Breaking Up The Royal Family: There is no Inside Track

Thank you. saw as you went along serving God?

Who wants to go first? Alright, Tyson, you go

first. Tell us something about God today. God

really does. He loves us so much. Now, he would

exist without us, of course, but he doesn't want

to. Good. Alright, go. So, there's a person that

I've been listening to a lot of his stuff on

Facebook. His name is Cliff. He's an older gentleman,

and he goes to a bunch of college campuses and

talks about the gospel and the Bible. And from

everything I've seen, everything he's ever said

has been very biblical, and he is extremely knowledgeable.

And one of the things I watched recently was

about how we're supposed to not purposely live

in sin. And he brings up, I think it was 1 John,

when he talks about how we shouldn't. purposely

live in sin, and if that's what we're doing,

then we really need to check our salvation. So

one of the things that I really was thinking

hard about that is, he got asked the question,

so if we're not supposed to live in sin anymore,

then why is it we still sin? And that's when

he goes into the description about how we are

still going to sin. We're still going to fall

short from Romans. Everyone falls short of the

glory of God. So we are all sinners. We are all

going to fall short. However, when we accept

Jesus and we start living for God and we truly

accept Jesus into our heart and we truly want

to live for God, we should not be willing to

purposely live in sin. We should be willing to

repent, turn to God, and try to give up that

sin and do something godly instead. So the problem

that we face a lot is we don't want to change

that because, for instance, and this is where

the example comes in that he gave, and it's such

a great example. So we get offended because we

don't want our ethics to be changed. We don't

want the way of our thinking to be changed. So

if somebody's cursing you out and yelling at

you and they beat you to a pulp, The world says

you should hate that person. And you have every

reason to hate that person. So then when we accept

God and we start learning from Jesus, Jesus tells

us, no, don't hate that person. You have to love

that person. Regardless of what they're doing

to you, regardless of what they're saying to

you, you have to love that person. So then we

get offended because we feel deep in our soul

that we should hate that person for what they

did. And one of my issues is I... am very protective

of children. I've always been very protective

of children. And for years and years and years,

I struggled with that about anyone who hurts

children, sex pedophilia. Years ago, I always

thought that all those people should just be

executed. And that's not how it is. That's not

how I need to think. I should be loving that

person, praying that they... turn from their

ways and accept God and start living for God.

Instead of knowing, no, that person just needs

to die. Because that is not what God calls us

to do. God calls us to love. He calls us to be

that light when there's so much darkness. That's

a good word. Alright, who else? So, a really

popular saying that everyone believes is true,

and even I believe it's true, is mistakes happen.

And when I was driving back from gymnastics on

Saturday, I was pretty tired, so a lot of times

I just think. And while I was thinking, this

topic came up in my mind. People know mistakes

happen, and people sometimes learn from them

if they choose to. People may forget too many

times in their life because they simply keep

saying too much. People say, this didn't happen.

No one's hooked. But they always forget to say.

They don't just disappear because they're not

perfect. If you sin against God, you have to

go, I sin. I'm sorry. It doesn't disappear. they

forget the end of that saying, which is, if you

don't do anything about it, it's not going to

change. Jesus uses a description where you have

light garments, and when you stand, it's like

a crimson stain on the garments. If you get a

crimson stain... On the dominance, he's the one

who's supposed to wash it away. If you want someone

to wash it away for you, how do they know to

wash it away if you don't ask them? So when you

sin or make a mistake, you don't want to forget

that it's not just going to disappear. It's still

there until you tell them and apologize to them

that you did something wrong. Talk about the

power of confession. 1 John 1 .9. Good work.

Do you have a hand for this? Yeah. All right,

Michaela, go ahead. So I've been looking for

a church home since my grandparents. My grandfather

passed away last October. And I feel like God

has really spoken to me about being in this church.

Amen. And I feel like God has just been really

pushing me to do, be my best and finish my schooling

so I can, even though I can't have biological

kids, so I can foster kids and adopt and get

them out of the bad situations that I was put

in and just help others. What a exciting commission.

Wow. I just... I'm really happy that I found

a good church home. And we're happy, too. If

you're happy that Michaela found a good church

home, say amen. Amen. Amen. You are happy. Thank

you. Good testimony. All right. Back here. Hi.

Yeah. So for the women's Bible study that we

just started, we've been doing a Bible study,

and it's called They Fall Under Control. And

I've been reading the book that accompanies it

in addition to that, and we haven't gotten through

a lot of it. I got to kind of break it down because

it gets kind of emotional for me, but I want

to share this activity with you. I think it's

done a lot for me. Sorry, this is going to be

very distracting. And the intro to the activity

starts like this. It says, you have a race to

run, but first you must strip off every weight

that slows you down from running the course God

has set out for you. Consider everything you

feel responsible for at this time in your life,

the good, the bad, the beautiful. The ugly, the

hard, and the effortless. And then take an honest

assessment of where you are now. Consider your

work, household duties, children, relationships,

volunteer assignments, church commitments, personal

struggles, and parents, for instance. And consider

other weights you carry. Are there areas where

you said yes because you don't want to disappoint

people? Are there weights you carry simply because

you were trying to please people? Do you employ

coping mechanisms such as exercise, food, or

addictive substances to give you a sense of control?

Now you're ready to begin creating your list.

And this is the activity. It says, write this

file versus the top of the page. Let us strip

off every weight that slows us down, especially

the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us

run with endurance the race God set before us

in his Hebrews 12 .1. Sorry. It says, draw two

columns. Label one, my race, and label the other,

junk in the trunk. And as you consider every

weight you have identified, Ask God to help you

discern what you were meant to carry and what

you weren't. Under my race, list the items that

you consider yours to carry on this journey with

Jesus. This list will likely include many things

you love. It will also include items that you

feel especially heavy right now, responsibilities

that you can't avoid, or difficult circumstances

that you are facing today, such as grief that

you must carry for a time. Under junk in the

trunk, list items that you were never intended

to carry. These are items that God may be calling

you to strip off to slow you down. This list

may take longer, Kyle, and it will involve ruthless

honesty with yourself. The items on this list

may include coping mechanisms, protective relationships,

approval -seeking behaviors, duties that are

no longer yours to perform or may have never

been, and commitments that exhaust you. Look

over your list, and as you do so, thank God for

the race you're running, praise Him for the beautiful

parts, and ask Him to help you through the hard

parts. then seek his help in removing and having

Trump fit by bit. This is where the real change

begins. Let us strip off every weight that slows

us down. We have a race to run. And I don't know

if you've ever had this experience, but I read

through this book feeling like the author was

talking to me directly. And I was really very

convicted of using other people's opinions as

a motivation to do something. I've been, and

I'm making this commitment today. I'm really

smart. I didn't intend to get emotional about

it, but I clearly have this very adorable support

system. Well said, well said. Anyone else? President.

Yeah, going, like, what our thing is, you know,

I, you know, I'm not perfect, and there's a lot

of things I do make mistakes, but One of the

things that I'm trying to do is when they get

a discussion and they want to tolerate, I want

to walk away, you know. Or before I would tolerate,

I would sit there and I would tolerate it back.

But, you know, and like you said, this is a good

church. When I walked in this church, so much

love. Everybody treats everybody like family.

