What If?//9AM// Pastor Terrance Richmond

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Love Quest International

Church podcast, where we seek to love all nations, equip the

church, mobilize the equipped, and serve all.

We're super glad you're joining us from whenever and wherever

you're at in the world. Welcome to the family to get

your Bibles ready, get some water, get some coffee, maybe

some tea, and get ready to receive.

Let's get into it. Not only today are cemeteries

filled with dead bodies, hospitals filled with

compromised health and prisons filled with criminals, I could

also say there's non criminals. There is one theme that runs

through graves, prisons and hospital rooms alike and that is

regret. The echo of Shoulda, Coulda

Woulda still rings loud in the souls of millions today, past,

present and future. And if Shoulda coulda Woulda

could be captured in one single question, it would be this

question. What if?

What if I tried? What if I obeyed?

What if I trusted? What if I didn't let fear

decide? Because fear doubted fear and

doubt and anxiety and insecurity and sabotage and codependency

and unbroken strongholds have kept far too many people

standing at the edge of destiny but never stepping into it.

And the greatest tragedy today in this room, it is not failing,

it is not loss, and it is not rejection.

The greatest tragedy is this the tragedy of never finding out?

What if the tragedy of never finding out it's standing before

God one day realizing obedience was offered and I never found

out what my yes could have become?

One day every life will be weighed, every choice revealed,

and every yes or no will be accounted for.

Today going to look at this story through two lenses at the

same time. 1 lens. It asked this what does this

mean for my life right now? What does this mean for my life

right now? This is existential.

We we look through the lens of existential.

Who am I becoming right now? What does this mean right now?

And then the second will be, what does this mean when I stand

before God? This is eschatological.

Who will I answer to? Eschatological is speaking to

eternity. It is speaking to my eternal

balance. It is speaking to being with the

Lord or for some people not. It is.

It is reaching into eternity with the questions and the

thinking that I am asking and reflecting on.

So existential is about now who am I becoming?

And then eschatological is about who will I answer to at the end.

This isn't just a message today about about about forever or

just about today. The question, it really started

in Matthew 19, verse 16. And it starts with this one

Matthew 19:16

question by this guy we've heard of.

Someone came to him and said, Teacher, what essentially good

thing shall I do to obtain eternal life, that is eternal

salvation in the Messiah's Kingdom?

What shall I do? Before God speaks, he often

steals us that be still, remember, be still.

And no, before he speaks, he asked us to what?

Be still. Not because he's quiet, but

because we are loud. God's not being quiet.

Our lives are just too loud and too busy.

Psalm says, Psalm 34 says or 46 sorry says, let be and be still

and know, recognize and understand that I am God.

We've learned over the last two weeks, stillness is not calm.

Stillness is not inactivity. Stillness is the moment where

competing loyalties are exposed. And here's the danger.

Some people avoid stillness not because they're busy, but

because stillness would begin asking way too many questions.

In our stillness, we can't avoid hearing these questions.

Like what if you get to the end of your life and realize you

never actually tried? What if obedience was the

doorway to the version of you heaven was waiting on?

What if the thing Jesus asked you to lay down was the very

thing blocking your peace? What if you didn't fail, but you

hesitated? What if your wealth wasn't

money, but it was control or it was busyness?

What if you were one surrender away from rest?

What if you kept everything but lost rest and you lost your

peace? What if you kept the

commandments, but you missed the calling?

What, What if you What if heaven had plans your comfort vetoed?

Well, what if your morality was on point, but your availability

wasn't? What if you love the idea of

eternal life, but not so much the idea of transformation?

What What if your life ends responsibly lived but eternally

unnamed? What if you never find out who

you could have become? Stillness doesn't force a

decision, it reveals 1. What happens when scripture

stands Silence and stillness and silence keeps us hanging in the

balance. Watch this.

There is no demons, there's no storms, there's no crowd.

There's just one man, one question and one invitation.

