God and God being hostile towards you.

And people go, What?

Yeah, yeah.

Now I'm not saying, oh, Jesus is the answer to every problem you have, but I am saying this.

We got to ask people, hey, you should ask yourself, is there ever become a spiritual component to my story?

Have I ever surrendered my life to Christ and known this peace that only got the gospel makes available?

Or what are you, and if not, what are you relying on for peace?

Because I ask people, hey, what brings you peace?

I hear a litany of answers.

Gummies.

Gummies are very popular these days.

For those of you who grew up in the church, a gummy is like a gum drop that's infused with a little happy sauce and it makes you feel good.

It relaxes you.

Uh I mean, I mean, marijuana use is at an all-time high, pardon the pun.

Alcohol dependency, mushrooms.

I'm a psychosylbility, whatever it's called.

I mean, I'm talking high school students say, yeah, man, I do shrooms.

I'm like, I could tell.

Because you've cooked your brain, man.

You can't put words together.

So the synapses aren't firing.

Matter of fact, I see a lady who doesn't go to our church because I'm sure nobody in this church does gummies.

Uh she comes and she always parks right outside my office window.

And she gets here 15 minutes early.

And I see her out there, and I'm like, hey, I go out the door and go, hey, you can come on.

And she'll wave, I'll be there, I'll be there too, and we're supposed to be.

Okay.

And so one time I said to her, I said, Hey, I know you should get here early every time.

Are you like praying or something in your car?

And she goes, No, I get here and I and I eat a gummy.

Oh, okay.

Uh, and she said, I'm gonna offend you.

And I said, Well, I mean, I'm not here to judge you anything.

Can I ask you why?

Because when I meet with you, I feel things that really get me stirred up, and so I gotta kind of calm myself down.

They're really good.

And then she said, Would you like one?

And I said, Thank you very much for your kindness, but I think Wade Burgess would write me up and put it in my personnel file.

We can't eat gummies on the job here.

And then she said, Can I ask you a question?

I said, Yeah.

She goes, Why are you so at peace?

How are you so peaceful?

I said, Oh, I derive a great amount of peace from my relationship with Jesus Christ.

She's like, So you're religious.

I am not religious.

Matter of fact, I've never been accused of being religious.

I've been accused of being psychreligious before.

He doesn't tuck his shirts in.

Well, I mean, what kind of pastor is that?

And she goes, So explain this to me.

I said, Yeah, in the Bible, uh, she goes, and you reference the Bible a lot.

I said, She goes, but my therapist doesn't.

I'm not your therapist, and your therapist ain't your pastor.

Well, I don't go to church, but I do tell people you're my pastor.

There's a lot of people here like that.

I said, but in the Bible, Luke chapter 14, Jesus is talking about the cost of discipleship, the cost of being a Christian.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

And she clutched her pearls and she went, wait a minute, it costs you?

Yes, yes, it does.

And he's trying to help people get their head around what it's like to follow him.

And then he he says, Who among you sets out to build a tower?

You won't sit down and estimate the cost to see if you got enough wood to finish.

And then he says, Who among you, if you got 10,000 soldiers, you're gonna you're gonna sit down and estimate if you can stand again, you can go to war against somebody coming against you with 20,000.

Because if you can't, if your 10,000 can't beat his 20,000, here's what you do: you send a delegation and ask for terms of peace.

This is in the Bible, and it's one of the most misunderstood things in the history of the church.

Luke chapter 14, check me, hear me now, check me later.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

Jesus said, Hey, if you can't come, if you can't defeat the guy that's got 20,000 soldiers with your 10,000, you send a delegation and you ask for terms of peace.

And she goes, Uh-huh, uh-huh.

And I said, Jesus is talking about himself.

He got 20,000.

And he said, Hey, you want to come?

You want to stand against me?

I got twice as much as you do.

And that's an understatement.

He has infinitely more than we do.

And so when I was 18, I sent a delegation to Jesus and I asked for terms of peace.

And she goes, Okay, and what are they?

I picked this up off my desk and I said, It's all in here.

These are the terms of peace.

Well, I don't want to offend you, but that's kind of simpleton, don't you think?

Yeah, but let me remind you, you're sitting on that side of the desk.