I love it so much. And then, hey. I do know,

and another thing you were saying, you know,

is if I want forgiveness, then I better give

forgiveness back as well as accepting it. You

know, sometimes I want, you know, I want everybody

to love me in the world the way it's supposed

to be. But there's going to be some people in

Milwaukee, there's going to be people in the

world, there's going to be some stuff. It's how

I react to it. You know, God wants me to be a

better person. What would he do? Walk away. You

know, shave away from it. I'm trying. There's

some stuff I need to work on. But, you know,

I don't feel nothing. I feel really good when

I'm out of that picture and I'm doing what God

wants me to do. And then I don't have no feelings

of doing it for bad. You know, you did bad so

long you get used to it. Not really bad, but

you did miss it all your life. And, you know,

some of the things are hardly changing the way

you act, changing the TV, changing the, you know,

the different radio stations, changing the different,

you know, it is. It's hard, but I figure if I

walk towards him and I do what he wants me to

do, then I'll choose a better person. I come,

I get on my knees, I pray, I walk out the door,

and I'm good. You know, I feel, if Bob broke

me that night before, and I'm really, I'm just,

nobody can be around me, and I'm just, I'm just

a stubborn. And I don't do nothing about it before

I walk out the door. Chances are, I'm going to

take it up. somebody I work with, somebody I

say. And I don't mean to, but the culture of

me being centered, I'm going to get back that

old gentleman. I'm going to let it out, you know.

So I have to check me. I have to do what he wants

me to do in order for me to come out and be a

better person for people. And I respect that

because learning from here, you know, I don't

know much, but I'm willing to try. Amen. Good

words. Alright, anyone else? We're going to wrap

it up. You were saving for the last minute. Now

is your time. Alright. I'm going to ask that

this time we pray together. Alright, so here's

what's on our agenda. We're going to pray together.

In a moment we're going to take up our tithes

and offerings. Then we have another song, another

presentation. The song is a special song that's

been prepared in honor of Mother's Day. And then

we have the first thing we're going to do is

some Mother's Day gifts that we're going to present.

And then... we'll sing one more song and release

the children from the rapture. So that's pretty

much the plan, and then we'll go to God's Word

and let Him change our lives, as we've been trying

to do ever since we got here, I hope. All right?

So I'll ask Brother Tony Tate, would you lead

us in this prayer, and we'll pray along with

you? Lord Jesus, I want to thank you for this

time. I want to thank you for this testimony.

The thing is, God, we testify already these statements,

but it's after the testimony. That is what people

have seen in their daily lives every day, what

you're doing in everybody's daily lives. Think

of your word. It says, Surely goodness and mercy

follow me all the days of my life. And you're

the one that follows us with goodness in person.

And also in James chapter 1, it says that every

James 1 · chapter mention

good and perfect gift comes from the Father and

the life that comes from above. It does not change

like shifting shadows. And any time you shift,

that shadow shifts. You don't change like us.

You don't move like us. You don't sin like us.

You don't make mistakes like us. You truly are

God. And you're the real God. The one that loves

us. The one that died for us. You want to rose

for us. God, as we do tithes and offerings and

bring worship and thank mothers for what you

do and the service of everything is according

to your love, your purpose, your plan. We thank

you for the strength and grace that we have to

go do these things because it comes from you.

In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

you. Thank you. I push the button or not. Every

time. I push the button or not. Every time. I

never remember. I push the button one time. I

can't remember, like, two minutes, how long I

push the button. Anyway, one day I'll remember.

Somebody's going to keep tracking me. They're

like, if I stand up, they'll... Somebody's got

to do it. Yeah. Except it started, like, a long

time ago. I think it was early Mountain Dew consumption

is what did it to me, I can't say. All right.

So this is just a poem. It says this. It says,

A mother's heart is gentle. Like a calm and steady

stream, she nurtures every moment and supports

our every dream. Her hands have held us tightly

since the day that we were small. Her prayers

have formed a shelter, a refuge through it all.

She walks in quiet courage with faith in Christ,

her guide. She teaches love and mercy with Jesus

at her side. So here's to you, dear mother. With

grateful hearts we say, your faith and love sustain

us and bless us every day. This time, I'm going

to do this, but we're going to distribute Mother's

Day gifts. So actually, you know what? The hoister

is saying something a little different. So if

you're in the room and you're a minor female

or an adult female who has aspirations of one

day being a mother and you're not currently a

mother, would you stand? Adam, you want to be

a mommy someday? You can stand up. So what we're

going to do, see, listen. The mothers that are

in the room know that this is tough work. It

is not an easy assignment. In fact, it's frankly

heartbreaking. And so we're going to pray a prayer

of commission. Normally we pray for the mothers

who have. We're going to pray a prayer of commission

for these who will soon or one day be, or for

some of them not very soon, right? We'll one

day be mothers. Let's see. That was something

I felt proud to do. Father in heaven, we do praise

you and thank you for, let's just call it this

institution. It is so much more. It is a way

you have written the history of men and women.

It is part of the rules of this life. We know

that in this room, there are a number of young

people from Adeline and Zoe all the way up to

those who are staying and will descend someday

soon, perhaps. And Lord, We just ask you to commission

them. And if it should be your will that they

should have their children, that they would do

so as proficiently and as often and as eagerly

and as strongly and as powerfully and as creatively

and as lovingly. And we could just go on and

on with all of the good adverbs that are in.

the entire dictionary, Lord, that you would pour

into them the power of your mother. I guess they

could look around the room and see some of the

mothers that we have in the room and be the effect.

The power that you've already brought to bear

our lives in this church. We have ladies in this

room who are not mothers and maybe can't be for

one reason or another. And yet, they have the

opportunity inside the church of God, inside

the kingdom of God. to help to fulfill that role.

And they will. Because they love you. Because

they know you. Because they know that our young

people need those kinds of figures in their lives.

So I ask your Lord to commission those who are

yet to be mothers and bless them in such a powerful

way. And they'll look back maybe on this day

and say, you know, back on the 10th of May. In

2025, we pray for this very thing. And man, God

sure has done it. And we are grateful. And I

thank you for it. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay,

so we're going to need a representative from

each family. So you can wrestle amongst your

siblings if you want. Because that would be true

of Mother's Day. I say go right to the top. Thank

you. Mommy's got one. Look, your brother beat

you to it. You should have wrestled him before

he came up here. Let's do the wrestling. All

right. I hope we did it. I don't know. Welcome

to my chaos. All right. Praise the Lord. We're

going to sing another song. One more? This slide.

This slide, the children are leaving with their

leaders in the classroom. And then we have one

more song? Two more songs before they work. All

right. Praise the Lord. If the children are paying

attention to the PowerPoint slide, they might

know that they're supposed to leave now. Bye.

Children, release. Release means get to go. I

pushed the button, by the way. Push it again

later. Come on. When I'm Thank you. Can you hear

me now? Yeah, there we go. Okay, we got it. I

did push it. I remembered I pushed it. It's not

new to push it, but it is new to remember that

I pushed it. How exciting is that? Today's sermon

title is entitled Breaking Up the Royal Family.

And if it doesn't sound like a good thing, in

some cases, it's not a good thing. When I was

in junior high, Had the distinct opportunity

for just less than, well, really for one entire

practice season, because I never actually competed

in a track event, I ran in track. You know, they

got that big oval thing out there behind the

school, and we would go out there and we would

run around that. And pretty much by the time

we got through to pretty close to the first meet,

I determined that I was probably almost the slowest

guy on the team, even though I was pretty fast,

but I was almost the slowest guy on the team.