What happens when Scripture throws US one of these

situations where there is no repentance, There is no crowd,

there's no scripture, there's no healing, there's no outcome.

There's just this big question mark of what if he would have?

Many of us aren't living this way.

We don't know when the end is coming.

But one thing you got to face today is what if Jesus answers

this? Yeah, Why are you asking me

about what is essentially good? There is only one who is

essentially good, but if you wish to enter into eternal life,

keep the commandments. There's a man in these gospels

who does everything right. He is moral.

He is disciplined. He is sincere.

He comes to Jesus respectfully. He asked about eternal life.

He wants assurance about his future with God.

This is not rebellious. He's not rebelling.

He's not a skeptic. He's not doubting like Thomas.

He is not. This is someone who wants life.

Jewish thought to inherit eternal life meant participating

in the age to come. He is not making or asking how

to behave better. He is asking who he will become.

This is where the tragedy begins, because the greatest

tragedy in Scripture is not rebellion, It is unrealized

obedience. This is where we doubt, we

hesitate, and we second guess because listen, people do not

always go missing because they reject Jesus.

We go missing because doubt, we second guess, we hesitate.

The rich young ruler didn't reject Jesus loudly.

He walked away quietly. That's why we never heard.

He wasn't bitter at Jesus. He didn't cuss him out.

He didn't throw stones. He didn't lie on Jesus.

He was morally intact. He wanted to be better.

And he's like, I've done all of this.

I want that thing, the eternal thing.

I want eternal life. Scripture never tells us what he

became. Here's the tragedy.

It was a life unresolved. Graves are full of unresolved

lives, prisons unresolved. And there's people in this room.

You have just quit on pursuing Jesus.

No, you're a good person. You got a job, you own time to

work all the time. But when it comes to pursuing

Jesus, you stopped at the cost. Life got frustrating.

Somebody hurt you. Trauma too real, Crutches too

good, Excuses too many. A life unresolved question isn't

what did he do wrong? The question is what did he

refuse to release? We're always focused on wrong.

And the real problem in your life you'll find God is that's

what the blood took care of is what you did wrong.

But what the blood can't make you do is release what the blood

is asking for so that in change you can get what the blood paid

for. And the reason this story is so

unsettling is because nothing is wrong with him.

No scandal, no sin, no demon to cast out.

There's many people in here, especially Christians.

I ain't got no demons. I'm a good, upright person.

I got great integrity. Check, check, check.

There's no answer. He didn't do anything wrong, and

if he did, the blood would have handled that.

And This is why we got to slow this thing down and really pay

attention to the question he asked teacher.

What essentially good thing shall I do to obtain eternal

life? What essentially good thing can

I do? Well, what if you've done

everything your question is asking?

He's done all the good things and now he's asking what other

good thing can I do? He wants eternal life, you guys.

But watch this. He wants control over how to get

it. He's not asking who do I follow.

He is asking what do I do. He's not asking who do I follow,

He's asking what do I do? He wants eternal life.

You want that God life, but you want control of how to get it.

Jesus, watch it, begins to expose the throne.

Jesus redirects him from good deeds to God's goodness.

This isn't a trick question. This is not cynicism.

This is a man seeking assurance. He comes running, He kneels.

He calls Jesus teacher. Nothing about his posture

suggests rebellion. Still.

And yet there's something to be exposed that he does not realize

is in the way between him following Jesus and his desire.

Watch this Jesus shifts the question from achievement to

allegiance and behavior to belonging.

All you smart people in here. Jesus shifts the question from

achievement to allegiance, from behavior to belonging.

Jesus consistently moves conversations from performance

to lordship. He's constantly shifting our

direction back from performance to lordship.

What do I do? I send and I messed up

performance. I send and I messed up.

No, no, no, the blood. The question is not what to do.

The question is, are you following the blood?

Made it so that no matter how many times you fall, the blood

reaches A handout and say come on, keep on going.