She's like, Oh, you have a point.

Look at me.

I tell all of you the same thing.

I ain't trying to win an argument.

If you want peace, you're gonna eat a whole lot of gummies.

And it'll take the edge off just for a little bit, because every once in a while, my this lady, she's like, Do you mind if I pop another gummy?

I'm like, yeah, drop one on the floor.

I'll get it when you leave.

Uh I'm like, eat as many as you need, ma'am.

I I I mean, but here's the thing she's never surrendered.

She's never realized I got 10,000 bad ideas, and Jesus has 20,000 truthful realities coming against me.

And some of you are the same way.

You never surrendered.

You don't know peace.

So it says, Stay ready.

You're like, uh, I don't like that.

Let me just say this again only the gospel puts your heart and mind at peace because only the gospel has this capacity.

Have you ever surrendered?

Not have you prayed a prayer, blah blah blah.

Have you ever just realized I am sufficiently outnumbered and I don't.

Had a chance by the grace of God.

That was revealed to me when I was 18.

And it changed my life.

So when I read the Bible now, I read the Bible this morning.

I got up early, sipping my coffee.

Not that I was just reading in Psalm 95.

It's like, oh, this is so good.

Thank you.

And so she said, so you surrendered and you're at peace.

Yes.

Yeah.

Wow.

Thank you for sharing.

You're welcome.

And by the way, you can surrender too.

Well, I I I I I I I some, you know, I do AMDR or whatever, with a crinkle paper and talk softly.

I said, I don't talk softly in here.

She said, No, but I I like it.

Okay.

So what do you do while you wait?

Stay ready.

Number two, stay awake.

Stay awake.

Verse 37.

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.

Why are they blessed?

Because everybody else falls asleep.

Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

If he comes at the second watch or in the third and finds them awake, look at this.

Blessed are those servants.

Exclamation point.

Like they get extra points for this, pal.

What do you mean?

The third, second and third watch.

The night was divided into four three-hour watches.

Okay?

Six to nine, nine to twelve, twelve to three, three to six.

So the second and third is when?

Nine to twelve, twelve to three.

He said, hey, because here's what Jesus is saying.

The longer it goes, the easy it is to fall asleep.

The longer it goes, the longer it's kind of like, yeah, yeah, you know, distant thunder, eighth grade, like November of 1978.

Whew.

I remember laying in bed and just thinking, man, I don't want Jesus to come because I don't want to go to hell.

And I asked my dad, hey, what?

My dad went, no help.

Very disconcerting.

Men, you're the spiritual leader of your family.

Don't bull jive your kids because you ain't got the patience for it.

It's just like, man.

And I laid there in that bunk bed that I shared with my brother, not him on top, me on the bottom.

My oldest brother was on top.

Me and my other brother, we shared the bottom bunk.

And I was like, I did not, I did not have any peace.

Jesus says, stay awake.

Stay awake.

The longer it goes on, the more likely you are to fall asleep.

It was four years after that that I came to faith.

And there were moments along the way that I realized, hey man, I remember that reality.

I wasn't ready for it.

He says, Hey, stay awake.

Because if it comes a second or third watch and finds him away, this is important because people, what do you mean fall asleep spiritually?

There's things that you once believed when you were like 12, and then you got a car when you're 16, and then by the time you're like 23, you're like, oh man, that was good when I was a kid, but I've kind of outgrown that.

Look at me.

No, you haven't.

You haven't outgrown it.

You've fallen asleep towards it.

But it hadn't changed.

It's I still see people in council and they're kind of condescending.

Hey, I know you're a pastor and everything, and I grew up in the church, but I but I kind of do my own thing now.

And I just think this knucklehead is sound asleep.

Go ahead and lecture me about how free you are.

Yeah, I want to hear this.

Uh now, when I say people have always fallen asleep, it's always been that way, okay?

Even back in the Bible.

Let me read 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 1.

2 Peter 3:1

I mean, this is in the Bible.

It's not been very long since Jesus physically walked on the earth.

Peter says this, this is now the second letter that I'm writing to you, beloved.

In both of them, I'm stirring you up, uh, up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

They will say, Where is the promise of his coming?

For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.

