A Man Is Self Sacrificing

So I'm talking about a man is self-sacrificial, right?

So let's jump right in.

I'm going to look at three different reasons of why a man is self-sacrificial.

Number one, because of the ultimate example of self-sacrificial masculinity, which is

!

Hey, you guys are on tonight, okay?

Jesus, right?

Jesus is the ultimate example of self-sacrificial masculinity.

So we'll start in Genesis once again, as we have a lot of these weeks.

And what is called the Proto-Evangelium, or Gelium, which is basically in Genesis 3.15,

there's the promise of a Messianic sacrifice, okay?

Genesis 3.15, after they sinned, God said, I'll put enmity between you and the woman and

between your offspring and hers.

He will crush your head and he will strike his heel.

He was speaking of the sacrifice that would come.

He was speaking of Jesus coming, the Messiah coming.

And eventually executing one of the greatest sacrifices ever, all right?

And this sacrifice, it says that Jesus was the highly exalted man with the name above

all names because of his sacrifice.

This is in Philippians 2, okay?

Philippians 2, 3-9 says,

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant

than yourself.

Let each one of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

And this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God with him to be grasped,

but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

And it says,

Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

Okay, so Jesus' ultimate act of selflessness and sacrifice gave him the name that is above every name

and caused him to be highly exalted, right?

It was quintessential masculinity, quintessential expression of what man was supposed to be.

Jesus embodied that.

Jesus embodied the perfect man.

And so to look at what a man should be, we need to look at the perfect man.

We need to look at the ultimate example of man.

And that is Jesus.

And Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.

Another NID says he considered himself nothing, taking the form of a servant.

So anytime you think you're something, you have ceased being a servant of Christ.

All right?

Ultimate sacrifice and servanthood is to consider yourself nothing.

It's not to exalt yourself, but to empty yourself.

Okay?

John 10, 11 to 15, Jesus said,

I'm the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

He was a hired hand, not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.

The wolf snatches them and scatters them.

He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

I'm the good shepherd.

I know my own and my own know me.

Just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Okay?

So again, Jesus, the example of laying down his life.

Laying down his life for the sheep.

He's not like a hired hand who cares nothing for the sheep.

Ultimate caring is laying your life down for the other.

And we are to follow and imitate this example.

Ephesians 5, 25 says,

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

So when it comes to husband drink, what is the example?

How are we supposed to do it?

As Christ loved the church.

And how did he do it?

He gave himself up for her.

Sacrifice.

Ephesians 5, 1-2 says,

Be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love.

How?

As Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

So how do we do this?

We do it like Jesus did.

We become sacrificial.

1 Peter 2, 21.

Christ also suffered for you,

leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.

Okay?

His example was suffering and sacrifice.

And 1 John 3, 16 says,

By this we know, love, that he laid down his life for us,

and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Okay?

It's our job to lay down our life for our brothers,

because that's what Jesus did for us.

He laid down his life for us,

and so he says,

Lay down your life for the brothers.

This flies in the face of just thinking that Christianity is about just attending a church.

I mean, that's a joke when you look at a verse like this.

Like, oh, Christianity means I'm just supposed to go to a church and listen to a guy preach?

That's Christianity?

He says,

By this we know, love, that he laid down his life for us,

and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

If our expression of church doesn't include some expression of us laying our lives down for specific people we call brothers,

it's not church as Christ has meant it to be.

And we know it's the way that Christ meant it to be,

number one, because it says it here,

but number two, because he embodied it.

He didn't say,

Hey, I'm going to lay down my life for brothers so that you can just attend church meetings and listen to someone else preach.

He said,

I'm going to lay down my life for brothers so that you can follow my example and lay down your life for the brothers.

And why is that important?

So that church isn't just a show or an attendance, but it's actually a brotherhood.

It's actually a group of people that are committed to one another.

It's actually a group of people that love one another, care for one another,

and experience life together in such a way that you could actually call it family.

Brotherhood is familial language.

Okay.

Do you have a relationship with your church in such a way that you could say,

I have a brotherhood.

I can do what Jesus said to do.

I can lay down my life for the brothers.

And the lack of laying down of life for brothers is what causes church to be lame.

Okay.