The blood is the hand that picks you up so you can keep walking

after a fall. Eternal life is the result of

surrender, not the completion of A to do list.

Yeah, eternal life is the result of surrender, not the completion

of A to do list. Jesus is not investigating his

works, He is exposing his surrender.

Jesus help us today, the young man said to him, I have kept all

these things. Watch it, Jesus, I've kept all

these things. Check, check, check, check,

check, check. Came to church Sunday, check

from my youth. So I've kept them for a long

time. I've had faith.

I've done the right thing for a long time.

What do I still lack? Watch this.

He's not lying at all. He's been disciplined.

He's been super sincere and totally devout.

He says, Jesus, I've kept all these things.

Truth of the matter is this people, you can be sincere and

still stalled. You can be moral and still

misaligned and you can obey rules and resist rule, and

that's a lot of people in here. You obey rules, but he does not

have rule. And here is the issue with a lot

of us. It is not your sin.

It is who is sitting on the throne of your life.

Watch this. Your sorries mean nothing if you

don't let Jesus take his seat. Wake him up.

He might need this. He kept commands, Yes he did.

But obedience to rules is not the same as surrender to rule.

Stop patting yourself on the back because you read your

Bible. Stop patting yourself on the

back because you tithed. Stop patting.

It's no different than a father or mother wanting a celebration

for paying child support. That's your child.

Guess what you supposed to do? Support because you serve at

your church. We're in a day where it's like

we want extra for serving God. We have entitlement.

It's not about obedience to rules.

No, no, no, no. This man is spiritually,

morally, and financially successful and he's at the point

of his life where he's like, what else is there?

Watch this because rules will not quench your thirst.

Full bank account will not quench your thirst.

Loving your husband, loving your wife, being a good parent will

not quench your thirst. The only thing, the only one

that will ever fulfill you is Jesus Christ himself.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah. The one and only, the way, the

truth and the life. And every day it's like, watch

this your job. You should go through a

checklist. I I get paid to do this, this,

this, this, this, this. He paid it all so I can follow

him. He kept commands, Effie.

Yes, but commandments can shape behavior without ever touching

authority. Commandments can shape behavior

without ever touching authority. And you got so much pride in the

body of Christ because you have modified your behavior to look

Christian but not live Christ like or you stop at Christ like

but you are not. When I look at you, I still

can't tell the difference. But you like do you have the

authority from being at the hem of his garment.

This man is not lying at all. Discipline.

Watch this. Looking at him, Jesus felt a

love. This is scripture.

Looking at this man, Jesus felt a love, a high regard, A

compassion for him. There was no beef here, guys,

you got to get this. There was no beef, no rebellion,

no demons, no sickness, no nothing.

Here. He's just purely coming with

pure motivation to say, Jesus, I've done all these things, what

else do I need to do to have eternal life?

Jesus is rooted in love here. So the command that follows is

an invitation, not a rebuke. Jesus not rebuking him, he is

inviting him. And to watch this, Jesus is

inviting him into the very place his soul longs to be.

But the cost is heavy. Some of us get to the point

where we find out, oh, I wanted to be a leader up until I wanted

to get married, up until right. You come all the way to the feet

of the thing and there's just one thing and it's the heaviest

thing you like. I went to premarital counseling.

I've read books on marriage. I've done this.

I got all my confessions down. I got a job.

Watch this. I don't want to have a family

because I need to get all my ducks in the row.

You got all your ducks in the row and now you at the altar and

you crossover threshold of the altar and you like, oh crap, I

didn't know being married like having because everybody want a

good marriage. Everybody want to have good

kids. And then you're like, oh, this

is the price of a good marriage. Oh, this is a price of having

good kids. And then we stopped there and

we're there for years and marriages.

You wouldn't want to miss tonight if you don't want to

miss tonight. Tonight is going to be ground

shaking and revolutionary for your marriage.

Look at y'all over there moving fast.