And I really didn't want to run any races and

go out there as the almost lowest guy on the

team and run against everybody else's fastest

guy and lose by half a lap or a lap. And so I

made up some excuse and quit, like I did a lot

of things. But before I quit, I learned a valuable

lesson. And that is that the inside track, the

part of the track that is nearest the grass inside,

like where all the people are gathering, they're

on the teams. Maybe like where a couple of events

are taking place, that kind of thing. That inside

lane is the shortest lane. Now that's why they

stagger the runners because the runner that's

on the inside lane has to start further back

because that distance to get to that first corner

is less for them as the corner starts to come

around. And so they stagger those lanes so everybody

has the same distance to run if they stay in

their lane. But back then, you didn't have to

stay in your lane for long -distance races. I

don't know if you do now or not. So the point

was, by the first turn, the coach said, get over

to the grass. Because you've got to be on the

inside track. The inside track is the shorter

track. In Jesus' day, being born into a Jewish

family was definitely the inside track. From

the very beginning, when Jewish boys could read

or understand a language, they were memorizing.

whole passages of Scripture, not just a few words

here or there or one Bible. The verses didn't

have references to them. So they weren't memorizing

things like that was in chapter 33, verse 1,

or anything like that. It was the book of Genesis,

right? The story. They memorized the whole story

of Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah or whatever. And

ultimately, as they got older, by the time they

reached manhood, which was considerably older

for them in a... Jewish family than what we might

think of manhood. They would memorize the entire

book of Genesis, for example. So to be in a Jewish

family was definitely to have the inside track,

knowledge of the word of God, knowledge of what

it meant to be a godly man, knowledge of who

God was, knowing about the prophets, knowing

about Moses and Joshua and Abraham, Isaac and

Jacob, and all of those interesting characters

of the past, King David and so on. So to be born

into a Jewish family was to have the inside track

to knowledge about God. Today, in our day, being

born into a godly church family seems like the

inside track. You have the best chance that your

parents will do a pretty good job of raising

you. You have the best chance that your parents

will do a pretty good job of introducing you

to Jesus, maybe teaching you some Bible verses

as you're growing up, teaching you a little bit

about memorizing the Word or studying or being

faithful to church, that kind of thing, being

in worship, serving in the body. You have the

best chance of an inside track if you're born

into a godly church family. Now, in this room,

some of us were and some of us weren't. And probably

what you're thinking is those of you who were

born into a godly church family are thinking,

yeah, I'm not sure if I had the inside track

because my parents were human and they made mistakes

and things like that. But I see kind of maybe,

right, because my parents didn't do this or that

to me. The other families that don't know the

Lord may have done. I don't know if I had the

inside track for sure, if it was any way easier.

Or if you're born in a family that was not a

godly church family, then you might be saying,

well, I don't really know that that's true because

I feel like God really kind of stepped into my

life and he took care of it and whatever. And

even though I didn't have a godly church family

growing up, it seemed like I had a pretty fast

track into the kingdom. God made it all work

and so on. So you might not for sure agree with

those statements depending on your specific situation.

But I will say to you that From an outside point

of view, observing, it just makes sense that

if a person has a godly church family and they're

encountering the word of God, even if their parents

aren't very godly, but they're encountering the

word of God and memorizing it as a kid or things

like that, that they have good access to know

about God. They have better access to know about

God than somebody that's born out there in the

world, if you will. Nobody in their family is

Christian. There's no Bibles around. So when

I was a young child, At five years old, I got

my first Bible, went to church for five months,

and then my parents pulled us out of church,

and I was never in church again for over 20 years.

And so my dad was a backslidden Christian at

the time. He was a Protestant Christian from

being a kid, but at 17, he walked away from the

Lord, and my mom was not a Christian. She didn't

get saved until she was 56. So we didn't have

God or Bible in our house, per se. We didn't

pray before meals. We didn't talk about God.

I never heard the phrase, what God would want

you to do, not once in 20 years in my house.

And the truth was, my grandfather was a preaching

deacon, and I never even heard it from him. And

I think it was because my dad had asked my grandfather

not to do that. Does that make sense? It makes

sense, right, Kenny? He would say, don't do that.

Don't mess with my house. And so they didn't

do that. And so it wasn't there. I'm telling

you, in that sense, I did not have the inside

track. So just buy into that enough with me to

see it from Jesus' perspective. And grab your

Bibles with you, if you will, and go with me

to the book of Matthew, chapter 23. Thank you

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

very much. This is God's Word. What I'm about

to read to you, it doesn't take a long time to

read it, but I will tell you that theologians

have been working on digesting this short passage,

four verses I'm about to read to you. I'm sorry,

three verses I'm about to read to you, for a

really long time. And I'm going to give you kind

of a summary, or I think it's a Holy Spirit -led

understanding of that, and cut out years of effort

for you. Okay? If you would want to do the same

steps that they took. So that's good. That would

be worth your time if nothing else was. Okay?

So Matthew chapter 23, I'm going to begin reading

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

in verse 37. Some of you will recognize a little

bit, and maybe just, in my case today, as I studied

this, and this week as I looked at these verses,

I had really not dug deeply into what's being

said here. I took it on the surface. I'll show

you the surface, and then I'll show you the deep.

So verse 37 says this. This is Matthew 23, 37.

It says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the

prophets and stones those who are sent to her,

how often I wanted to gather your children together

the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,

and you were unwilling. So Jesus is in the middle

of kind of like a woe passage. He's talking about

how people have screwed up. And here he directs

his statement at Jerusalem. Now because it's

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, we kind of recognize that.

If you read a lot of Bible, you kind of recognize

that formation. And it's an Old Testament formation.

You don't find it much in the New Testament at

all. But you find it in the Old Testament quite

regularly in the prophets. So those who were

there, again, Jewish men inside track a lot of

times. would recognize that phrasing, Jerusalem,

Jerusalem, as an Old Testament prophet phrasing.

So Jesus is likening what he is saying to an

Old Testament prophecy. And he says this, he

says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets,

that's what they had done, and stones those who

are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather

your children together, the way a hen gathers

her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

He's going to go on a little bit further. But

in this first part already, we can see that there

is a major breakdown in what it means to be,

quote -unquote, the people of God, or to be Jewish

and have the inside track. He is accusing them,

and rightfully so because we know their history,

of persecuting the very people that God sent

to them to call them to himself. So Jesus is

saying, you did this. Now, when you get right

down to it, we do not have a lot of stories.

of them killing the prophets or stoning those

who were sent to her. So we're not necessarily,

when we say stoning those who were sent to Jerusalem,

not necessarily talking about prophets. We don't

have a lot of stories of that in the Old Testament,

so they wouldn't have been studying a lot of

that. But we do have stories of prophets being

persecuted for sure, and at least one story of

a prophet who was killed, even though he was

clearly not a false prophet, and they were supposed

to kill false prophets. That was what the Old

Testament said. So we don't have a lot of stories

of that in the Old Testament, but historically

speaking, they had not listened to the agents

that God had sent to call them to righteousness.

That's true. We know that. We do read that in

our Bibles. And what he was saying was, I have

longed to draw together your children, that is

to say, the offspring of Jerusalem, not just

a man or a woman, although that would be included,

but all the men and women that lived in Jerusalem.

And by the way, all the men and women that live

in Jerusalem are also the offspring of Jerusalem,

right? Unless they came from somewhere else.

But at this point in time, they are the offspring

of Jerusalem. So this is not just saying when

he says the children, and we talked about this

on Tuesday night a while back, but a child of

God, for example, is someone who loves the Lord

and wants to learn from the Lord. And so, for

example, my grandchildren are kind of like my

children, even though they're biologically one

step. And I am their children because I love

them and want to learn from them. So it's not

as simple to say that a child is someone who

is born an offspring. But very generically saying,

everybody that was living in Jerusalem was the

offspring of Jerusalem, whether they were a child

or an adult. But he's saying, the offspring of

Jerusalem, I have yearned to draw you together.

