Where Is Your Treasure?

You're listening to the Cross Kingdom Sermon of the Week. We hope you enjoy

this message from Justin Carpenter. Yeah or yeah, one other thing. I

don't even know why I even tried to plan anything. Uh, yes,

Lord, aren't you glad? We don't like show up and sing three songs

and stand up, sit down, and everybody's up tight like they need an

enema, and they're just like this too far. Wis is not here,

So I'm stretching the limits here, Hi, babe, if you're watching,

okay, now that I just Lord, come back, okay. And Nolly

was here for service, and uh I met that in the most pastoral way

possible, by the way, and Nally was here for service, and there

was a real theme of the fear of the Lord. And first service,

I literally cried all the way through worship the first service. I mean,

I was just a mess in a good way, and and Nally I was.

I was sharing with everybody that I got John Beavi's book The aw of

God, and I was listening to it on audio and on my treadmill.

I was talking about that, and Anne said that she was. She bought

the book as well, but didn't get the book, and so she went

on YouTube and was listening to John Beavie's teaching on the on the All of

God, and she got her prayer language. So she she's she has pursued

the Lord, wanted to pray in tongues for like decades and literally the Fear

of the Lord the teaching on the Fear of the Lord, and she got

hit. She got given the gift, and I just thought that. I

thought that was so cool. You know. It says that the fear of

the Lord is to depart from evil. Jesus said that if you love me,

you'll obey my commandments. So love looks like something right. We can't

say we love him if we're not obedient to him. And I don't mean

out of a legalistic view. I mean out of a aw of God,

out of a fear of the Lord. And I've been back and forth on

a couple of different themes over the last couple of weeks, but the Lord

kept showing me twelve thirty four on the clock, and I wasn't looking for

it, you know, because you can be right twice a day, you

know what I'm saying. And so I went to the scriptures and it was

Luke twelve thirty four for where your treasure is there, your heart will be

also. And then I just started doing this word study on treasure and looking

at the context of treasure from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, and

I think we have a whole lot of treasures that need to be removed from

the treasure chest of our hearts. We need a divine exchange. There's things

that we have put in front of the Lord. It's not necessarily that they're

bad, but they're not God. Remember the tree of knowledge of good and

evil. There's good on that tree, and there's going to be a whole

lot of people that go to hell partaking from the tree of good and evil,

being deceived thinking they're taking the tree of life. Remember it says that

there's a way that seems right on the man, but in the end it

leads to death. Wide is the road that leads to destruction, but narrow

is the path that leads to life, and few find it. One of

the reasons why we're in such a pruning season, if you will, with

the with the body of Christ and the leadership and the Body of Christ,

is because of the lack of the fear of the Lord, and it says

judgment starts first in the House of God. So God starts dealing with his

leaders first. And I think, I think Danny left you after a service

and a half. She was I was ready to leave almost almost who two

hours of drumming, but Danny, Danny mentioned it. It's the simplicity of

the gospel. He's bringing us back. When you think of what you treasure

this morning? What do you treasure? Because that is exactly where your heart

is. You can't value something, you can't have affection for something, You

can't focus on something that you love without your heart being attached to it.

So what is the treasure that you have this morning? Let me ask it

this way. When you come under stress, when you come under pressure,

when you come under conflict, you come under sufferings, where's the first place

you go to Because that's what's going to reveal your heart. That's what you

treasure, that's what you're leaning on, that's what you're trusting in. Are

you with me? We have robbed the Holy Spirit of so much comfort in

the American Church because of the lack of the fear of the Lord and a

lack of understanding how spiritually poor. The American Church has been. I said

in first service, Heidie Baker had she didn't she didn't like traveling all over

the United States and and she would rather be in the bush and and with

her with her people. And she'd rather because of their hunger, she said,

And and Heidi. The Lord spoke to Heidie and said, yeah,

Heidi, but the United States is a third world spiritually third world country,

spiritually third world. So let that sink in, because I think many times

we probably mirror the Church of Layout to Sea more than anything. The greatest

blessing we've ever been given in the American Church is called prosperity. It's a

gift, it's a blessing, and it's not wrong. But I think we

have blown it with stewardship of prosperity because what happens is God becomes Plan B

and we begin to look to all these other things that we've stored up into

our hearts, that we have treasured, and it's okay if God doesn't do

this, or you know, sometimes we pray and it's like, well,

if he doesn't, I'll just go do this. Come on, well,

I'll give the Lord a shot for a second. Here. But if he

doesn't come through with this, I'm gonna go over here, y'all being at

the cuffs of the Promised Land. What did they have to do? They

had to step into the water by faith to get it to part. And

guess what Israel? When they came out of Egypt, they didn't have anywhere

to go, either get in the water or get taken out by the enemy.