That wasn't even a promo, but Amen.

Listen, we all get there. I want to serve.

I can't wait to serve on the worship team until you like, oh,

like there's a price to be up here.

Oh, I want to help PT out and PT I want to help the oh, there's a

price from assisting and helping the pastors and everybody gets

to this point and your heart longs and you even got a call.

This man has a call to follow Jesus.

But then he gets to the point where it's like this is what it

requires. Why can't I just oh, you doing

too much? No, you can't go into Louis

Vuitton and look at the price and say they doing too much.

You knew going into Louis Vuitton even the clearance price

is going to be too much, right? You can't want the high quality,

right? You can't go into these Gucci

and be like where the clearance rack?

No, Jesus exposes Thrones to free

people. Shame is not in his blood, so

he's not confronting you with a price to shame you.

He knows you don't got what it costs.

The price of following Jesus is following Jesus.

He's telling you to do a hard thing, but he paid the price so

that is possible. Jesus exposed his Thrones to

free people and shame is not in his blood.

Guys, Mark 10 and he said to him, you lack one thing.

Here we go. You lack one thing.

You lack one thing, man can't watch this.

I I can't wait to get to a place in my life where where, where,

where I just the Lord's like you right there.

PT you just lack one thing. You just lack one thing.

That's that's it man. I cannot wait till to get and

then you tell me the one thing I lack is following you.

Now I'm not in this guy's situation yet and when I say yet

I'm talking about the thing that held him back.

I'm glad that it worked in reverse for me, that I got the

following Jesus part down 1st before the the, the, the, the,

the, the, the wealth or whatever may come, the blessing may come

and materialize in my life. I'm glad that I didn't have to

work through materialism. I didn't have to work through

abundance in order to see Jesus. I think Lecrae had a song where

he said being broke made me rich.

And I'm like whoa, that sounds stupid.

But then, like, that's dope. Yeah.

Being broke made me rich instead of being rich made me broke.

Sometimes you can appreciate starting from the bottom,

starting from ignorance, he says.

You lack one thing. Go and sell all your property

and give the money to the poor and you will have abundant

treasure in heaven. What this did not say is go sell

it. Give the give the profit away

and you'll you'll you'll never have wealth again.

Well I could just assume the principle and watch this.

This is the part about never knowing.

I could assume based on the principles that's in the word

give and it shall be given. Press down shaking.

I can on giving principles. I can only imagine that on the

other side of of not knowing there was more than enough

because it's what if and we're hanging in the balance.

I have a biblical right to assume he sews everything and

the Bible tells me he will get 100 times more in this lifetime.

We'll get to that later. It says you will have abundant

treasure in heaven. Wow, what a trade off.

But it's not a trade off if you have no revelation.

It says, and come follow me, becoming my disciple, believing

and trusting in me, and walking the same path of life that I

walk. Come follow me, be my disciple,

believing and trusting in me and walking the same path of life

that I walk, same path of life that I walk.

This is not a universal command. I want you guys to notice this.

There is more wealthy people in the land than him.

So stop asking why he ain't asking everybody to do what he

asking me to do, because everybody don't got the plan

that he has for you. So stop wanting the blessing to

be customized for you, but not the cost.

You want to customize. You want to customize that

price, but not the come on now. This is not a universal command.

This is AU verse. This is AU command.

This is AU request and so stop looking around when you in

church and the voice of God hit you and you looking around and

you looking at your wife. This ain't even your spouse

request. This is a you.

Jesus always addresses the rival king.

Mastery here is being addressed. Money is not the issue.

He is not. He does not.

Jesus does not care about the man's money.

Stop thinking that the thing that Jesus is asking you to lay

down, he needed. He don't need nothing that he's

asking you to lay down. You have a need to lay it down.

Mastery is being exposed. Mastery is being addressed.

Jesus always addresses the rival king man, these are these these

these last few months have been so many keys.

