Holding Nothing Back

Title of the message is Holding Nothing Back.

! Holding Nothing Back.

If you've got your Bibles, we're going to start off in Genesis 22.

!

I'm going to start reading.

After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him,

Abraham!

He said, Here I am.

He said, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love,

and go to the land of Moriah,

and offer him there as a burnt offering

on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.

So Abraham rose early in the morning,

saddled his donkey,

and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac.

And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose

and went to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes

and saw the place from afar.

Then Abraham said to his young men,

Stay here with the donkey,

and I and the boy will go over there

and worship and come again to you.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering

and laid it on Isaac his son.

And he took in his hand the fire and the knife,

so they went both of them together.

And Isaac said to his father,

Abraham, my father.

And he said, Here I am, my son.

He said, Behold, the fire and the wood,

but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

Abraham said, God will provide for himself

the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.

So they went both of them together.

When they came to the place in which God had told him,

Abraham built the altar there

and laid the wood in order

and bound Isaac his son

and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

Then Abraham reached out his hand

and took the knife to slaughter his son.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven

and said, Abraham, Abraham.

And he said, Here I am.

He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy

or do anything to him.

For now I know that you fear God,

seeing you have not withheld your son,

your only son, from me.

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked,

and behold, behind him was a ram

caught in a thicket by his thorns.

And Abraham went and took the ram

and offered it up as a burnt offering

instead of his son.

So Abraham called the name of that place

the Lord will provide.

As it is said to this day,

on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.

And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham

a second time from heaven and said,

By myself I have sworn,

declares the Lord,

because you have done this

and have not withheld your son,

your only son,

I will surely bless you

and I will surely multiply your offspring

as the stars of heaven

and as the sand that is on the seashore.

And your offspring shall possess

the gates of his enemies

and your offspring shall all the nations

of the earth be blessed

because you have obeyed my voice.

Okay?

So that's a story I think most of us

who've been walking with Jesus

for a long time are fairly familiar with.

I was meditating on this story,

just thinking of what to speak on

in light of Seth's sermon from last week.

And the thing that really jumped out to me

is in light of him having to offer up his son,

which that's an unusual sacrifice.

I think we could all agree on that, right?

It's not every day that God asks you

to sacrifice your son.

And he's offering up his son

and not only is it his son,

he's the son of the promise.

This is the son he was not able to have

for a hundred years, right?

He gets pregnant,

has this kid.

This is the son that the promise

is going to come through.

And then in this weird turn of events,

he says, hey,

the one that the promise

is supposed to come through,

I actually want you to sacrifice him to me.

Okay?

So very interesting thing.

You would say,

no one would ever say,

you know,

Abraham was committed to the Lord,

but you know,

he kind of just gave God his leftovers.

You know,

it's like, no,

it's a son,

his only son.

Like no one would ever say,

Abraham's not really given much.

Anybody would say,

Abraham,

if there's a guy who's given,

if there's a guy who's in,

it would be Abraham.

Okay?

But I think what we're going to see here,

and this is what I want to focus on,

is God didn't comment on what he gave.

God comment on what he didn't withhold.

You might say,

well,

that's just semantics.

And I want to suggest to you,

it's not semantics.

That wording is important.

Okay?

He says,

in verse 12,

when he says,

don't lay your hand on the boy,

he says,

now I know that you fear God,

seeing you have not withheld your son,

your only son for me.

And what I want to look at in the scriptures here,

and I believe is a theme that is all throughout the scriptures,

is God pointing to what is withheld or what is not withheld.

And that's not the way we think.

When we think,

we think what someone's giving or not giving.

God is thinking what is withheld or not withheld.

And I'll explain that more in a second here.

But Proverbs 11,

24,

it says,

one gives freely,

it grows all the richer.

Another withholds what he should give,

and only suffers once.

Okay?

Proverbs 21,

26,

says,

the righteous gives and does not hold back.

The Amplified says,

the righteous gives and does not withhold.

Okay?

And then,

Matthew 10,

37 to 39,

says,

whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.

Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Whoever finds his life will lose it.

Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

You see,

it's not what you give,

it's what you hold back.

That is the thing that is important here.

Because you can have a pretty good reputation,

so to speak,

of giving.

On the outside,

it can look like,

hey,

that person is a giver.