We have to have a group of people that we can lay down our life for.

If you don't have friends, brothers who laid on their life for you,

you're missing out on what church was always meant to be.

It was always meant to be self-sacrificial.

That's what men do.

That's what a man is.

So again, let's look at Jesus a little bit more.

What did Jesus sacrifice?

He sacrificed heaven.

He left heaven and came to earth.

Talk about a sacrifice.

Talk about a downgrade, right?

He literally left heaven and came to the earth that was tarnished and broken with sin.

Okay.

He suffered and sacrificed by taking on human form.

He took on flesh.

Again, that's a major sacrifice.

Literally, the creator became one of his creation.

He created man and then he became the same flesh that he created.

That's an incredible thought to think of the degree of sacrifice that Jesus did just in becoming a man.

Okay.

He sacrificed independence because he didn't just become a man.

He became first a baby.

Right?

And a baby cannot feed himself.

A baby cannot even survive on his own.

God himself became a baby dependent on a mother for milk, for sustenance, for life.

I mean, that is the most quintessential, most perfect picture of emptying yourself.

God emptying himself and not just becoming a man, but becoming a baby.

Okay.

He sacrificed safety.

Obviously, he came to a very dangerous, hostile environment for him.

Right?

That ultimately murdered him.

All right?

He sacrificed his reputation.

He was called a drunkard.

He was called a glutton.

He was crucified as a criminal, even though he was innocent.

All right?

He sacrificed his reputation.

He lost friends and family to death.

Right?

His cousin John had his life taken from him.

Okay?

He came into this world, lost friends, lost family to death.

He sacrificed money and possessions.

The Bible says he had no place to lay his head.

He sacrificed wife and kids.

He stayed single.

He didn't get married.

He lost his family.

He lost his disciples.

And he ultimately sacrificed his life.

Jesus lived a sacrificial life from day one all the way through.

His life was marked by sacrifice.

And true masculinity is marked by sacrifice.

At the end of the day, Jesus didn't blame.

He bled.

Okay?

That was marked by that.

What do we do?

We like to blame.

We like to be like Adam.

Right?

And blame all these other things.

Jesus didn't blame.

He bled.

He took responsibility for things that weren't his fault.

And said, I will take them upon myself.

I will sacrifice for the sake of a lost people.

I will sacrifice to restore a planet that came underneath sin.

Okay?

Number two.

Man is self-sacrificial because it's the greatest love.

John 15, 13 says,

Greater love is no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Okay?

If we're talking about a masculinity that is most loving,

it has to be one that sacrifices its very life and lays down his life for his friends.

If it's not a loving version of masculinity, it's not true masculinity.

God didn't create men to be unloving.

Of course he created them to be loving.

Well, what is the ultimate act of love for another?

It's that he lays down his life for his friends.

If you think about all the different attributes of masculinity,

self-sacrifice is required to be everything a man is.

Self-sacrifice is required to be confident, to be responsible,

to be strong, to be the glory of God,

to be a fighter, to be a worker, to be a leader,

to be any of these things, you must also be self-sacrificial.

Every real-life responsibility requires some level of self-sacrifice to cultivate it.

Here's a great story that embodies this.

Marcus Brotherton tells an amazing story

of self-sacrifice involving prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Army

in the jungles of Thailand during World War II.

Okay?

It goes like this.

The supreme example of a different way of living

came to a climax one horrific evening

after a long day of hard labor.

That night when the tools were counted,

a Japanese guard announced that one shovel was missing.

One of the prisoners had stolen the shovel

to sell in the black market, it was assumed.

The crime was heinous.

The guard railed.

The perpetrator had maligned the Emperor himself

and acted punishable by death.

The guard lined up the men in the work party

and demanded that whoever took the shovel confess.

No one did.

The guard ranted and screamed,

denouncing the men for their wickedness.

His rage reached a new level.

All die! All die!

The guard shrieked.

He pointed his rifle at the crowd

and set his finger on the trigger.

Prisoners knew he was serious.

Calmly, quietly,

from the back of the work party,

one solitary man stepped forward.

I did it, the man said.

The guard unleashed his fury on the man.