You wondering why there's not progress or acceleration or

promotion? Man, Jesus is.

He is dealing with mastery, and he doesn't mind allowing telling

you to let you. Whatever is mastering you,

master you. And if busy master you, he's

gonna let busy master you until you come to the end of yourself

and turn to the Master, right? If your child is your idol, if

your marriage is your idol, if your business is your idol, he

is going to let it be your idol. And when you need the master, he

is going to let you turn to the thing that's been mastering you

and find out that that master don't have what the master got

for you. You can come to you.

You can come to the end of yourself by invitation or

destruction. Jesus is not confronting

possessions, He is confronting possession.

He's not confronting possessions.

He is confronting what is possessing you.

He is not removing wealth, He is revealing rule.

Wealth is the oppressor, not the object.

It's not about the money. It's not about the the the

cattle. It is not about the fine

jewelry. He does not care about any of

that. But if that chain around your

neck got you by your neck, that's what he's after.

Stillness is the moment where competing loyalties, remember

are exposed competing loyalties. And This is why many of us do

not like to be still, because we do not like to be in that

uncomfortable tension of what I want from God and what's

gripping me that He wants from me.

He stood still long enough. Watch this guy's this is

shiphew. He stood still long enough to

hear Jesus, but not long enough to surrender.

I came to church long enough to get a word, but I didn't stick

with Jesus long enough to see it through.

What if Abraham only heard Jesus say go kill God, go kill your

son? What if he didn't hear him say

no, no, no, no, no. He stood still long enough to

hear Jesus, but not long enough to surrender.

Stillness revealed the rival king.

Stillness revealed the rival king.

What if you walk away still good but never free?

That's every Sunday at church. You good, not free.

You a good kid, good student, not free.

Them secrets in that closet not free.

Externally good, monetarily good.

But watch this. There's some of y'all in here

you don't even like yourself. You uncomfortable in your own

skin. The Spirit tells on you what if

you walk away still good, but never free, still good but never

free. Matthew 1920 says the young man

said I have observed all these from my youth.

What still do I lack verse 21 Jesus answered him, if you would

be perfect. That is, have that spiritual

maturity, somebody say maturity which accompanies self

sacrificing character. Go and sell what you have and

give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven.

And come be my disciple, side with my party and follow me.

But when the young man pay attention, lean in.

But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, grieved

and in much distress, for he had great possessions.

I wanted, I wanted, I wanted, I wanted cost watch this.

I've been looking for a church like this.

Cost, fault finding and what you really couldn't tap into is this

one thing. You found what your soul

desired, but when things got tough cost right.

You can man how many how many times you've been in the store

and tried on what you wanted to wear look good.

Don't it feel good and you walk away.

I'm like, I'm going to get that one day.

I'm I was just faith fitting right there.

I was faith fitting. I was trying on some stuff.

I want that one day. You looked at that price tag and

then you was too ashamed to be like, I ain't got the money.

So you like yeah, hope. Can you hold this for me?

Can you hold this for me? Can you hold this for me?

I'm I'm going to be back. I left my money in the car

right. That that price you like.

Oh, and whether it's your call rather God in this season is

asking you to put down your Plan B, your hobby, your number 2,

your minor, pick up your major, pick up your crown, pick up your

call, whatever it may be, you get to the point of cost.

Oh, that mean I got to leave that behind.

That mean I can't talk like that no more.

That mean me and him and her. That mean I got to let go of my

parents and I got to focus on, Gee, I can't baby my parents, I

can't baby my kids. I got to lay this thing down.

You walk away in your soul and then all of a sudden God's

calling you to do something else.

No, he just not changing the price.

I've been in them stores where where I was, it's a it's a

little too much. And you walk up, this is me,

this is me. I know nobody in here has ever

did this, but you walk up and you go to the cash register and

it's already a sale and you go up and you be like, Hey, can you

ring this up to see if there's more off?

Because sometimes there's because it does.