That person is,

and this would include finances,

but this isn't a message on finances.

This is more,

you know,

pervasive,

more all-inclusive,

right?

So,

you could say,

that's a giving person.

That's a generous person.

That's a person who's an all-in type of guy or girl.

That's a,

that's a,

that's a Christian who's really giving.

But,

God's not looking what's being given.

He's looking,

is there anything that's withheld?

He knew that Abraham feared the Lord because he did not withhold his son.

The righteous gives and does not hold back.

And what I'm asking the Lord to show us this morning,

Lord,

please help us.

Is there anything we're holding back?

Because,

I mean,

I think it'd be,

I would have no problem saying,

probably everyone in this room is giving to a certain degree to the Lord,

in their time,

their talents,

their treasure,

you know,

good on the list,

right?

We could all say that.

We would all say that of ourselves,

I would think,

right?

But,

the question is not,

are we giving?

Because that's not what Jesus,

or what God brings up.

He brings up,

is there anything we're holding back?

Is it,

I'm going this far,

but,

ah,

not that,

not that.

Okay,

so,

it's not what you give necessarily,

but it's what you hold back.

Let's look at,

this hypothesis,

in the Bible,

and see if we're not seeing this as a theme.

Okay?

Well,

right away,

also in Genesis,

you see the first sacrifices brought to the Lord,

with Cain and Abel,

right?

It said,

in Genesis 4,

3 to 5,

in the course of time,

Cain brought to the Lord,

an offering of the fruit of the ground,

and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock,

and of their fat portions.

And the Lord had regard for Abel,

and his offering,

but for Cain and his offering,

he had no regard,

so Cain was very angry,

and his face fell.

Hebrews 11,

4 gives us a little more insight on that.

It says,

by faith,

Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.

Well,

maybe some of you wondered,

what's the deal with that?

They both offered sacrifices.

Again,

it's not just that they,

you might say,

they both offered sacrifices.

God isn't looking to see,

are you sacrificing?

He's saying,

what are you withholding?

Abel gave of his firstfruits.

Cain,

it just says,

he brought an offering.

It doesn't say it was his firstfruits.

Okay?

So,

I would venture to say that Cain

was withholding something.

Cain was withholding something.

But they both gave.

They both sacrificed.

That's not what God's looking at.

God was not pleased

with Cain's sacrifice.

And what we find too,

that,

is those who are withholding,

what is the response

to a person

who's withholding from God

when someone calls them out on it?

What do they do?

They get angry.

Right?

And we know how that is.

Even last week

when Seth was talking

and he wrapped up,

you know,

he's preaching a really good message.

You think,

that's a great message.

And then Seth has to do that Seth thing

and just really go at it

at the end there,

right?

Which I love about Seth.

Appreciate that about Seth.

That's part of the body we need,

right?

And he brings up a list

of bad ultimate reasons

to go to a church.

And what does that do in us?

I mean,

I'm listening to it

and you can almost feel it

coming up inside of you

like,

oh,

he's hitting the stuff.

He's hitting the things

that are difficult.

And you either get mad or sad

typically with those kind of things.

It stirs things up in you.

And that's what happened

with Cain here.

It says,

Cain was very angry.

Cain was very angry.

And so we got to watch ourselves

and say,

hey,

is there anything I'm holding back?

Cain held something back.

Another one was Saul.

Remember the story

when Saul was told

to go,

was it the Amalekites?

I can't remember who it was,

but yeah,

the Amalekites.

He was supposed to go there

and destroy everything,

kill everything,

destroy everything.

Like that was the command,

right?

And

Sam,

God calls Samuel

to go to Saul.

Samuel comes to Saul.

This is 1 Samuel 15,

1 Samuel 15:13

verse 13.

Samuel comes to Saul.

Saul says to him,

blessed be the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord,

brother.

Good to see you, Samuel.

Everything's cool, man.

I'm doing the thing.

You're doing the thing.

We're godly people,

right?

Aren't we?

And Saul,

I mean,

Samuel is not,

Samuel's not cool.

He's not having it, right?

He says,

blessed be the Lord.

I have performed

the commandment of the Lord.

And then Samuel says,

what then is this bleeding

of the sheep in my ears

and the lowing of the oxen

that I hear?

Okay,

why is he saying that?

Because he's supposed

to kill all those things.