In front of the rest of the prisoners,

a contingent of armed guards standing by,

he beat the man bloody with the butt of his rifle,

crushing the man's skull.

When the tools were counted again,

it was found that all the shovels were there.

The guard had miscounted.

One man died in the dust and dirt

of the death camp by the River Kwai.

One man died so that others might live.

What a story, huh?

It's a picture of ultimate sacrifice.

It's a picture of someone taking responsibility,

even for things that weren't his fault.

He didn't steal the shovel.

But he sacrificed his life so that others could live.

And this is what men do.

You hear a story like that and you don't think,

man, what an effeminate slacker.

You know?

You think, wow, what a man.

Do you not?

You not think, man, that's the man I want to be.

That's the kind of man that I look up to.

That's the kind of man I respect.

Right?

And there's something inherently in us

that knows that that's true masculinity.

That knows intrinsically that self-sacrifice

equates to masculinity.

We respect this kind of behavior.

Which leads me to number three.

Man is self-sacrificial because of what we observe

in life and art.

Okay?

You know, because who we are as a man

is built into our nature,

and who a woman is is built into her nature,

even an unbeliever can observe things

that are true about men and women

without ever reading the Bible

just by observing through history

how men and women behave in certain circumstances.

Because, and this points to God,

because our masculinity is hardwired into our nature.

It's not something that is pressed down upon us

by our culture,

as the world would tell us.

It's just not true.

You know this is true just because

if you have little kids,

you know that you can press on

all kinds of things onto your boy,

and you can ban all guns from him,

and he will take his pink butter and jelly sandwich,

and he will bite it with his mouth

and make it into a gun.

Right?

That's what he does.

Why?

Because it's built,

there are certain things built into his nature

that no outside forces can undo.

God made men and women,

and he made them not as some outward thing,

it's from inside.

Okay?

And so we can observe some of these things

through life and art,

and we can see certain things that are masculine.

Okay?

And at the end of the day,

we hate the coward and respect self-sacrifice.

All right?

You know this when you see it in real life,

you know this when you see it in a movie.

Right?

We hate the coward.

We don't, we,

where it's like,

no one tells you to hate the coward,

but you do.

No one tells you to love the guy

who's self-sacrificial,

but you do.

Right?

The definition of heroic

is this,

supremely noble or self-sacrificing.

All right?

When we think of someone who's a hero,

you can't think of a hero

without self-sacrifice.

The very definition of heroic

is someone supremely noble

or self-sacrificing.

Self-sacrifice is heroic.

Okay?

Think of,

think of all the best movies you've seen.

How many of them have self-sacrificing?

I mean, how many?

All.

Most of them, right?

Maybe all.

Well, I don't know.

That's just,

whenever that's there,

there's just something different, right?

There's something that grips you as a man.

You're like,

what is that?

Well, it's because it's hardwired

and you buy God himself.

Some of you may have seen

Band of Brothers.

There's a scene in Band of Brothers

where a guy by the name of Spears

and a guy by the name of Blythe.

Most people who watch Band of Brothers

love Spears and they hate Blythe.

Why?

Well, here's a scene in one of the movies.

You have this scene where

they're,

it's nighttime,

they're kind of

crouched behind some

protection

because the enemy lines

on the other side

and they're going to

probably attack him the next day.

There's bombs going off

and Blythe is scared

in a foxhole

just sitting there.

And Spears goes and checks on him

and he says to Blythe,

he says,

you know why you hid in that ditch, Blythe?

Blythe says,

I was scared.

Spears says,

we're all scared.

You hid in that ditch

because you think there's still hope.

Blythe,

the only hope you have

is to accept the fact

that you're already dead.

And the sooner you accept that,

the sooner you'll be able to function

as a soldier's supposed to function.

Okay?

And if you've ever,

if you've ever seen Band of Brothers,

Spears embodied that

and it's based on a true story.

I mean,

he just had no regard

for his own life

and because of that

he was one of the most heroic guys

in that band of men.

He sacrificed all the time

and all the men

respected him towards.

The opposite of self-sacrifice

is selfishness.

It's self-preservation.

It's self-seeking.

It's self-absorption.

It's being stingy and cheap.

Blythe was a coward

because he was trying to save his life.