I want to do that like a hen gathers her chicks.

So what does a hen do for her chicks? Well, she

gathers them together. She protects them from

predators. She provides for them. She provides

warmth. So we're talking about protection and

provision. So he's saying, I want to give protection

and provision to the offspring of Jerusalem,

but you were unwilling. So the you were unwilling

means not only that the city was collectively

unwilling, which we find to be very true, because

in just a very short period of time after this,

the city will go together, essentially. They

will form an unholy allegiance to crucify the

Christ, to crucify Jesus that's coming right

after this text. So we're going to see the people

crying out, not just the Sadducees and the Pharisees

and the upper echelon, right? But the common

people crying out, crucify him, crucify him.

So it becomes a unity. So it is everybody in

that sense that the city was unwilling. But also

notice the way it's phrased, and you were unwilling,

is to say that you might be the offspring and

be unwilling. So you could be from Jerusalem

as a child, an adolescent or an adult, and be

unwilling to be gathered in. Or you might have

offspring and be unwilling that your offspring

would be gathered in. Then verse 38 says, Behold,

your house is being left to you desolate. That

just sucks. God is saying to them, remember this

is in a woe passage. He's not declaring good

things. He's saying to them, though you are from

Jerusalem, I have yearned to grab you up and

protect you and provide for you, but you have

been unwilling, even having killed the prophets

and stoned those who were sent to you, to declare

my love and draw you in previously. He's saying,

basically, y 'all are villains, and you're comfortable

being villains, and you want your children to

also be villains. You're comfortable, even though

maybe your parents or those who went before you

might have even been godly, you're comfortable

in your wickedness, and you're comfortable that

your children would be wicked. And the question

is, are your children comfortable in their wickedness?

And that's essentially what he's saying. He says,

behold then, the result of that is your house

is being left to you desolate. Now this is where

the big theological debate kind of comes in.

And there's about three schools of thought. The

first one is that the Lord's temple, which was

in Jerusalem, that God was withdrawing his presence

from the temple. So that it's kind of referring

to the house of the Lord, which was also their

house. And that's true. God does do that after

Jesus is crucified or at the moment of his crucifixion.

He withdraws his presence from the temple. You

don't go into the Holy of Holies anymore to worship

God. But in some sense, That's because God makes

his presence available to everybody individually

instead of it just being the house. And who owned

the temple? It ought to should have been God.

Right. But it really wasn't. It was the Jewish

people owned the temple. Right. And so the theologians

would say, well, that means their house, the

house of God that they own, was becoming empty.

God's presence no longer going to be in it. That's

one theological meaning there. And that's true.

It's not the only thing that could be there,

but it's true. The second one, then, is to say

that the house of the city, that the city was

losing something that it had always had. Being

known as a center for God's people. Being known

as a center where the diaspora, Jewish men, and

people who had converted to Judaism, came from

all over the place. Hundreds, maybe a thousand

miles to come and worship at Jerusalem, especially

at the temples. They were crossing state boundaries.

Leaving their country, crossing through three

other states, and coming there to worship. Because

everybody in the world knew that if you wanted

to know God, that's where you had to go. And

so theologians argue they were losing that. They

were losing that presence of being called God's

place. And that's true. They did lose that in

some sense. In some sense, they still retain

it. But the temple is no longer there. You can

go stand at the wailing wall and cry. That's

why it's called the Wailing Wall, because it's

the only wall of the temple still standing. And

that's where they go and cry over the loss of

the temple. Because it is not there anymore.

So you can go and see where Jesus walked. You

can go and see about the people and how they

lived and how they lived. And there's historical

things you can study and look at, all that kind

of thing. But there's no necessity anymore. There's

nothing urging us anymore to go to Jerusalem

to meet with God. And so that's true. And some

theologians believe that's kind of what he was

getting at. And then the final one, which hurts

a lot more, is to say that they, because they

were not interested in having their children

have a right relationship with God, or their

offspring, or the younger generation, if you

will, have a right relationship with God, that

their house, their personal house, where they

lived, and it's a metaphor, I understand, but

their personal house was being left empty. That

hurts. To think that as Christians, Because we

are not willing that the next generation, our

nieces, our nephews, our children, our boys and

girls, our grandchildren, even our spouses or

people where we work or whatever, because we're

not willing that people would be drawn in by

God, though God clearly wants to do that, because

we're not willing that people should do that,

that our house would be left desolate. I'll break

down desolate in a moment. Verse 38 then said,

Behold, your house is being left to you desolate.

basically what we know for sure is that there

would be a loss of status, a loss of wealth,

a loss of family. That they would be left alone

in the dwelling place given them by God. Look

here and realize that you can lose everything

and be left empty. That's what Jesus was saying.

Verse 39, then the last one we're going to read

right here right now. It says, From now on, and

that little phrase there, that little phrase

there we're going to come back to and look at

in a second, is so cool. In Matthew, you can

see it three times. I'll break it down for you,

but I would like to suggest you want to look

at that later, like tonight or tomorrow or over

throughout this week. Look at those three passages

of Scripture and what Jesus says from now on

about it. I'll show you how important it is in

a minute. He says, For I say to you, from now

on you will not see me until you say, Blessed

is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Does

that sound kind of familiar to anybody? Remember

on the triumphant walk into Jerusalem and they

were crying out, blessed is he who comes in the

name of the Lord, right? But it didn't last,

right? Because some of the same people probably

who were there were later crying crucify him.

But there was a moment in which that, I submit

to you that that was a teaching moment. It was

a moment for them to realize that this is the

way it's supposed to be. And yet they would crucify

him not much later. So he says, From then on,

they would not experience God. Remember, these

are the Jewish people. They are the people of

God. If you think just very briefly about the

commission of Jerusalem and the Jewish people,

the people of God, they were given to have a

relationship with God and then to show it to

the entire world. The idea of forming Israel

originally was that Israel would then show the

entire world what it means to be a people of

God. That's why they had commands that were kind

of strict. tattoos, and clothing, and the way

they were supposed to act, and what they were

allowed to do and not allowed to do, and they

continued to drift and breach those commands,

and then return back to God, repent, return back

to God, and then drift and breach those commands

again, which is what the book of Judges is all

about. The spiral down into sin, repent, turn

back, a judge, he dies, she dies, spiral down

into sin, and it goes on and on and on until

eventually they need a king. Someone will call

them so they can have righteousness, at least

for more than one generation. And they do call

a king, and they do get righteousness. For a

number of generations throughout the time when

a king is ruling the kingdom. Bottom line is

this. They would lose that coveted position of

being able to experience God even intermittently

until a certain thing would transpire. And he

tells them what that certain thing is. Until

they say, blessed is he, who is he, by the way,

who comes in the name of the Lord? Jesus Christ.

Until they say, blessed is he who comes in the

name of the Lord, they would not see him. They

would not know God. And they have. There have

been prophets, there have been priests, there

have been visions, there have been miracles.

They have intermittently experienced God in a

very powerful way up until this moment in time.

And Jesus is declaring, that's done. That's over.

So that phrase that I pointed out to you that

was super, that I think is super cool and important,

is the phrase in the Greek, it said, ap arti.