Nothing's changed.

You church people have been saying Jesus is coming back forever.

Give me a break, Bo.

That's just a fairy tale.

Give up that, stop believing it and get on with your life.

And I just want to point out one thing.

And by the way, some of you are in this room, and I love you enough to tell you, okay?

Look at verse three.

He says, Knowing this first of all.

And when the Bible says knowing this, and then puts a tagline on it, first of all, you ought to sit up, like, oh, hello.

Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days.

Scoffing.

Here's the phrase, here's the five words that'll change your life.

Following their own sinful desires.

Following their own sinful desires.

And so I see people that like the lady I meant, the gummy lady earlier.

I see people, uh, I uh it's capped.

The elders like, hey, you we don't want you seeing a bunch of people.

Don't go to our church because I want to be available to you.

You're my con.

Absolutely.

So I can only see a certain number of people.

I'm full right now, so don't send me your friends.

Send them the blake, Wade, Julia.

I'm over, my cup overfloweth, okay?

Uh uh, but uh people are making progress in in the future.

There may be room, but not now, there's no room in the end, okay?

Like I see a guy, he's a skeptic, he's a cynic, he's jaded, he's an engineer, he's very smart.

And basically, he's a young guy.

He said to me, Hey, uh, I just uh I don't want to insult you, but I I fundamentally disagree with Christianity, and I think I can prove that it's just kind of a fanatical fairy tale, and blah-blah, I might just keep going, keep going.

And I'm thinking of this passage right here.

And then knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

So he lays out this big intellectual case because he watches uh videos on YouTube.

And I'm like, oh, he's an educated man.

Now I know I hate him.

And I said, You just said, out of your 31-year-old mouth, you watch videos on YouTube that disproved.

Okay, okay.

Boy, you're bringing Kool-Aid to a gin party, but go ahead.

Uh and he's like, blaze it all out.

And I said, let me just start.

I'm not trying with an argument.

Let me ask you a question.

Are you engaged in any behavior that the Bible forbids?

Well, I'm not sure what that's got to do with my logical assertion.

And I said, just thank you, Bill Nice Guy.

One more time.

Are you engaged in any behavior that the Bible forbids?

Clearly says this is wrong, this is sinful.

Well, I mean, it means what the Bible says is, you may think so.

I don't decide right and wrong.

Something's right or wrong, something's sinned because of God's moral nature.

God determines that.

So again, is there anything he said, why is this important?

I said, because if things contrary to your desires, like right here, the Bible says, following your own sinful desire.

If something is contrary to your desires, your natural inclination, your sinful nature rises up and wants to disprove that so you can continue living in your own desires.

So the issue is not Christianity, the issue is you do not want to stop doing what you're doing.

The Bible talks about this very clearly: the desires of the flesh and the desires of the spirit.

So, so you're saying I'm not smart.

No, no, no, I'm not saying you're not smart.

I would never say that.

I think you watch a lot of YouTube videos, but I don't know if it's about intellect or not.

I think you got a lot of free time.

But your issue is not with Christianity.

Your issue is you engage in behaviors that the Bible says is sin.

You're still living over here in the desires of your flesh.

And he said, And you?

I said, I live in the desires of the spirit.

The desires of the spirit are more satisfied than the desires of the flesh.

And so it's not I'm better than you or whatever.

I just I asked for terms of peace a long time ago.

I came to peace with God.

And so when when doesn't your flesh have desires?

Absolutely.

And I have the capacity to say no to them because the spirit of God lives inside of me.

He's like, huh.

So you're saying my position is not intellectual, not at all.

Your position is not intellectual, your your position is experiential.

You don't want to stop experiencing what you you don't want to stop feeling what you feel when you act on your own sinful desires.

Well, this is a shift in my thinking.

I've got to go back and watch some more videos and come back.

Now look at me.

I'm not making fun of that person.

Some of you are the same way.

Some of you, you're ruled by your desires.

You don't want to give them up.

Well, that's why you say things like, Well, I mean, the Bible's written by men.

We can't take it too seriously.

You're you're the same person.

Now, by the way, 2 Peter, it continues.

I want to just pick back up in verse 8.

He says, But do not overlook this one thing, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise of some count slowness, but it's patient.