Why is he hearing

animal sounds

and telling him,

I have obeyed

the voice of the Lord.

And Samuel's like,

no, you didn't.

Then why do I hear

these animal noises?

Okay,

and again,

Saul's thinking

he's tough stuff.

He's all good

because what did Saul do?

He did some things

for the Lord.

He killed some things.

But he withheld

certain things back.

You see,

Saul says,

they have brought them

from the Amokites

for the people

spared the best

of the sheep

and of the oxen.

And then he spiritualizes it.

And oh,

do we love to spiritualize

our withholding from God.

And Saul does the same thing,

right?

He says,

I have spared,

we have spared

the best of the sheep

and of the oxen

to sacrifice

to the Lord,

of course,

you know,

because that's

what we're doing here.

This is all

for the Lord.

And Samuel's

not having it.

Samuel's a prophet.

He's not playing games here

and he never really did

as you look at Samuel's life.

Samuel says to Saul,

stop with a cap

with an exclamation point

at the end there.

So I'm,

he's saying this pretty firm,

I'm sure.

Like,

stop!

I will tell you

what the Lord said

to me this night.

And he said to him,

speak.

And Samuel said,

though you are

little in your own eyes,

you're not ahead

of the tribes of Israel.

The Lord anointed you

king over Israel

and the Lord sent you

on a mission

and said,

go devote to destruction

the sinners,

the Amalekites

and fight against them

until they are consumed.

Why then?

Did you not obey

the voice of the Lord?

Why did you pounce

on the spoil

and do what was evil

in the sight of the Lord?

And then Saul doubles down.

He still says,

I obeyed the voice

of the Lord.

I've gone on the mission

the Lord has sent me.

I've brought Agag

the king of Amalek

and have devoted

the Amalekites

to destruction.

But the people,

and then there he goes,

right?

But the people,

the people took

the spoil sheep

and auction,

the best of the things

devoted to destruction,

to sacrifice to the Lord

your God at Gilgal.

So,

here you have this example

where God is not,

again,

it's not that Saul

didn't give to the Lord,

it's not that Saul

didn't do things

for the Lord.

And this is the thing

we have to be careful of.

You can do great things

for God.

You can do things

for the Lord,

look like you're giving

and sacrificial.

You can even spiritualize

your own selfishness

and say,

oh,

it's for the Lord.

And God would say,

you withheld

some of the obedience

that I required of you.

You withheld.

You didn't give me

all that I wanted.

You took some of it

for yourself.

Okay?

We see the same thing

in Malachi chapter 3.

Malachi 3 · chapter mention

You have this

fascinating conversation

with the people of Israel

and the Lord

through the prophet Malachi.

and chapter 3,

verse 8,

he asks this kind

of question

that seems rather odd

at the onset.

It says,

will man rob God?

Will man rob God?

And you're thinking,

what do you mean

will man rob God?

How do you rob God?

And he says,

you are robbing me.

And then he anticipates

the question.

He says,

but you say,

how have we robbed you?

And he says,

in your tithes

and contributions,

you are cursed

with a curse

for you are robbing me,

the whole nation of you.

He's rebuking

the whole nation of Israel.

He says,

bring the full tithe

into the storehouse

that there may be

food in my house

and thereby put me

to the test,

says the Lord of hosts,

if I will not open

the windows of heaven

for you

and pour down

for you a blessing

until there is

no more need.

So,

here again,

it's not that Israel

wasn't giving.

Israel was giving.

It's not so much

about what you're giving.

It's about what

you're withholding.

You understand,

this is a theme

that we're seeing

over and over again.

So,

he says,

you're robbing me.

Well,

robbing you,

the only way

you can rob someone

is if you're taking

what is theirs.

And he's saying,

that full tithe

was mine.

You withholding

some of it

is robbing me.

You're taking

what's mine

and keeping it

for yourself.

And he would say,

but we're giving.

We're giving.

He's saying,

no,

but you withheld

the full tithe.

You withheld

the full tithe.

You see the same thing

in Luke chapter 18.

Luke 18 · chapter mention

Now we're in the New Testament.

Jesus is on the scene

and you know,

you guys know the story

of the rich young ruler,

right?

Rich young ruler

comes to him.

Luke 18 verse 18.

Luke 18:18

Good teacher.

What must I do

to inherit eternal life?