Spears was a hero

because he saw himself as already dead.

How do you see yourself?

Are you self-preserving?

Are you already dead?

It's much easier to lose

what you've already lost.

Mark 8.35 says,

Whoever would save his life

will lose it.

Whoever loses his life

for my sake and the Gospels

will save it.

Luke 17.33,

Whoever seeks to preserve his life

will lose it.

Whoever loses his life

will keep it.

Whoever loves his life,

John 12.25 says,

Whoever loves his life

loses it.

Whoever hates his life

in this world

will keep it for eternal life.

Galatians 5.24 says,

Those who belong to Christ Jesus

have crucified the flesh

with its passions and desires.

This is why Paul says

in 1 Corinthians 2.2,

I decided to know nothing

except Jesus Christ

and him crucified.

The masculine life,

especially for a Christian,

is one where you've lost your life.

You're not trying to find it.

I moved to Colorado.

What for?

I was trying to find myself.

Okay?

Well, find yourself.

You can't find yourself

by looking for yourself.

You find yourself

by losing yourself.

You find yourself

by losing your life.

You have to sacrifice your life.

You can't be trying to save it,

preserve it, find it.

Okay?

A lot of men,

they don't know who they are.

Right?

You know?

They're still answering the question

that God asked in the garden.

Adam, where are you?

Still not self-aware.

They still don't know

where they are.

God didn't ask that question

because he was really wondering

where Adam was.

God knew where Adam was.

That question was for Adam

and the same question is for you.

Where are you?

Trying to find yourself?

Trying to find identity

in all these other things?

Or have you lost yourself?

Have you said,

I got a plan to lose it all?

Right?

I am going to sacrifice

everything I have

because I'm living

for something bigger than myself.

I'm living for eternity.

I'm living for Christ.

I have the ultimate example.

I've found the secret

and it's through loss.

Through losing my life,

I find my life.

Courage is brave action

in the face of danger.

It's brave action

in the face of adversity,

sacrifice, or risk.

The more danger,

adversity, risk,

or sacrifice

involved in the action,

the more courageous it is.

Okay?

This is why ultimately

in these movies

a lot of times

we look at it and think,

oh, that's really admirable

or that's really noble

or that's something

I want to be or do

because the movie

stood to dramatize

the degree of adversity

and sacrifice and risk

and it just amplifies

how much we think

that's cool,

that's admirable,

that's noble.

Okay?

The more danger,

adversity, risk,

or sacrifice involved

in the action,

the more courageous it is.

The more sacrifice

in an action,

the more we respect it.

The more selfishness,

the more we despise it.

Martin Luther King said,

if a man hasn't discovered

something he will die for,

he isn't fit to live.

That's pretty strong words.

But again,

if you think of a man

as self-sacrificial,

if someone hasn't

discovered something

he will die for,

then he isn't fit to live

because he isn't a man.

He isn't a man.

Let me ask you the question,

question.

How much sacrifice

does the life

you currently live

require?

How much sacrifice

does the life

you are currently living,

how much does it require?

The life you've chosen

to live,

the life that you are

choosing to live,

the responsibilities

you've chosen to take on,

the job you have,

the relationships you have,

the church you have,

how much sacrifice

does your life require?

And have you curated

your life to avoid sacrifice?

Have you set up your life

to sow

to your selfish,

fleshly comforts,

wondering why you

continually reap destruction?

What about your church?

Have you avoided churches

that ask a lot of you

that require sacrifice?

What is,

how is your life

currently set up?

If sacrifice

is quintessential masculine,

if sacrifice is

the embodiment of masculinity

on so many levels,

how are we setting up

our lives?

Are we setting our lives

to be men?

Are we setting up

our lives

to avoid masculinity,

to avoid that

which is manly

by avoiding sacrifice?

Avoiding sacrifice

is avoiding your manhood.

Avoiding sacrifice

is avoiding

what it truly means

to be a man.

This is boyhood behavior.

Little boys avoid sacrifice.

They run from it.

They make excuses from it.

Again,

Jesus didn't make excuses.

Jesus bled.

He sacrificed.

Josiah Strong

says,

There's not enough

of effort,

of struggle

in the typical church life

of today

to win young men

to the church.