It's two little words, ap and arti. It's A -P,

like you'd say app, like an app on your phone,

and arti. A wrote, so it's A -R -T -I, essentially

in English, that sound. And Jesus says it twice

else. Matthew records him saying it twice else.

One is in 26, 29, so it's a little bit after

this. And then he says, Hereafter I will not

consume this drink ever with you again until

we do it in the kingdom of God. You might recognize

that one, maybe, I don't know. And then also,

he says it a little later, he says, From now

on, the high priest stood up and said to him,

Do you not answer? This is while he's being accused,

right? Do you not answer? What is it that these

men are testifying against you? But Jesus kept

silent, and the high priest said to him, I adjure

you by the living God that you tell us whether

you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said

to him, You have said it yourself. Nevertheless,

I tell you, hereafter, there it is, ap arti,

you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right

hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

Then the high priest tore his robes and said,

He is blasphemed. What further need do we have

of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the

blasphemy. What do you think? They answered,

He deserves death. And so how important is the

apartheid? The apartheid is so important that

it was pretty much the last thing that Jesus

said before they sentenced him to be crucified,

at least in the Jewish courts, which were not

right anyway, but the bottom line is he says

that. And what did he say? Hereafter, you will

see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand.

of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

Now they understood that, not without getting

deeply into it, they understood that as a reference

to Daniel chapter 7, where the prophet Daniel

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

points out that God will send, someone will come.

And he's pointing out a Messiah, a Christ, an

anointed one of God that will change everything

forever. And Jesus is here telling us by op arti

that he is the one who will change everything

forever. And then back in 23, when we read it,

he said, from now on, you will not see me until

you say, blessed is the one who comes in the

name of the Lord. So they will lose the Christ.

They will lose the Messiah. They will lose the

presence of the living God until they say, Jesus,

blessed is the name of Jesus. There is no other

name under heaven given among men by which we

must be saved. All right, so there are three

things in this text, and I broke it down for

you kind of like, what does it mean, theologically

like that. There are three things that the Lord

really laid on my heart that we need to see,

and they're pretty rough stuff. So if you're

squeamish in your faith, I apologize for where

we're about to go, because it's pretty rough

stuff. I'd say put your dentures in and let's

chew on it, because it's a pretty big deal. First

one is this. Falling far from the tree. You remember

who that's saying, right? The apple doesn't fall

far from the tree, right? So falling far from

the tree would not be enough, especially if it's

in word alone, which for them and many since

them is all it has ever been. So if your dad

was a drunk and you said, the apple's going to

fall far from the tree, I'm not going to be a

drunk. If your mom was foul -mouthed, she smoked

marijuana. 15 hours a day. Or your dad quit every

job he ever had before he had a new one. And

the family would suffer for weeks or months with

not enough money to put food on the table. If

that was what your parents were like, you'd say,

no, apple's going to fall off the tree. I'm not

going to be like them. I'm here to tell you today

that Jesus was saying ever so clearly, that's

not enough. Denouncing the faults of those who

have gone before us will not make us right. Each

new generation sees very clearly the errors of

those who went before. Teenagers in the room,

we know you can see us. We understand that you

can see the weaknesses, the failings, and the

faults of your parents better than we can see

them ourselves. It's a fact. The next generation

will look at you in the cold light of day. And

that applies not only in the biological family

in the home or in the family of foster children

or adopted children, but it applies also in the

church. Understand that the God's kids that are

meeting over there right now studying the Bible,

they're going to hear things about what it means

to be a Christian. And then they're going to

look at you and they're going to say, are there

any Christians in the world at all? If indeed

you are living the hypocritical life and not

actually looking like a Christian. And falling

far from the tree, being different than your

parents who lived a hypocritical life and didn't

actually look like Christians if that was the

case, will not suffice for them to look at you

and say, oh yeah, that's what a Christian looks

like. Every new generation sees very clearly

the errors of those who went before, whether

they want to or not. It undermines their ability

to do the right thing when they see their parents

lying, deceiving, not showing up, not keeping

their commitments, not stretching themselves

to serve God, not working hard to give and give

more, give above and beyond what they're comfortable

with giving. That's the New Testament standard,

to give sacrificially, not just to tithe and

give an offering, which is the Old Testament

standard, but above and beyond that, to give

sacrificially of time and money, whatever you

got. And they see that and they know that Jesus

said they've heard the story of the widow and

her two mites and how she put in and the two

tiny pennies that she put in was more than the

big suitcases of money they were dumping into

the trumpets. Try to say that twice fast. Dumping

into the trumpets and all that money's laddering

down and there into the offering plate. And all

those guys looked so good and that widow gave

her two little coins. And Jesus said that she

gave out of her need. She pushed herself. She

sacrificed to give. And she gave more than those

suitcases of coins. And they hear that story,

and then they look at us and they say, why are

they not sacrificing that much? Why do they not

push that much? If the Jesus that I want to follow

at 10 or 15 is the Jesus, that I see in scripture,

then why are my adults not following him that

way? They see us very clearly. I saw my parents

very clearly. I was not saved. My dad was a backslidden

Christian. My mom was not a Christian. And yet

I could see my parents' hypocrisy very clearly.

And my mother would talk about her mother and

the things that went on in her home when I was

a kid by way of telling me how good I had it.

because her apple fell far from the tree by her

own estimation, and it was not sufficient. I

could see her hypocrisy. I could see her lies.

I knew something wasn't right. My dad was a man

of integrity, and the closest thing that I knew

to a man of integrity when I was growing up,

and I didn't know my grandfather all that well,

but he also was a man of integrity, and I later

in life found out that he was much more so than

my dad, because my dad didn't follow in his dad's

footsteps until he was in his 60s. And so the

point is, My dad was a man of integrity, but

I knew that his integrity had all these holes

in it. It was things that weren't right. Why

wasn't he doing that? Why would you do the one

thing with my brother and have a different standard

for me? Have a standard with my mom and a different

standard for his family and so on. It wasn't

quite right, and I could see that. And I'm telling

you, when you were a teenager, when you were

an adolescent, you could see it. And in fact,

you probably can see it now. You can see it now

of people who are in the faith who... seem to

be a little further along or whatever like that,

and you look at them and you go, but if they're

a little further along, then why doesn't this

add up? We can look at the generation that goes

before us, whether it's biologically or in the

city or in the government or in the town that

we live in or the town that we look at from afar,

from our national government, into the church,

in the kingdom of God, wherever, and we can see

the faults. And I'm telling you. Denouncing the

faults of those who have gone before you will

not make you right. That's what Jesus is saying

when he says, I long to bring you in. I sent

representatives, God says. I sent prophets. I

sent people to tell the story the way it really

is. What you are supposed to do is not what you

are doing. Far from making you innocent, then,

when you look at their mistakes and you can see

them clearly. Far from making you innocent. Even

if you denounce. You say, well, my dad did this

and it was wrong and I recognize that and I'll

never be like that. Far from making you innocent.

It actually makes you the offspring of a person

who's guilty. That's what it actually does. When

you can see the weaknesses of the people who

have gone before you. you're actually guilty

of those to some extent. In fact, he says it

very clearly. A little before this when he's

talking, he says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites, for you build the tombs of the prophet

and adorn the monuments of the righteous. In

other words, they knew who went before who was

right. They built the tomb of Isaiah. They adorned

the grave of David. And he says, And say, if

we had been living in the days of our fathers,

those who had gone before us, we would not have

been partners with them in shedding the blood

of the prophets. See, they were denouncing what

had gone before them. And then 31, he says, so

you testify against yourselves that you are sons

of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then

the measure of the guilt of your fathers. It

doesn't just go away. Generational sin is a very

real thing. When you screw up, your kids will

follow you in some of your screw -ups, no matter

how far from the tree they fall, and they will

own the pain. They will feel the guilt. They

will suffer under our mistakes. And so it is

a responsibility then that we embrace the teachings

of Jesus and find another plan, because it is

not good enough. If I teach my son to follow

in my footsteps, that will not get him to heaven.