Jesus said to him,

why do you call me good?

No one is good

except God alone.

And he says,

you know the commandments.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not murder.

Do not steal.

Do not give false tests.

Witness on your father and mother.

And then,

of course,

the guy says,

all these

I have kept

since my youth.

Again,

I'm good.

I'm a command keeper.

Right?

You should,

you and I,

God,

should be good

because I'm a command keeper.

I'm giving.

I'm giving it myself.

What does Jesus respond?

When Jesus heard this,

he said to him,

one thing

you still lack.

Sell all that you have

and distribute to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven

and

come follow me.

When he heard these things,

he became very sad

for he was extremely rich.

Jesus,

seeing that he had become sad,

said,

how difficult is it

for those who have wealth

to enter the kingdom of God?

That it's easier

for a camel to go through

the eye of a needle

than for a rich person

to enter the kingdom of God.

Those who heard it said,

then,

who can be saved?

But he said,

what is impossible with man

is possible with God?

And Peter said,

see,

we have left our homes

and followed you.

And he said to them,

truly I say to you,

there is no one

who has left house or wife

or brothers

or parents

or children

for the sake

of the kingdom of God

who will not receive

many times more

in this time

and in the age to come.

So again,

you have another story

of a guy coming to God

who is doing the stuff.

He's obeying commandments.

He's giving God

certain things.

And he says,

one thing you lack.

Another way you could have said it is,

there's still one thing

you're withholding from God.

There's one thing that you love

that you are not willing

to give up.

And someone else

on the outside mind

looking like,

this guy's,

he's a good guy.

Like he's obeying

the commandments.

But God

in the person of Jesus here

is discerning

that there was

an idolatrous love

of money

and it required him

to repent of that

and to believe

that Jesus

is his treasure.

And to prove that

he calls him

to give

of his possessions.

He knew

that he loved

his wealth.

In Matthew

it says

Jesus looked at him

and loved him

when he gave

that response.

He looked at him

and loved him.

He knew

that this guy

was finding

his identity

in his good works

but he was still

withholding

from the Lord.

And this is a good

warning for us.

You see the same thing

in the book of Acts.

Acts chapter 5.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

Story of Ananias

and Sapphira.

Sapphira.

A man named Ananias

with his wife Sapphira

they sold a piece

of property

which was what

people were doing

back then.

If you look earlier

than that

a bunch of people

were selling

their property

and giving the proceeds

to the Lord

at the time.

And so

Ananias does

the same thing.

He sells a property

with his wife Sapphira

but in verse 2

of Acts 5

it says

with his wife's knowledge

he kept back

for himself

some of the proceeds

and brought only

a part of it.

So he held back.

He didn't give it all

but he was given

the impression

that he was giving all.

He was

a little bit

deceptive there.

Peter said

Ananias

why has Satan

filled your heart

to lie to the Holy Spirit

and to keep back

for yourself

part of the proceeds

of the land?

Well it remained unsold

did it not remain

your own?

And after it was sold

was it not at your disposal?

Why is it that

you have contrived

this deed in your heart?

You have not lied

to man

but to God.

When Ananias

heard these words

he fell down

and breathed his last

and great fear

came upon all

who heard it.

The young man

rose and wrapped him up

and carried him out

and buried him.

Okay?

Another story

same

but it's the same story.

It's the same story

from Genesis.

It's just the same

old thing.

I think you can

start to see

that there is something

in the heart of man

that wants to appear good.

that wants to appear

sacrificial.

That wants to appear

giving.

And yet

the Lord

is not looking

so much

at what we're giving

he's looking

at what we're withholding.

And he looked

at Ananias

and said

hey you've kept back.

You're presenting

an image of something

and yet you've

kept something back.

You see the same thing

in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

The great love chapter

right?

The one you see

on the wedding cards.

And

sometimes

some of the stuff

we put on these cute things

are some of the most

cutting things

and it's kind of weird

how we do that.

You know?

Like

let's just put this

cute little love verse

on there.

It's like you read it

you're thinking

this is actually

pretty life or death

kind of thing here.

This is

kind of heavy.

But in 1 Corinthians 13

3

he says

if I give away

all I have

and if I deliver up

my body to be burned

now you would say

let's just stop there.