A flowery bed of ease

does not appeal

to a fellow

who has any manhood

in him.

The prevailing religion

is too comfortable

to attract young men

who love the heroic.

We cannot,

we must not be

a church like this.

We must be a church

that expects sacrifice

for men.

Women as well.

But of course the men.

To be a part of a church

that does not expect

sacrifice for men.

To complain about a church

that asks you too much.

This is far below

your manhood.

This is far below

the God who

called you,

who created you.

The prevailing religion

is too comfortable

to attract young men

who love the heroic.

We must create churches

that draw men

because men need

to be saved.

And men aren't

going to be saved.

And men aren't

going to be saved

if they don't see

the true Jesus.

They're not going to see

the true Jesus

until they see men

who act like Jesus

and look like Jesus

and have the substance

of Jesus.

And the substance

of Jesus is sacrifice.

Teddy Roosevelt said,

I wish to preach

not the doctrine

of ignoble ease,

but the doctrine

of the strenuous life,

the life of toil

and effort,

of labor and strife,

to preach that highest

form of success

which comes

not to the man

who desires mere

easy peace,

but to the man

who does not shrink

from danger,

from hardship,

or from bitter toil,

who out of these

wins the splendid

ultimate triumph.

I wish to preach

not the doctrine

of ignoble ease.

A life of ease

is ignoble.

A life of ease

constantly looking

for the easier route,

constantly avoiding

sacrifice.

Again,

this is not

who you are.

This is not

who God has called

you to be.

Are you avoiding

difficulty

and sacrifice?

And are you settling

for a life

of ignoble ease?

This is not

what God has for you.

This is not

what God has called

you to.

Men,

it's time to rise up.

It's time to repent

of avoiding

that which God

has called us to

because it's hard.

You bet it's hard.

Okay?

But those broad

shoulders he gave you,

he gave you for a reason.

There's a reason

you have those shoulders.

God created you

to do hard things.

God created you

to carry heavy burdens.

God created you

to sacrifice.

And ignoble ease

is below you.

So how do we be

a self-sacrificial man?

Let's look at

the definitions.

The definition

of sacrifice

is to forfeit

something for

something else

considered to have

a greater value.

To forfeit something

for something else

considered to have

a greater value.

You will never

sacrifice what you have

for something you

believe to be

of lesser value

than what you are

sacrificing.

This is super

important.

This is key.

And it's a fact.

This is how

the world goes around.

Alright?

You will never

sacrifice what you have

for something you

believe to be

of lesser value

than what you are

sacrificing.

If you think that

what you are being

called to sacrifice

is of higher value,

you will not

sacrifice it.

You think it's

more pleasurable?

You won't sacrifice it.

You must have

a higher pleasure.

Paul said in

St. Corinthians 12, 15,

I will most gladly

spend and be spent

for your souls.

He didn't just

say, I'll spend.

He wasn't some

ascetic leader.

No, he said,

I will gladly

spend and be spent.

He didn't say,

I'll just spend

and be spent

because that's

what I'm supposed

to do and I'm a

Christian and I

don't really want

to do it,

but I just have

to do this.

He said,

I will most gladly

spend and be spent.

And the greatest

sacrifice,

the only real

sustaining sacrifice

is one that

comes from joy.

It's one that

comes from a

place of gladness.

Why?

Where do we get

this from?

Acts 20,

this is also

Paul,

20, 22 to 25.

Paul says,

and I'll hold

and go into

Jerusalem,

constrained by

the Spirit,

not knowing

what will happen

to me there,

except that the

Holy Spirit

testifies to me

in every city

that imprisonment

and afflictions

await me.

Okay?

So,

hardships,

things he will

have to sacrifice.

Again,

no one's making

him do this.

He is choosing

to go into

places that the

Holy Spirit

is telling him

where he knows

what is awaiting

in there is

imprisonment

and affliction.

That's what he

says.

He's choosing

that.

How does he

do that?

How does he

choose to do

that?

Verse 24,

but I do

not account my

life of any

value nor as

precious to

myself.

If only I may

finish my course

in the ministry

that I received

from the Lord

Jesus to testify

to the gospel

of the grace

of God.