It will not get him into a right relationship

with Jesus. In fact, we already heard what the

only way to do that is. So the point was, falling

far from the tree and being able to denounce

the faults of those who went before you, that

is not enough to make you right. In fact, it

makes you culpable in their guilt because you

can see what they did wrong means you need to

do right. Point two, to deny God's request for

a relationship is to run from his provision,

his protection, his power, and his purpose. As

those before us did. In every generation since

Adam and Eve, there have been those who declined

the purpose, power, protection, provision, all

of God's presence. Adam and Eve themselves did

it. It is the sin of man. It is what we do. To

deny his request for relationship is to run from

his provision, his protection. Provision is when

he takes care of you. Protection is when he...

shields you from the world, shields you from

the things that you face. His power is when he

gives you the ability of God to do what you need

to do, and his purpose is when he sets you on

a course to do what it is, and you're running

from all of that, as those before us did. Moreover,

he has tried to call his people from every generation.

God has not stopped. The church is still present.

Prophets were before. The lesson, the word of

God has been protected. It's always been available

to us. He's been calling us all the while. God's

never stopped calling. He has tried to call his

people from every generation, and those who failed

to come hated those who did come. That's how

it always goes. Think of the story of Cain and

Abel. Why did Cain kill Abel? Because Abel's

offering to God was acceptable, and Cain's was

not. And in every generation, those who truly

come to God and follow Jesus wind up being hated

by those who refuse God's call. We talked last

week about how it's kind of because it almost

doesn't seem fair. But it is just because it's

available to all of us. He has tried to call

his people from every generation, and those who

failed to come hated those who came, killed them,

and they raced through their own lives over way

sooner than they expected and right into hell,

despite the offer of God. Many have wanted the

resources of the kingdom without the relationship

with God that is offered, and the results are

always the same. Think about Cain and Abel. Cain

killed Abel. Think about Esau and Jacob. Esau

gave up his birthright, gave up his inheritance.

And the list just goes on and on and on. People

want the resources of the kingdom of God, and

they'll even rush to get it. They'll do whatever

is necessary to say, I'm going to fall far from

the tree. I'll denounce all of those that I don't

like, all of those who said things I don't like.

They'll pick on anybody who's actually doing

whatever it is that God wants them to do so that

they have an excuse not to do exactly what they

are supposed to do in the Lord. They want the

resources of the kingdom without the relationship,

and the results are always the same. To deny

God's request for relationship is to run from

his provision and protection, his power and purpose

as those before us did. The third thing to see

in there then is the now on. From then on. From

then on, they would either accept Jesus gratefully

or be left with an empty, earthly domain. You

get it? This is the Son of God who came from

heaven. who lived a sinless life and would die

on a cross just a very short time after he's

speaking here. And then rise again and institute

the church. And those who will not have him cannot

have God. And it's right that it should be so.

He came from heaven and lived a sinless life

and died on a cross and rose again. It is right

that those who reject him cannot have God. From

then on, it would be that either you accept Jesus

gratefully or be left with an empty, Earthly

domain. Purpose. All gone. Provision. All gone.

Power. All gone. Presence. All gone. Hold on.

Family. All gone. I have a good friend of mine

who's a brother in the Lord. His name's David.

He told me I could share this testimony. As David

was a young parent, His first child was born

when he was in his early 20s. David was a drinker.

He drank quite a bit. So on Sundays, he had to

work Monday through Friday to provide for his

family. On Sundays, he'd stay home and drink.

Seen a lot, a lot of men who would do that. Stay

home and drink. But he sent his kids to church

faithfully every Sunday. Most times in the morning,

most times at night, most times in Wednesday.

So as they were growing up, he was doing what

he could to give them the inside track. He was

trying to expose them to God. In his own heart,

he kind of wondered whether God existed or not.

But he knew that if God did exist, he wanted

what was best for his kids. So he tried to send

them to church at every opportunity. As they

got to be older in their late teens, one by one,

they pulled away from their profession of faith,

if they'd been baptized, whatever they were doing

in the church. David's now in his early 60s.

He's a faithful attender. Every time the church

is open, he's there. He serves, volunteers on

all the work days. He teaches at the devotional

breakfast that they have once a month. He teaches

the word. And to do so, he reads his Bible every

day, an hour or more. Studies it. Looks for what

God would have him to say. And then once a month

sits there for 20 minutes and teaches out of

the storehouse of the goodness of the word. David's

kids have never come back to the Lord. They never

do anything with the church. He says, in fact,

they all pretty much say they don't believe in

God. They don't pray. They just don't believe

at all. He prays and his heart is broken. He's

like, I can't do it. I know now. I met Jesus.

I've had a personal experience with him. I've

had a relationship with him for this many years.

There's nothing I can do. There's nothing I can

do. So after Bible study, he goes home to an

empty house. No kids. No grandkids. They don't

come to special events at his church when he

invites them. None of them have ever heard him

teach the word. From now on, they would either

accept Jesus gratefully or be left with an empty

earthly domain. Purpose gone. Provision gone.

Power gone. Presence gone. Family gone. Not my

words. Jesus' words. But it could be right in

your face and you still not get it. Worse, you

could begin to get it. You could start to believe.

You could start to follow and still have it stolen

from you before you really get it. The disciples

came to Jesus and said, why do you speak to people

in parables? And he replied, because the knowledge

of the secrets of the king of heaven has been

given to you, but not to them. Pardon me. Whoever

has will be given more and they will have in

abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they

have will be taken from them. Talking about,

The knowledge of the word, the knowledge of God's

presence, all coming through Jesus. This is why

I speak to them in parables. Though seeing, they

do not see. Though hearing, they do not hear

or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy

of Isaiah, which he then quotes. But blessed

are your eyes, because they see, and your eyes,

because they hear. For truly, I tell you, many

prophets and righteous people longed to see what

you see, but did not see it. And to hear what

you hear, but did not hear it. Listen to then

what the parable of the sower means. When anyone

hears the message about the kingdom and does

not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches

it away. What was sown in his heart? This is

the seed sown along the path. The seed falling

on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the

word and at once receives it with joy. But since

they have no root, they last only a short time.

When trouble or persecution comes before the

world, I'm sorry, because of the word, they quickly

fall away. The seed falling among the thorns

refers to someone who hears the word, but the

worries of this life and the deceitfulness of

wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.

But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone

who hears the word and understands it. This is

the one who produces a crop, yielding 160 or

30 times what was sown. It's possible to be that

close. To be so close. To be able to call yourself

a Christian. And yet, to not actually have it.

Have it snatched away from you. Or burnt off

by worries and anxieties or persecutions. That's

what Jesus said. Furthermore, he said that titles

and wealth and education, none of these affect

whether you get it or not. For there is no partiality

with God, Paul writes in Romans 2. He will divide

families to deliver one willing and not to another

who's not. Matthew 10, 34 -39, Jesus says, Do

not think that I came to bring peace on the earth.

I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For

I came to set a man against his father, and a

daughter against her mother, and a daughter -in

-law against her mother -in -law, and a man's

enemies will be the members of his household.