What if someone

gave up all they had

and delivered up

their body to be burned

and say

okay

I mean

I haven't given up

my body to be burned

and that might be

a hard one.

That would be

a difficult one.

I'd say

on the list

of things

that you gave up

and done

that would be

pretty high.

I'd say

if I'm going to make

a list of

like people

who are doing

a good job

I'd say

yeah I'd probably

put them high

on the list

you know

doing the

giving away

all you have

and then giving

yourself up

to be burned

that seems

pretty good.

Seems pretty

admirable

and yet it's

not enough.

Why?

But have not

love

I gain nothing.

Wow.

Wow.

If I have not

love I gain

nothing.

You can give

all that

but if you

withhold your

love

you don't

gain anything.

This is

incredible.

This is

incredible.

That's giving

a lot

and yet

if we

withhold

God's still

focusing on

the withholding

thing

and this is

not the way

we think

is it?

We're just

we would

celebrate

someone like

that like

oh my

goodness

I mean

could it

even be

that there's

biographies

of people

who've done

stuff like

that

and they've

gained

nothing

because

everything we

see looks

good.

Man this

person was

sacrificial

but God

knows that

they were

withholding

their love

so they

gained

nothing.

It's

incredible.

Okay one

more.

I think I

made my

point but

we'll do

one more.

Matthew

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

chapter 25

the parable

of the

talents

Jesus

tells.

25

verse 24

says you

know I'm

not going

to go

through the

whole

parable but

he gives

them different

talents and

then he

expects them

to steward

the talents

that are

given.

There's

different

amounts

given.

Verse 24

he says

he also

who had

received

the one

talent

came forward

saying

master I

knew you

to be a

hard man

reaping

where you

did not

sow and

gathering

where you

scattered

no seed.

So I

was afraid

and I

went and

hid your

talent in

the ground.

Here you

have what

is yours.

But his

master

answered him

you wicked

and slothful

servant.

Okay.

God gives

the talents

the other

guys multiply

the talents

this guy

just gives

it back.

So there's

no loss

to the

one who

gave the

money.

Why would

you say

you wicked

and slothful

servant?

He says

you knew

what I

reap

where I

have not

sown

and gather

where I

scatter

no seed

then you

ought to

have

invested

my money

with the

bankers

and at

my coming

I should

have

received

what was

my own

with

interest.

So take

the talent

from him

and give

it to him

who has

ten talents.

For everyone

who has

will be

given

and more

will be

given

and he

will have

an abundance.

But from

the one

who has

not

even what

he has

will be

taken

away

and cast

the worthless

servant

into the

outer darkness

in that

place

there will be

weeping

and gnashing

of tea.

And sometimes

we think

well God's

just too

hard.

I'm just

going to

withhold

the risk

of giving

it all.

And I'll

just give

him

what's

easy.

God was

not happy

with this

person.

Do you

see that?

You wicked

and slothful

servant.

He gives

it away to

those who

have and

then he

casts the

worthless

servant

into the

outer

darkness.

God has

given us

talents.

He has

given us

resources,

time,

talent,

treasure.

He's given

them to us.

And he's

saying I

want you

to go

all in

on this.

I want

you to

take risks

with what

I'm

giving you.

It is

not okay

for you

to sit

on them,

bury them.

It's not

okay for

you to

have some

semblance

of being

a spiritual

person,

to spiritually

sanctify your

selfishness,

and to

withhold from

God.

God wants

it all.

He wants

it all.

He wants

it all.

And

oftentimes

you know

when we're

withholding,

it's not,

it's the

good things.

It's the

good things

that are

the things.

Right?

It's almost

always the

good things.

Like,

even thinking

of Luke

14,

you know

the parable

of the

great banquet?

It says

he threw

a great

banquet,

and then

he sent

his servants

to say to

those who

have been

invited,

come for

everything

is now

ready.

But they

will like

began to

make excuses.

The first

one said

I bought

a field.

The second

one said

I bought

five yoke

of oxen.

And the

third one

said I

married a

wife.

Three

things you

think,

wait a

second,

those are

all good

things.

A field,

yoke of

oxen,

and a

wife.

Basically,

a home,

a job,

and a wife.

A home,

a job,

and a family.

What's wrong

with a home?

Nothing

wrong with

a home.

What's wrong

with a job?

You should

work a job.

What about

a family?

Yeah,

that's good

too.