Behold,

I know that

none of you

among whom I

have gone about

proclaiming the

kingdom will

see my face

again.

Okay?

The key was

that he didn't

count his life

of any value

nor as precious

to himself

because he

had a greater

reward.

He had something

bigger,

more pleasurable.

He was able

to withstand

and endure

great hardship,

almost unparalleled

you could say,

right?

Because he had

a greater reward.

And so it

became something

he did gladly.

Why would you

give up when he

gave up?

He gave up so

much.

And how could he

do it gladly?

Only if he had

something better.

Doug Wilson

says,

masculinity is

the glad

assumption of

sacrificial

responsibility.

You see this

in Matthew 13,

the ultimate

picture of this

principle.

Matthew 13,

I'm sure you're

familiar with it.

The treasure

hidden in the

field,

pearl of great

price,

right?

It says,

the kingdom

of heaven

is like

treasure

hidden in

a field

which a

man found

and covered

up.

Then in

his joy,

he goes and

sells all that

he has and

buys that

field.

You notice

that?

It says,

in his joy.

What's so

joyful about

him?

Well,

you know

what's joyful

about it.

You know

what's joyful

about it

because he

sold all

he had to

get it.

Why is it

joyful?

Because what

he was getting

was worth

more than

what he sold.

You would

never sell

all you have

for something

of lesser

value than

all you have.

Right?

If Jesus

is saying,

hey,

sell everything

you have,

give up

everything you

have for

something way

worse and

do it with

joy.

You know?

He's not

saying that.

He's not

saying,

give it all

up.

And if you

do,

I promise

you much

worse.

He didn't

do that.

But is

not that

what we

think?

I mean,

you have to

do a little

gut check

here.

Is that

not the

way we

think?

It has

to be.

Otherwise,

you do it

gladly.

If you're

not doing

it,

why aren't

you doing

it?

Is it that

you don't

believe that

what you get

is better than

what you give?

Is it that you

don't believe that

what you would

receive in

exchange for

selling all is

actually worth more

than all you have

to sell?

And so,

therefore,

your Christianity

is a burden to

you.

Your masculinity

is a burden to

you.

And at the end

of the day,

you still keep

looking at porn

because you love

your porn.

And you love

it more than

Jesus.

And if you love

your sin and

your lust more

than Jesus,

guess what?

You're going to

keep doing it.

You can try all

your little tricks

and you can use

your software and

you can have

your accountability

buddies,

but at the end

of the day,

none of it's

going to work.

Because you're

trying to do

something against

the way God

created things.

You're trying to

do something that

the Bible says

is not true.

But you added

on all these

little Christian

accessories,

quote unquote,

and have all

these little groups

and all the

software and

all these little

tricks of the

trade.

And you're

doing push-ups

and you're

taking cold

showers.

And at the

end of the

day,

you're not

doing the

one thing

that Jesus

said to do.

And that is

to see that

he is greater

than all these

things.

And that what

you get with

him is greater

than all.

And so you

sell your life

of sin and

you repent of

it and you

turn from it

and you give

it up.

And in

exchange,

you get

Jesus,

your very great

reward.

And he's

better.

But if you

don't believe

he's better and

you love your

sin more,

then you will

continue to do

your sin no

matter all the

other things

you will try

to do.

No matter all

the things you

put on your

phone and all

these other

things,

you must see

that Jesus is

the treasure of

him on the

field.

Then in your

joy,

you'll go and

sell all that

you have and

buy it in the

field.

Again,

the kingdom of

heaven is like

a merchant in

search of

fine pearls.

When finding

one pearl of

great value,

went and sold

all that he

had and bought

it.

Do you see

that Jesus is

of great value?

Or are you

still convinced

that those

pixels on the

screen,

that woman on

the screen is

of greater value

than Christ and

the riches of

your inheritance

in him?

Which is it?

Which is it?

In that moment,

you know darn well

what you're thinking.

You're thinking

this is better.

And that's your

problem.

You don't believe

that Jesus is

better.

And it's not that

you have to make

yourself believe it.

It's true.

He is better.

He is better.

And this is why

all the people you've

seen, who've

forsaken all,

all the people

you've seen that

you admire, who

sacrifice, you

say, that's a

man.