It's patient.

It's patient.

He's not slow, but he's patient.

Do not confuse patient with inability.

Women, if you're a mom, say amen.

You understand this more than we men do.

He says that he's not slow, but he's patient.

To be patient means that he's patient in bearing the offense.

He's patient.

He just tolerates it.

He doesn't allow it.

He doesn't excuse it.

He's just patient.

It's like mom when your kids are getting on your last nerve and you walk in the living room, look at your husband, and say, You better come get these kids.

And your husband's like, Okay, let me get up.

Come on, kids, let's go outside.

Because mom has borne with patience all she can stand.

And ding, the elevator's about to open.

Like my wife, when her left eyebrow goes up, my kids just leave the room.

And I say, What's up?

And they go, Mom's eyebrow went up.

Uh-oh.

Uh-oh.

And they're like, Yeah, yeah.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises, some kind of slowness, but is patient toward you.

Not wishing that any should perish, but all should reach repentance.

But the day, now by the way, it's not universalism.

Some people here they go, Well, the Bible says God didn't want anybody to perish.

Keep reading verse 10.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.

Then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Yeah, the Bible's telling us that this is gonna happen.

In the meantime, God is being patient, not slow.

And in the meantime, you need to not fall asleep.

Well, you're talking a lot about falling asleep.

How do you know you're falling asleep?

Great question.

I brought you 10 signs you're falling asleep spiritually.

Okay, because we're done in just a few minutes.

You still with me?

Did I lose you back there?

Some of you are like, I just came to see my grandkids sing, and you're talking about gummies and all kinds of crazy stuff.

I just want to take a point set and go home.

Not till Christmas Eve.

Here's some signs you're falling asleep and spiritually, I'll just take them off.

No appetite for spiritual things.

You're just like, you come to church, you expect us to create desire for you.

That's not our job.

No appetite for spiritual things.

Number two, prayers and afterthought.

After you've done everything you know to do, called all your people, spent all your money.

Well, I guess all we can do now is pray.

Should have been your first stop.

Third, we reduce Christianity to conversion only.

Sounds like this.

Well, I went to catechism, confirmation.

I was baptized as an infant.

If you're a Baptist, I prayed the prayer.

See, I hit all the denominational religious relics there.

And if you say, What do you mean?

Let me say it like this.

Look at me.

If what you did as a kid is not altering, informing, and influenced who you are as an adult, then what you did as a kid wasn't real.

This is what?

That's not Christianity.

Jesus said, Whoever tastes this water I give, it will become in them a well springing up to eternal life.

That's what happened last Friday.

The well sprung up in me and said, Hey, shut up.

Stop complaining.

Let's pray, read, study, or write.

Let's stop trying to manage fat eggs from a distance.

Yeah, but they need some help.

No, they don't.

Put a start by number four.

Rationalize sin is an expression of personal power.

Now I realize this.

Let me talk to the sinners over in this section.

I realize this.

Sometimes I say stuff and y'all are like, ooh, he's close.

Look at me.

I realize sometimes I said stuff and y'all are like, I don't get a word of that.

Number four is really rationalized sin is an expression of personal power.

What do you mean?

This past week there's a big story.

Somebody texted me, Did you see this?

I have a computer.

Yes, I saw it.

A young lady in Florida is 20 years old, named Sophie Rain.

She was working a waitress job, making minimum wage plus tips.

Her sister went on a website called OnlyFans.

Pretty soon she's driving a new car.

Her sister, her younger sister, what's the deal?

She said, Yeah, come on.

And so in the past year, this young lady made$43 million on OnlyFans.

Hey, by the way, men, there wouldn't be a market for that if there weren't so many perverts in the world.

It's quiet up in here.

Maybe I should talk to some sinners over here.

Look at me.

Now, here's the kick.

You ready for this?

Again.

Rationalized sin is an expression of personal power.

This 20-year-old girl professes to be a devout Christian.

And the church went to town on her.

And she said, and I quote, the Lord's very forgiving.

And then they were like, blah, blah, blah.

And she said, You can judge me as I laugh all the way to the bank.

Now, by the way, she's buying her mom and dad a new home.