You receive

faith from

the Lord,

says Proverbs

18.

So,

wait a

second.

And the

servant came

and reported

these things

to the

master.

And the

master of the

house became

angry and

said to his

servant,

go out quickly

to the streets

and lanes of

the city and

bring in the

poor,

the crippled,

the blind,

the lame.

And the

servant said,

sir, what you

commanded has

been done and

still there's

room.

And then the

master said to

the servant,

go out to the

highways and

the hedges and

compel people to

come that my

house may be

filled.

For I tell you,

none of those

men who are

invited shall

taste my

banquet.

And it's

the good

things that

often keep

us,

the things that

keep us,

that we withhold

from the

Lord.

We say,

well, that's my

excuse.

And God's

saying, no,

you have to

give it all.

You have to

give it all.

What are you

withholding?

What are you

withholding?

Are you withholding

your time?

Are you giving a

bunch of time,

but there's some

time it's like,

this is me time.

This is my

time.

You can have

all this time,

but you can't

have that.

And you have

this semblance

of I'm giving

all my time.

And God

says, but what

are you withholding?

Maybe it's

your money.

It's like, I

give this money,

but then this,

I give money to

the church I've

been giving all

the time.

I've been giving

my whole life.

Like, this is

what I do.

But what are

you doing with

the money you

keep?

Is that the

Lord's too?

Or are you

withholding that

from him?

Maybe you're

withholding what

you're supposed

to give to

him.

But are you

withholding what

you are keeping

in the sense

that you're

just using it

for your own

self and it's

not seen as

his?

Maybe it's our

career and our

job.

Maybe the

career and the

job is something

we've been

fighting for and

wrestling for for

a whole life and

I finally got it.

This is what I

wanted.

And yet it's

standing in the

way of what

God wants.

Are we willing

to let it go?

Are we willing

to let it go?

Are we withholding?

It's like, yeah,

you can have all

the things.

I'll sacrifice

time and money,

but no, not that

career, not that

job.

That's mine.

I worked hard

for that.

And I'm not

saying everybody

has to give up

their career or

job, but there's

going to be some

people who do.

Some people are

going to have to

leave some money

on the table to

follow Jesus.

Some people are

going to have to

leave certain

things that they

want to do and

not withhold them

from the Lord.

Sometimes it's

family and friends.

Sometimes it's

our kids.

Kids can become a

very easy way to

spiritualize our

selfishness.

Okay?

Some people are

going to have to

give up their

kids'

bedtime.

As if God can

have everything

but my kids'

bedtime.

Everything is

nothing sacred

except the time

my kids go to

bed.

Why?

Because it

inconveniences me

to put them to

bed at different

times in order to

have fellowship

with the saints.

Well, that sacred

cow's got to go

too.

You can't withhold

that.

You can't withhold

anything from the

Lord.

What is he calling

you to give up?

What is he calling

you to give?

Some of us,

it's our very

freedom.

It's like,

I love my

freedom,

my time,

and my choices.

I don't ever

want to limit

my options.

Okay?

Do you know

what the word

decide means

to cut off?

The root word

of decide in the

Latin means to

cut off.

A decision by

nature means

you're cutting

off other

options.

We live in a

generation,

especially with

young people,

where all we

want to do is

keep as many

options open as

possible.

And it keeps

us uncommitted.

It makes us

flaky.

What ends up

happening is

we're withholding

this sense of

freedom to the

Lord.

We're not

bond slaves to

Jesus.

We're saying,

God, you can

have everything

except my

options.

I got to keep

my options

open.

My commitments

will only go

this far.

And if it goes

to a point where

I have to limit

my options,

you can't have

that Lord.

No, he needs

that too.

We have to limit

our options for

Jesus.

We have to give

up comfort.

We have to give

up our secrets.

The things like,

well, I'll tell

people this, but

that's the one

thing I'm never

going to tell

anyone.

I'll go to my

grave not telling

someone that

thing.

Is God calling

us to give up

some of our

privacy?

What is it that

we're withholding

from God?

What secret?

What level of

privacy?

What level of

freedom?

We're saying,

God, I don't

want to withhold

anything to you.

God, I don't

And then you

hear a sermon

like Seth

brought last

weekend, and

he brings up

bad ultimate

reasons to join

a church.

Like, what are

we willing to

do?