The reason they

do it is because

they found

something better.

His name is

Jesus.

Hebrews 10

34 speaks of

this kind of

person.

It says, you

joyfully accepted

the plundering of

your property,

since you knew

that you yourselves

had a better

possession and

an abiding one.

What kind of

manner of man is

this?

Joyfully accepting

the plundering of

your property?

Have you ever

anything stolen

from you?

Joyfully accepting

the plundering of

your property.

Why?

Since you knew

that you yourselves

had a better

possession and

an abiding one.

Do you have a

better possession?

Do you possess

something better

than your sin?

Do you possess

something better

than what you

have?

Do you possess

something better

than your time,

your talents,

and your treasure?

That's the only

way you'll

sacrifice.

The only way

you'll sacrifice.

Supreme pleasure

is the key.

Okay?

What do you

believe gives

you the most

pleasure?

Some of the

greatest sacrifices

I've seen

were for sin.

Sacrificing

marriages,

children,

jobs,

time,

friendships for

the love of

sin.

And I've sat

across from a

man who was

literally willing

to give up his

wife and his

children just

because he

loved smoking

weed.

And he was

tearing his

marriage apart.

He was

separated from

his spouse.

I'm appealing

to him to

not throw

away his

marriage and

his children

just because he

wanted to smoke

weed.

As goofy as

that is,

of all things.

Beautiful wife,

beautiful kids,

and he was

literally entertaining

this and was

having a hard

time making the

decision.

And I'm

thinking,

oh my,

what are you

thinking?

I know exactly

the same.

He loved the

pleasure he got

from that

addiction more

than his own

kid,

more than his

own wife,

more than his

God.

In that moment,

he had to

repent and

seek pleasure

in Christ.

Thankfully,

he did.

His marriage

is restored.

But boy,

I didn't know

which way it

was going to

go for a

while.

I've seen,

you know,

it's not that

men don't know

how to sacrifice,

it's that men

sacrifice for the

wrong things all

the time.

It's just like,

I don't know

how to do

this sacrifice.

I'm like,

no,

no,

no,

no.

You are

really good

at sacrificing.

You have

given up so

much for your

sin.

It's actually

amazing.

I have talked

to men who

have an

incredible

ability to

sacrifice so

much for

their loss.

Willing to

sacrifice even

their own job

because they

have to look

at these images

so badly

they're willing

to do it

even on a

company computer

or a company

phone.

I don't

even care

about my

job.

I just

care about

this immediate

gratification.

It's not

that we don't

know how to

sacrifice,

that we

sacrifice for

the wrong

things.

The reason

we sacrifice

for them is

because we

believe those

things and

things that

give us

most pleasure.

Do you

believe that

Jesus is

God?

If he's

God,

he's supreme.

If he's

God,

he's better.

If he's

God,

he's highly

lifted up and

exalted over

all their

pleasures.

That's what

it means to

believe Jesus

is God.

He's not

one God

among many.

He is the

only God,

the true

God,

supremely

greater than

all things.

That is what

faith in

Christ requires,

is to believe

that he's

greater.

This is

saving faith.

This is the

faith that

saves you,

not just

from hell,

but from

the power

of your

sin.

Do you

understand?

Your

quote-unquote

faith that

you think

that saves

you from

hell,

if it

doesn't have

enough power

to save

you from

your sin

and the

power of

your sin,

do you

really think

it has

enough power

to save

you from

hell?

What kind

of delusion

are you

living in

if you

think that

that's

true?

The same

power that

saves you

from the

punishment of

your sin

is the

same power

that is

accessible to

the Christian

to save

you from

the power

of your

sin.

If you

profess

Christ but

you are

not saved

from the

power of

your sin,

why in the

world do you

think that

God has

saved you

from the

penalty of

your sin?

And why

in the

world do you

have future

hope that

he will

save you

from the

presence of

sin?

It ain't

going to

happen.

That's not

saving faith.

One of the

indicators that

you have

saving faith

and believe

that he

saved you

from the

penalty of

your sin

is that

you have

present power

to resist

sin in your

life.

He is saving

you from

the power

of your

sin as

well.