Hey, if your daughter turns to that kind of son turns to that kind of life, pass on the new home as a principle of conviction.

I know it's hard.

But it's hard to tell your kid what you're doing, sin when you're living off their dime.

Rationalized sin is an expression of personal power.

Number five, you failed to prioritize your faith.

Sounds like this.

We have a tournament.

Or my favorite was one of mom that said, when we signed up for baseball, we didn't know it was going to be this active.

They didn't give you a thing called a schedule.

More opinions and experiences.

You're often offended but rarely convicted.

You evaluate more than you experience.

You have more preference and priorities.

Yeah.

Deion Sanders turned around, University of Colorado.

One of his players that signed with him in Jackson State just won the Heisman last night.

On the wall in their field house, they have this slogan: Habits reflect the mission.

Yeah, you don't understand why they do what they do.

Unless and until you understand the mission.

By the way, I say more preferences than priorities.

Your habits reflect the mission that you're on.

Lastly, obedience is determined by your willingness.

Here's the people that I see falling asleep.

Look at me.

We got to get done.

Here's people I see people that might, I'm 60.

People that are like, probably a little older than me, 62 to 68.

Here's what happened.

You get a call from your financial guy.

He goes, hey man, we're good.

We're golden.

Your parents died, let your big pile.

We're going to top off all the reserves.

The kids' college funds are funded.

The grandkids' trust is set up.

You're golden.

I'm going to move you into bonds.

It's lower yield, but it's more secure, and you're set.

You can live however you want.

And that's certain, all of a sudden, that person from that moment forward begins to spiritually fall asleep.

They drop out of church.

They come about eight times a year.

Oh, we're traveling, we're at that house, that ranch over there, over there.

They just fall asleep.

The Bible says, hey, Jesus says, stay awake.

If it's the second or third watch of the night, stay awake.

And the way you stay awake is to think about the end.

And you compare then to now.

Because if you subject everything to now, you won't be ready for then.

Here's the last thing the Bible says, be consistent.

Be consistent.

It's verse 41.

Peter says, Lord, are you telling this to for us or for everybody?

And Jesus said, Who then is a faithful and wise manager who is a master will set over his household to give them their portion of food at the proper time?

Here, verse 43.

What do you mean, be consistent?

Blessed is that servant whom his master will find, so doing when he comes.

Hey, just keep doing what he told you to do when he left, because he's going to come again.

And you want to be found.

What are you doing?

I'm doing what you said to do.

I don't need you to stand over me and watch me do what I do.

You said to do it, I'm doing it.

And by the way, it's a consequence if you don't do it, and there's a consequence if you do it.

Let me just point to these two.

You got three minutes left in you?

Yeah, there's a consequence.

He said, What do you mean?

The rest of this thing here, verses like 40, 45 to 48, it's a consequence of not doing it.

He says, but if that servant says to himself, my master's delayed in coming, I can beat these people, I can eat and drink and get drunk.

The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, the hour he does not know, and he will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.

Why would he put him with the unfaithful?

Because he was unfaithful.

That's not how Christians live.

Yeah, the second coming.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I saw something that scared me when I was a little kid, but it hadn't happened.

That can't be real.

A loving God would never do that.

It's a loving God talking right here in Luke 12.

Then he talks about another servant.

He said, the servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act accordingly to his will will receive a severe beating.

But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating, he'll receive a light beating.

You want to have an interesting conversation?

Ask your family, hey, what kind of beating are you going to get?

Look at your little sister and go, I think you're going to get a severe beating.

You better get it together, sister.

Now, let me just I said not doing it.

If you don't do it, it has a consequence, but look at me.

If you do it, it has a consequence as well.

The first one, I don't have time, verse 37, he says he reverses the order.

Because if you're not taking notes, write down Luke 17, 17, where Jesus tells a story about a man that comes in from a field.

He tells his servant, Hey, I'm not here to serve you.

You serve me.

Get up and serve me.

And dress dress properly when you serve me.

But here, verse 37, he reverses.

He said, If he comes in the second, third watch of the night and he finds these people faithful, the master of the house is gonna say, Hey, you guys sit down.

I'm gonna serve you.

I'm gonna reverse the order.