Will we only be

in a small

church?

It's like what

he said last

week.

Well, what

happens if we

do what we're

supposed to do

and preach the

gospel to people

and they get

saved and the

church is no

longer small?

Well, is my

commitment to the

Lord with a

little clause on

the side that

says, I'm

committed to

your church as

long as your

church stays a

certain size where

I'm comfortable

and I don't have

to interact with

people that I

don't like or I

don't know as

well.

As long as it's

not a size that

is too difficult

for me.

As long as I

get to put my

friends and family

first.

As long as I

have the

leadership

opportunities that

I want and as

long as it's

close and has a

proximity to me

that I like.

Some of us,

you know, with

the church

moving,

thinking, oh,

that sucks.

That's further

away.

Some of you are

like, yeah,

that's great.

This is closer.

But that's the

thing.

It can always

change.

And the

posture of a

disciple of

Jesus should

say, God,

nothing is

withheld from

you.

I won't

withhold anything

from you.

No matter what

you ask of me,

I'll give it to

you.

All right,

offer your son

as a sacrifice.

I'll give you

my son.

Whatever it may

take.

Offer your

career.

Offer your

time.

Offer your

options.

Offer your

freedom.

Offer your

money.

Offer your

talents.

Yes, I'm not

withholding anything

from you,

Jesus.

I don't want to

be some guy who's

renowned for being

a giving spiritual

person, yet when it

gets to the end,

the Lord says,

you withheld from

me.

You withheld from

me.

You had a reputation

for being alive.

You gave so much,

and yet what I wanted

you to give,

you withheld,

and you took it

all to the end

with the praises

of man keeping

you, but you

did not have my

praise because I

was not pleased.

And what ends up

happening is we

get mad or sad.

We think God

asked too much.

We think God is

too hard or that

God won't mind.

And that's the one

we don't talk about

a lot.

People will talk

about, yeah, I

feel like it's just

too much or it's

too hard.

God won't mind.

That guy in the

parable said, I

thought you were

too hard, God, so I

buried the talent.

But what about God

won't mind?

God won't mind is a

lack of the fear of

the Lord.

God won't mind is

Ananias and Sapphira

saying, you know,

he's not going to

mind.

He knows we're

giving.

If we keep back a

little bit from

ourselves, God won't

mind is Saul saying,

hey, I mean, what's

the big deal?

I did, we destroyed

a bunch of it, and

now we're going to

sacrifice the stuff to

the Lord.

God won't mind.

Well, God minds.

God minds when we

withhold from him.

God minds.

Someone who doesn't

fear the Lord says

something consciously

or subconsciously like

God doesn't mind.

When it comes down to

it, Jesus wants what

he paid for.

Jesus wants what he

paid for.

And Jesus should get

what he paid for.

Psalm 49, verse 7

Psalms 49:7

says, truly no man

can ransom another

or give to God the

price of his life.

For the ransom of

their life is costly

and can never suffice,

that he should live on

forever and never see

the pit.

So you can't pay the

ransom that is required

to pay the debt that

we owe.

That's what he's

saying here.

So what did Jesus do?

Well, 1 Peter 1, 17-19

says, if you call on

him as father who

judges impartially

according to each

one's deeds, conduct

yourselves with fear

throughout the time of

your exile, knowing

that you were ransomed

from the futile ways

inherited from your

forefathers, not with

perishable things such

as silver or gold, but

with the precious blood

of Christ, like that of

a lamb without blemish

or spot.

You were ransomed.

You were ransomed with

the precious blood of

Christ.

Mark 10, 45 says, even

the son of man came

not to be served, but

to serve and to give

his life as a ransom

for many.

He paid our debt.

1 Corinthians 6, 19-20

says, you are not your

own.

You were bought with a

price, so glorify God

in your body.

He goes on in 1

1 Corinthians 7:22

Corinthians 7, verse 22

and he says, he who

has called in the Lord

as a bondservant is a

freed man of the Lord.

Likewise, he who was

free when called is a

bondservant of Christ.

You were bought with a

price.

Do not become bonds

servants of men.

God bought us.

He purchased us.

We were in debt.

We couldn't pay it.

God said, I will pay your

debt and then you are

mine.

I own you.

You're no longer your

own.

So glorify God with your

body.

You've been bought with a

price.

We don't live like we're