He who loves father or mother more than me is

not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter

more than me is not worthy of me. Jesus said,

from then on, very real efforts of the world

system to keep persons from coming to the one

and only available salvation must be seen for

what they are. That includes your mother, your

father, your brother, your son, your sister,

your wife, your husband. Any attempt. To stop

a person from embracing God, from being brought

together as a mother hen brings together her

chicks, to missing out on the power and the provision,

the purpose and the presence of the Lord, must

be seen for what it is. Decide this day whom

you will serve, Joshua said. And in that same

passage of Scripture that I just read to you,

Continuing into verse 38, it says, And he who

does not take his cross and follow after me is

not worthy of me. He who has found his life will

lose it. And he who has lost his life for my

sake will find it. And then Peter writes, When

the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation

and to keep the unrighteousness under punishment

for the day of judgment. and especially those

who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires

and despise authority, daring, self -willed,

they do not tremble when they revile angelic

majesties. In other words, in your very house,

on your pew, in the row of chairs with you, may

be somebody who will make it in because they

are willing to be... received by the Lord Jesus

Christ. While you personally might not make it

in because you will receive only the Christ that

you choose. The Christ that's your way. The Christ

that's not inconvenient. The Christ that is just

different enough to be different from your dad

or your mom or your family or whatever. Just

different enough to be what you want him to be.

Jesus said, you will not see me anymore unless

you come. Saying, blessed is he who comes in

the name of the Lord. You get the Jesus that

God sent, or no Jesus at all. Which means you

could be sitting right next to somebody you love

very deeply. That you would give anything, your

whole self, everything that you are to see that

person in heaven when you get there. And then

they do go, they go to heaven, and you're not

there. Because instead of focusing on the Jesus

whom God sent, you focus on making sure they

get the Jesus whom God sent. Does that happen?

Oh, you better believe it happens. People get

real wrapped up in the people that are around

them. The situations that are going on in this

life. Jesus came to rightly divide. There will

always be those who wind up desolate so that

there may also be those who are adopted as sons

and daughters of the king. But there is hope.

There is hope in the opportunity. It's interesting.

As I was thinking about that, I thought, you

know, we are capable. Sometimes we feel like

we're not, but we are capable of learning how

to work just about any kind of machine or process.

You know, like, I don't like computers. I don't

want to program computers. But the truth is,

if you took the time, got with the right teachers,

you could program HTML or whatever. You could

program computers. You could learn how to work.

Some of us, it would take longer because that's

not our mindset or whatever. But the bottom line

is you could learn how to work any machine. You

say, I don't know how to drive. But you could

learn how to drive. It might not be convenient.

It might take a long time. You might not even

be very good at it, but you could do it. You

say, I don't know how to change spark plugs or

points. To replace a fuel injector system. You

could learn how to do it. We can learn how to

do it. If there is a system, if there is a set

of instructions and guidelines, we can learn

how to work it. That's the nature of human beings.

Now let me tell you what the system is. Do not

live your life as a response to past examples

of your family, your city, or even your church.

If it leads to right living, you will at best

be making a God of men, but you will die for

sure and wind up with a desolate house in the

meantime. Don't follow the people who went before

you. Follow Jesus. It doesn't matter if they

were a worldwide evangelist sharing the gospel

and you're like, I'm 100 % sure that my dad,

the pastor, or my dad, the deacon, or my dad,

the evangelist is saved because look at all the

people who professed Christ. Paul said that he

was concerned that after all the people he had

preached to, he might arrive at the end and not

receive the very salvation that he preached.

And he was making sure, by coming to God through

Jesus alone, that that was not going to happen

to him. That's what he said. You do the same.

You come to God through Jesus. Blessed is he

who comes in the name of the Lord. You do not

live your life as a response to past examples

of your family, your city, or even your church.

Even if it would lead to right living, you would

at best be making a God of men. And then die,

for sure. Meanwhile, winding up in a desolate

house. Either for generations to come, or God

will adopt your children through Christ. In other

words, if you cannot be following the Lord Jesus

Christ in earnest, then your children, your grandchildren,

whatever, they still have a chance to get saved.

That's the beauty of the apartheid. They can

still come to God in the name of the one whom

God sent. They can still cry out, blessed is

the name of the one whom God sent. Blessed is

he. They can still cry that out. And if they

will do that, even though you raised them to

be disciplined or not, even though you raised

them to be fixed up or not, even though you raised

them to be able to run the machines or not, even

though you raised them to eat right or not, if

they will cry out in the name of Jesus and be

truly saved, they will do so over your corpse,

if they must. Because that's the only way it's

done. One person at a time. No grandchildren

of God. The generations to come will leave us

in distant memory if we do not also come to God

through Jesus Christ in earnest. If you love

God, you will encourage your followers, whoever

there are, there's people that's looking at you.

Your children, your grandchildren, nieces, nephews,

friends, younger people in the church, younger

people in the faith, people at your work, whatever.

You encourage your followers in every context

to follow him through Jesus, not you. You'd have

to be pretty arrogant to think that you're getting

it so right that if they follow you, they'll

get saved. But if you teach them to follow Jesus,

Go ye therefore and make disciples. If you teach

them to follow Jesus, not disciples of me, not

disciples of you, not disciples of you, not disciples

of you, but Jesus. If you make them a disciple

of Jesus, the best you know how, and if they

earnestly call out to God through Jesus, then

they'll make it in. Their calling out to God

through Jesus will in no way ensure that you

will make it in. You will still have to do that

yourself. No matter how many people you tell,

you will still have to do it yourself. You will

still have to come to God through Jesus alone.

Blessed is the name of Jesus. Blessed is the

one whom he sent. Seek ye first always the kingdom

of God and his righteousness, and all these things

will be added unto you, Jesus said. He was talking

about needed things. But I submit to you that

there are also kids. Do you realize that it is

entirely possible, for example, if you have a

child, that you could call out to God through

the name of Jesus, that you could earnestly follow

the Lord with all that you are? And then, wait

for it, as if that wasn't incredible enough,

your child, as soon as they're old enough to

understand, could cry out to God through Jesus

and become a follower of the Lord. And wait for

it, you could be in the kingdom of God with an

actual child that's a Christian, that's actually

following the Lord too. And you're like, if you

sit there, you're like, I think I'm going to

do this. And you're like, I don't know if I should

do that. You're going to go to your daughter,

as I often do with Arianna. I say, well, what

do you think about this? And they'll be like,

oh, I guess what God would want. And you're like,

you know what? I think you're right. We're not

going to do that. Or let's get the family together

and pray. And y 'all can sit there and pray and

have every reasonable certainty that everybody

that's sitting there is praying, seeking the

face of the Lord to do what God would want through

Jesus Christ the Son. Blessed is He. And the

truth. And the truth comes. And it actually happens.

Boy, that would be awesome. Or you could try

to seek the kingdom of God through your own power,

by your own might, by someone's teaching, by

something you heard, even by the word of God,

the written word, and you'll never, ever, ever

see it. You will never see it because no one

will ever see it unless they see it through the

blessed name of the one whom he sent. So saith

God. And then finally, from now on. Come to God

through only Jesus and welcome him every day.