I'm gonna serve you.

If you're a Bible thinker and person, like a uh think the marriage supper of the lamb.

But verse 44, look what he says.

He says, Truly I say to you, he will set him over.

And the person that's been consistent, he will set him over all of his possessions.

Let me say it like this.

You cannot live long enough in this life.

If you're a uh if you're a ready, awake, consistent Christian, you cannot live long enough in this world for God to show you all the riches of his grace.

This lifetime can be long.

I don't care if you live to be 120, it's not long enough.

Where do you get that from?

I close with this Ephesians chapter 2, verse 4.

Ephesians 2:4

But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you've been saved.

And he raised us up.

We always stop there.

It keeps going.

And he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Why?

So that in the coming ages, he might show that the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

So that notice verse seven, so that in the coming ages, one lifetime is not enough, one age is not enough.

God needs ages, he needs a long runway to show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us.

Let me ask you a question.

We're done today.

When's the last time you thought of God as kind?

Because the Bible says this is his heart and disposition towards his people.

And falling asleep has a consequence.

That person won't be ready when Christ comes.

But the person that's ready, that's awake, that stays awake spiritually, and is consistent, and says, hey buddy, I'm just doing what my master told me to do.

Look at me again, and I'm done.

I know it's a lot for advent.

I don't want to cheat you.

Look at me.

You can't live long enough for God to properly reward that life in this lifetime.

It's gonna take ages to come.

Okay?

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible and then give you some space to think about it.

Some questions come up on the screen.

You can take a picture if you'd like.

Clyde will come, he may play and just sing something briefly over you.

We like to end our services by thinking.

That's what this time is for.

Christianity is not an emotion we sustain, it's a truth that we submit to.

And so exercise your brain, use your mind for a minute to worship God and think about these things.

God, our understanding today is that adultery is not better than heaven.

We understand you said that adulterers don't inherit the kingdom of God.

And so we don't submit then to now in that area.

We're like, you know what?

This is not better than heaven.

I'm not gonna do this.

I pray that anybody in this room that needs to be warned by that would be warned.

So, Lord, thank you.

We want to keep our wicks trimmed and burning.

Translation, we want to stay ready.

We're gonna sleep with a clothes on once a year.

Just say, I'm ready.

I didn't sleep very good.

That's okay.

The Bible also says stay awake, be consistent.

God, we want to be those kinds of people.

Help us to be that, we pray in Christ's name.

When everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

Thank you for your presence today.

If you're our guest, uh, thank you for being here.

You're always welcome.

If you have questions about anything you saw or heard, some of our pastors be available down front.

We'd love to answer questions, pray with you about anything you got going on.

If you're our guest today, all we ask of you is you just text the word welcome.

It's that number on the screen behind me.

I guess that was a record of your visit.

We're not gonna show up at your house and announce.

We'll just shoot you a text back.

Here's why we do this we want to help you in your spiritual journey.

So, whatever your next step is, if you got some questions, whatever, you want to sit down with one of our pastors for counseling, we'd love to do that.

Look at me.

We don't want to just preach to you, we want to walk beside you and be your pastors.

Like I took uh uh communion to my friend Niall, who's down in the Med Center in St.

Luke's uh on Friday, just hung out with him for about an hour.

Uh, and he said, Man, I Clyde, Wade Burgess, he's got Travis.

I said, Yeah, we don't want to just preach to you.

We we we don't just say that.

He goes, I know.

Man, I just love it.

You've got an incredible staff.

I said, Absolutely, we do.

Uh, and so that that's why we ask for you if you just text that number, because we just want to help you in your spiritual journey, okay?

If today's today you worship God through obedience or generosity when it comes to giving, you can take care of that, the wooden boxes by the door, or you can give online as many people do.

Would I include our service with folk and blessings if you would stand at your feet?

Hold your hands out.

Let not your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in Jesus.

In his house from many rooms.

If it were not so, he would not have told you.

He's gone now, and he's gonna come again to receive you unto himself so that where he is, you may be also.

He likes being with you.

Not just in this life, but in the one to come.

So in the meantime, stay ready.

Stay awake, stay consistent.

Depart now and demonstrate these realities to the inconsistent world around you.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.