The enemy was right behind him. They were hedged in. Now they

had some help, you know, the cloud went behind him. What are

you? What are you gonna do? What? What is faith? Because

so many times I said this earlier. Right now, two of the biggest,

two of the biggest giants, not the only ones in the Western Church

is secular humanism and religion. And and it's crazy how secular humanism has come

into the church with a religious skirt on it so it looks spiritualized. Do

you understand the definition of secular humanism, I'll tell you thanks. Secular humanism

is a philosophy, belief system, or life stance that embraces human reason,

logic, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism. That human reason, logic,

secular ethics, philosophical naturalism. The Church needs to be delivered of the me

syndrome. Self. Everything is about self right now, self, this self,

that, self, this self that. And Jesus said, if you

don't lose your life, you'll never find it. He's called us to give

our lives away, y'all. Every day we wake up, we're supposed to

take up our cross and follow him. The simplicity of the Gospel, the

Great Commission. See, here's the cold hard facts right now. Most of

the church never shares their faith. Ever, most believers never share the Gospel

with anyone. If you think you're called to the nations and you won't go

next door to your neighbor, you're fooling yourself. But you'll talk about what

you're in love with. Remember when you first for the all y'all that are

married, when you were first dating your spouse, all those warm, fuzzy

feelings, and people couldn't stand being around you because all you wanted to do

was talk about your girlfriend or your boyfriend. And they're like, oh,

my goodness, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth

and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, But lay up

for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth or rust destroys, where thieves

do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there, your

heart will be. Also. No one can serve two masters, for either

they will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted

to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Some translations say, mammon, you know it says Jesus said, it's

easier for a rich man to get into heaven than a I just blew that

verse. Yes, hold on, rewind, Let me rewind real quick.

It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than a

rich man to get into heaven. Is that better? Okay? And our

Western thought process, we always think of a threading needle, so it's like,

well, everybody rich is going to hell. The problem is the eye

of the needles the entrance to a city, and when the camels would go

in, they would have to get down on all fours and actually be helped

through the into the entrance. So what does that mean? It says it's

not impossible for a rich man to go to heaven, but he has to

humble himself, not trust as riches and trust Jesus to get in Colossians two

two to three says that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love

to reach all the riches of full assurance, of understanding, in the knowledge

of God's mystery, which Christ, which is Christ, in whom are hidden

all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Why is it that we keep trying

to figure out a different way? I'll tell you why, because then we're

in control. If you're in control of the process, you don't need faith.

If you think you're in control of the outcome, you don't need faith.

If you find yourself only going to Jesus when you're in crisis, that's

not love. You're treating him like a psychologist. The Kingdom of Heaven is

like a 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. Do we treasure the Kingdom that way? Do we really believe

the kingdom is worth giving everything up for it to get it again? The

Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who,

on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had

and bought it. It cost you everything. Salvation's free, but your relationship,

if you want to know him, if you want to walk with him,

it cost you everything. He's a king. It's not a democracy.

We don't get to vote once a year on whether or not we're going to

be obedient to this section of his word. So many times we just fit

them in. We fit them into our lives when it's convenient. We let

the fear of what others think stop us from ministering to people, because of

the fear of man, forgetting that one day, when they their last,

they're going to heaven or hell. We allow being politically correct to quench the

power of God because we won't release what he told us to because we fear

people. We treasure the applause and the affection of men more than God.

Yeah, we talk about the disciples, specifically talk we talk about Peter and

how Peter he was a hot mess. Right? Can we all agree Peter

was a hot mess? But something happened to him when the Day of Pentecost

came. Something changed with Peter. When the Holy Spirit came upon him and

the one who just denied Jesus three times, turns around and at the end

of his life refuses to be crucified the way his Lord was, because he

wasn't worthy, and he was crucified upside down. Jesus said that it's better

that I leave so the Promised One can come. The God of the universe

is inside every one of you that know him, and yet we're living on

a level of spirituality that many times is even less than the Old Covenant.

I remember coming out of a cessation as background, and I would read the

Old Covenant, and I'd read the prophets, and I'd see what the Lord

did with them, and my heart would burn. And I told I remember

telling the Lord Lord, I'd rather have been alive in the Old Covenant and

experiences you the way these guys had than what I get right now. See,

I think Jesus is asking us right now, do you love me more

than these? Do you love me more than fill in the blank, Think

of something that you love? Do you love him more than that? John

Bevere in his book he was in Brazil years ago. Three thousand people in

this auditorium, best worship team and all of Brazil was their leading worship and

he walks in and no one is paying attention. People are going in and

out of the out of the auditorium, buying food in the back. They're

talking to each other. They're more excited to see each other than they are

Jesus. And he goes, Lord, what is going on? Why is

your tangible presence not here right now? And he told them there's no fear

of the Lord. So he stood up there and silently, just kept complete

silent, and stared at all three thousand people and kept staring at them until

everybody got quiet. You could hear a pin drop. And then he began

to correct them for the lack of the fear of the Lord. He gave

an altar call, and seventy five percent of the people and that auditorium showed

up. They came to the front. Then the Lord fell again, and

people were crying and getting delivered and healed and committing their lives to the Lord.