The one thing that we've talked about that I

haven't hammered yet, and I just want to make

you really certain that you understand this,

is everything here is about relationship. The

mother hen gathers her chicks because they're

her chicks. Jesus longs to gather you into relationship,

inside a relationship in which we'll have those

things and the purpose, the power, the presence,

the provision. And family. He longs to gather

us in that way. And if we will welcome him every

day and say, blessed is he who comes in the name

of the Lord. Jesus said this, he said, Matthew

10, 40, he who receives you, talking about the

disciples, he said to the disciples, he who receives

you, receives me. Boy, that would be cool. If

we could say to him, if God would say to you,

whoever receives Tim, receives Jesus, wouldn't

that be awesome? What do you think? That would

be awesome, wouldn't it? And that's what he said

to the disciples, to the believers. If you come

to God through Jesus, then this is true of you.

That he who receives you, receives Jesus. And

then we wouldn't stop there. It says, he who

receives Jesus, or Jesus said, he who receives

me, receives him who sent me. Do you want to

go to heaven or not? Do you want to be eternal

or not? Do you want to make the kingdom advance

or not? Do you want to be right or not? Do you

want to be healed or not? Do you want to be saved

or not? Did you screw up? You know you screwed

up, then this is how you get saved. You come

to God through Jesus Christ. Do you want to possibly

have children or family members or co -workers

or students do the same? Then you come to God

through Jesus Christ. And then you tell them

that they must come to God through Jesus Christ.

You know what? You really probably ought not

even get around to teaching anything else that's

in the Word until you've told them that they

need to come to God through Jesus Christ. Because

no matter how much they know, they know 99 %

of it, but don't know God through Jesus Christ.

They cannot know Him. That's what God says. That's

what Jesus said. And He said it to the people

who up until that moment had the inside track.

It's as if the track team went out to run the

relay, and the first runner ran and put the baton

in the hand of the second runner. And when the

baton was passed, they had half a lap lead. Running

on the inside track, half a lap lead. And they

went a whole other lap. And as they come around

and pass the baton, they had a whole lap lead.

They had a whole lap lead. The baton's with the

third runner, and the whole lap lead on the inside

lane. And the baton is passed one more time.

They're running around the inside of the track

with over a lap lead. And here comes a runner

coming up from behind. Not even running on the

inside of the track. Doesn't need it. Halfway

out the lanes. Four lanes out. But moving like

40 miles an hour. And runs that last lap so fast.

That that team, that last anchor runner that's

running the inside lap, just blows right on by.

And on the way by says, you'll never see me again.

That's our Jesus. You don't have the inside track.

The rich don't have the inside track. People

raised in a godly household don't have the inside

track. Jews don't have the inside track. Because

there is no inside track anymore. You win or

lose based on whether your daily life is about

your relationship with Jesus Christ. Because

through Him, we know the Father. Through Him,

we are adopted into the family. And if you will

do that, and begin to offer that to your family

and your friends and your co -workers and people

in your church and people wherever you run into

them, then the family will grow and more and

more people will be adopted in. But if you will

not do that, then you had better ask yourself

why. Do you hate them that much? I ask the praise

team to come forward at this time and lead us

in our final closing song. As we do so, I'm asking

you today, if you have not embraced God the Father

through Jesus Christ the Son specifically, if

you have not come to God by the way of Jesus,

do that now. And if you have said, you know,

I want my children so desperately to be raised

in the Lord. I want my friends or my nieces,

my nephews, whatever these people that I can

influence to be so desperately to come in a relationship

with God, but I've never done anything about

it. Not only have I not lived in perfect integrity,

which, by the way, nobody does that. Not only

have I not lived perfectly before them, but on

top of that, I haven't performed the thing that

they need more than anything, which is just to

come to God through Jesus, and that's the only

way. I have not adamantly presented that truth.

Can you repent today and just say, I'm taking

that truth with me everywhere I go? If you truly

have a relationship with the Lord and you're

spending time with him in the morning, you're

spending time with him in the afternoon, you're

spending time with him at night, you're spending

time with him 24 hours a day, then would you

eventually, would you have like an encounter

with a friend of yours where Jesus is not there?

And we're like, I don't need you right now, Jesus,

I'm going out to lunch. That's not how it works.

When you come into a relationship with him, he

comes and lives in you and you don't go anywhere

without him. And that's what I'm asking you to

do. Say, okay, Lord, I'm not going to go anywhere

without you. Would you stand with me and sing

this song and just respond however the Lord is

laying on your heart today. Thank you. ourselves

to Christ, by no means do we surrender any part

of our lives to the world. We are meant to stand

up. We are meant to do the work of the kingdom.

There are heavy loads to be borne. I know the

verses. The verses say, come unto me, those of

you who have any burden, and give it to him,

and he'll take care of it. But where's he at

when he's taking care of it? He's in you. There

are loads to be carried. There's trouble in the

world. Fear not, for I have overcome the world.

So there's trouble. You'll face trouble. As men,

we can stand up and face that trouble. We can

make a difference. I'm asking you to fight for

your homes. Fight for your job sites. Fight for

schools. Fight for conversations. Fight for your

wives or your brothers or your sisters or whatever.

He's the Lion of Judah. When the world was under

the sway of the evil one, he came and conquered.

Let's call his faith his faith. He did it alone.

Stand up. He did it alone. It's 2025. He could

come in 2025. I don't know how close it is. It's

time we stand up. Christianity is not a timid,

it is not a weak man's religion. If you say that

you have followed Jesus and yet you are not a

man of integrity, you're not keeping your word,

you're not standing up for what is right, you're

not telling the truth, you're not confronting

people when things are wrong. That's not the

Christianity of the Bible. Stand up. Let's pray

together and we'll be through. Father in heaven,

we praise you for being the kind of God who would

not let us go silently into that dark night.

For being the kind of God who would not let humanity

go to hell for eternity with the demons and those

who rightly deserve the abyss. We praise you

for being the kind of God who would take on flesh.

The truth is there are days with what I experience

and what I go through that I think if I were

in heaven and had the choice to become this man,

Dan Stevenson, I'd be like, no way. It's too

hard. It's too much. I don't want to ever be

sick. I don't ever want to be hurt. I don't want

to be tempted like that. I don't want to struggle

like that. I don't want to have to overcome like

that. If I could see that and see this, I would

take that and never take this. But Jesus took

it. He took the worst of it. He took the crucifixion.

He took the chastisement that he did not deserve.

The scourging. Persecution. They tried to kill

him before ever it was his time. But I pray that

we would be a people as the body of Christ, as

Christ's body that already suffered. Already

died and rose again. And if we are the church

and we are the body of Christ, then when it comes

to suffering, we ought to be really good at it.

And overcome it. And have joy during it. And

fight the battles that need to be fought. Stand

up for what's right. Am I talking about violence?

No. Am I talking about sometimes taking a hit?

Almost assuredly. Lord, I pray that we will be

your church. And as we go out, we will take the

gospel everywhere it can be taken. That we will

reconcile the lost to the God that yearns to

draw them in under his protective wings. That

we will listen to the teachers of old who proclaim

righteousness without also following their stupid

mistakes. That if we are a descendant of Jesus,

our apple will not fall far from that tree. Or

what tree? of the cross. Lord, help us and we

know that from now on, and that from now on came

back then when Jesus was crucified, dead, buried,

rose again. From now on, we come to you in the

precious name of Jesus. For what's been paid,

for what's ever been known, we will be your church.

and your people, and we will overcome. We will

overcome 2025 and every year that you yet give

us. We will overcome every notion that sets itself

up against God. We will be men and women calling

on the God of heaven and receiving his power

and purpose and presence, protection, and family.

To no end until Jesus comes again or until our

bodies break down and can't do it anymore. But

we commit ourselves to you. Thank you, Lord,

for paying to make it possible. This we pray

in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you very much. This

concludes our service.