It doesn't

mean you're

perfect.

You have

a fleshly

sinful body,

but sin

no longer

reigns over

you.

Sin no longer

rules over

you.

This is

what the

word of

God

teaches.

That's the

kind of

faith we

need.

That Jesus

is supreme,

Jesus is

better.

Hebrews 12

2 says

that Jesus

who for

the joy

that was

set before

him endured

the cross.

Even

Jesus

endured the

cross because

of what?

Joy,

pleasure.

Jesus was

motivated by

pleasure?

Yes!

If Jesus

needed pleasure

to be motivated,

how much more

do you need

it?

It was the

joy set before

him that he

endured the

cross.

If you

would endure

the cross

resisting sin

and resisting

temptation,

you must see

the joy set

before you.

That obedience

to God

is better.

You can say

like Joseph,

how could I

do such a

wicked thing

and sin

against God?

God is

better.

Philippians 3,

7,

11,

this is why

Paul said,

whatever gain

I had,

I counted

as loss

for the

sake of

Christ.

Indeed,

I count

everything

as loss

because of

the surpassing

worth of

knowing Christ

Jesus my

Lord.

For his

sake I

have suffered

the loss

of all

things and

count them

as rubbish

in order that

I may gain

Christ and

be found in

him, not

having a

righteousness

of my own

that comes

from the

law, but

that which

comes through

faith in

Christ, the

righteousness

from God

that depends

on faith,

that I may

know him

and the

power of

his

resurrection

and may

share his

sufferings

becoming like

him in

his death,

that by any

means possible

I may attain

the resurrection

from the

dead.

To profess

believing in

a God who

resurrected from

the dead and

not believe that

God can't

resurrect us

from our own

sin,

ludicrous.

It's laughable.

It's hypocritical.

If we profess

the risen Lord,

he should have

the power to

be evident in

our life that

sin doesn't

reign over us

anymore.

This should be

the mark of

his people.

Sacrifice without

joy is a false

religion.

The false

religion.

It sure is

that being

Christianity.

Sacrifice without

joy is a false

religion.

A Christianity

that's all

burden and

no joy.

And here,

let me tell you

this, it'll

never last.

Mark my words,

it will not

last.

If your

Christianity is

all burden and

no joy,

it might be

getting you

through right

now, it is

not one that

will last you

through the end.

It will not

one that will

last you

through persecution

and hardship.

It will

know that.

Some people

have stronger

wills than

others, but

you don't

have a strong

will enough

to do that

in your whole

life.

Until your

perceived value

and pleasure

in Christ,

the kingdom,

your wife,

your kids,

other people

in the church

exceeds your

perceived value

and pleasure

of your life,

your comfort,

your sin,

and what you

have, then

you'll never

live a truly

consistent,

sacrificial life,

and no one

will really

respect you as a

man.

So by

Romans 8,

18 says,

I consider

that the

sufferings of

this present

time are

not worth

comparing with

the glory that

is to be

revealed.

Not worth

comparing.

2 Corinthians 4,

16, 18 says,

we don't lose

heart.

Though our

outer self is

wasting away,

our inner self

is being renewed

day by day.

For this

light momentary

affliction is

preparing for

us an eternal

weight of glory

beyond all

comparison.

It's not just

that Jesus is

better.

It's that it's

beyond all

comparison.

There's no

competition.

There's no

comparison.

There's no

debate.

He is the

undisputed king

of the earth.

Uncontested

ruler.

Nobody

greater.

And if you're

still having a

conversation with

your flesh about

whether Jesus is

greatest, you

need to get

saved.

cry out to

him that he

might save

you from

your unbelief.

We look not

to the things

that are seen

but to the

things that are

unseen.

The things that

are seen are

transient.

The things that

are unseen are

eternal.

You have to

believe that

saving is

losing and

losing is

saving.

Gain is

loss and

loss is

gain.

It's an

upside down

kingdom.

Loss is

joyfully

pursued when

loss is

gain.

You hear me

on that?

You won't

pursue loss

until you

believe that

loss is

gain.

You won't

pursue sacrifice

until you

believe that

sacrifice is

gain.

Loss is

consistently

avoided when

loss is

loss.

You

understand what