And then right towards the end of the meeting, he said, the

Holy Spirit told them I'm gonna come one more time, and he goes,

they were not prepared for what the Lord was about to do, and all

of a sudden, a sound they said it was as loud as a seven

forty seven, Like I mean, just intense, roared through that auditorium for

about ninety seconds, and it was the sound of the Holy Spirit like acts

too when it says in the sound of a mighty rushing wind. It was

that supernatural sound of the mighty rushing wind that drew everybody into that re from

that region to that exact location because they heard the sound. And I was

listening to this audio book on my treadmill and I heard the Lord say,

and that's how it's gonna start with you. And I did one of those

jerks that you know I do every once in a while. Thank God,

I was walking on my treadmill, not running, because I have a glass

door behind my treadmill. I would have gone viral. But it's the it's

not by happenstance that God is highlighting the fear of the Lord right now and

put I mean, it's on our eldership team's hearts. It's been on my

heart for months. Kylie did an amazing job teaching on the fear of the

Lord last week, and because the fear of the Lord is the entrance into

the glory of the Lord, David said and saw him one nineteen eleven.

I've stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

I want to challenge you all this morning. Let the Lord go deep,

get raw, get vulnerable with him. Say Lord, what am I

loving more than you? Right now? What am I treasuring greater than my

relationship with you? What am I trusting in? What are you trusting in?

Are you trusting in our government? Good luck with that either side?

What are you trusting in? This morning? We're living in perilous times,

and they're gonna become more intense. We're gonna see the greatest outpouring ever and

all the while we're gonna see gross darkness increase. We're gonna see both these

tensions happening. And it says in the last days men's hearts will fail them

for fear. But what do you treasure? Do you want to get so

close to him that you can sleep in the bottom of the boat and look

at everybody else like they're crazy because you're at total peace in the midst of

the boat taking on water. Y'all get that right. Professional fishermen were scared

to death because of that storm. And what I love is Jesus had just

spent hours on the mountain praying that night, and it says, and he

sees them afar off struggling. He looks out there and he goes, oh,

there they are. They didn't get very far, did they. And

so he just starts walking on the water and it says he was going to

pass right by him. He literally was going to pass right by him.

I don't think he was pretending, because there's something that happens inside of us

when we struggle, because we get to the end of ourselves and then we're

ready to surrender. You know why some of you have cycles of defeat in

your life right now because you love the pacifier. You still find value in

the coping mechanism. And it's not until we get to the end of ourselves

we no longer find value in that coping mechanism. That that is when we

typically surrender and give something up. So God and his grace will let you

be miserable because he knows where it goes. If you want to hold on

to something, He's a gentleman. He'll let you toil with that thing until

you find go I give up, and He's like, finally, because as

you keep pulling for more rope, pulling for more rope, you finally get

to the end of it, and there he is, Okay, I got

a land two Corinthians four seven to eleven. But we have this treasure in

jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to

us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed but

not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed,

always carrying in the body the death of Jesus. Why so that the

life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live

are are always being given over to death for Jesus's sake, so that the

life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. Jesus didn't call

you to build a kingdom of self protection. He didn't call you to go

into a holy huddle. He called you to give your life away. It's

the whole reason why he showed up. Had said, the Son of Man

didn't come to be served, but to serve and offer his life a ransom

for many. No greater love than this, that a man should lay down

his life for his friend. If you want your marriage to get it better,

then lay your life down. Love's not self seeking, so stop self

seeking. I made a post yesterday. I'm going to land with this.

Pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may Prophesy one

Corinthians fourteen one. Could it be that we've pursued the gifts and only desired

love when we should pursue love and desire the spiritual gifts. Pursue love,

pursue it, don't just as love. We talk a lot about love in

the church, and if we would pursue it, if we would pursue his

love, we would see a transformation inside of us that we've only dreamed of.

But we've had a counterfeit love in the church. We've had a love

that when it's convenient, when it benefits us, we do these things.

I still marvel at the reality that Jesus, when he picked the twelve,

he knew exactly every one of them, who they were, what they would

do, and it never changed his mind. Right, anybody ever been hurt?

Okay, we're all in the same boat, yeh. Jesus did not

judge Judas based on a life he had not yet lived. That is injustice.

But yet he loved him all the way through. He knew what he

was going to do, and he still loved him. You want to know

of your loving How do you love your enemy? How do you love people

that you consider an enemy? If you're loving well, you're going to love

them exactly the way Jesus said to y'all. Understand that this love that we're

called to pursue is a supernatural love that the world does not have the capacity

to love because it's God's love that's not inside of them. But that love

is inside of you the moment you repent and give your life to Jesus.

The problem is you're striving in your soul, trying to preserve your soul all

the while trying to hold on to this love. When that love only is

truly displayed when you take up your cross, deny yourself, and you actually

find your life in him, and then you can love like him all right?

Prayer Teams Bueler Dwayne, if I can get some key, sir,

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