Sometimes you ring it up and you like, oh, it's more off, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no, that, that,

that, that that's kind of where we are.

We just, we're looking for God to discount the cost.

You like God? I don't mind doing it because

can I hold on to 1 finger? Can I hold on to 2 cigarettes?

You, you telling me to get stop smoking?

Can I just go to one a day? Stop sleeping around.

OK, well, can I watch porn? No, right.

It's it's like you're trying to get this discount with God and

you frustrated and then all of a sudden he's changed the call.

He's changed the church, he's changed the relationship, he's

changed your dreams, he's changed all of this and you just

keep wandering instead of just stepping into the call.

What if you stepped into it? Not next year, not next month.

I think this word is very timely because we're about to get out

of this month. We're about to leave stillness.

We're about to leave peace. We're about to leave these

things that God has been setting us up and we're about to enter

into the next 11 months, supposedly to step into a new

dimension. And God so, so kindly shows us

this. Maybe you are free and maybe

everything you're doing is right.

And maybe you have been transformed by the renewing of

your mind. But there's, there's one thing

you don't want to pay this price and watch this even if you're

doing the thing, but complaining, even within your

soul, nobody knows you're complaining, but you're, you're

doing a thing. But you're online looking at

what you really want to do in life.

Well, look, if you really want to do it in life and God's

calling you there, go do it. But the double mindedness in

your life, watch this. You also in this year got to

change language. This.

I wish I was doing this. And I oh man, I thought, I

thought, I thought when I was younger I was going to do this.

It's over. You're either doing it or you're

not. You need to totally commit every

part of your being to what God is saying or it's not a fool.

Yes, and some of y'all serving with resentment and some of

y'all show up with resentment. And some of y'all like God's

called me, but not in this season.

So when? What if?

What if your time is running out?

What if you don't have time? You're like, I'm a king and a

priest. I'm called to do this and that,

but not now. I can't, I can't juggle it all.

You can if you let go of some of the things you juggle it.

And if God's called you to it, we've talked, we've we've

learned about this in revival week about the Holy Spirit is

our capacity. You're burning out because some

of the stuff you're doing is not what he's blessing.

So you're in your own strength, your own ability, your own

talent, and you're not in the grace.

And how many times do we all put stuff down?

It's just like, let me offload instead of on loading the grace.

Let me, I can't do this. I can't do this that much.

I can't, I can't do this that much.

When you are walking in what God watch this.

When you are walking in your major, God empowers you with

enough capacity to also do your minor.

Got way too many believers lukewarm and you, you, you cold

and you serve the world with all your might and all your strength

while the church is dying because there's people carrying

stuff standing in the gap because God's going to annoy

somebody. But that pastor could have lived

maybe a few more years if people stop watching them carry that

elder or that, that, that Deacon, that, that, that, that,

that, that, that worship director.

If somebody stepped up and say, yeah, I'm called, yes, Lord, I'm

here. There is no perfect time to

obey. The perfect time to obey is now.

We're in a new year, guys. Oh, I'm going to be excellent in

2026. Be excellent.

Excellence is a call. What if you live successful but

unfinished? What if you die unfinished?

And I ain't talking about your bank is good.

I'm talking about you didn't leave this earth maximizing who

God right the the the memory. Watch this leave the world a

finished picture of you. What was my daddy like complete

like like when my dad when my mom, when my auntie, when my

friend, pastor whatever. I can truly say that they got a

well done and they they did all that they could and their stand

was their transition. And there's some of you, if

Jesus came next week, if your last day came next week, you

have so much your final breaths that you would regret.

And that is pride to sit here and act like you got all kind of

time to live. Yes, sure, He promised us long

life, but if that's how you approach life, like from, from,

from when I'm 1 to 30, that's the years to do this.

And when I'm 30 to 60, then I'm going to do this.

And then when I'm 60 to 90, I'm going to do this.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The day you hear my voice.

There's way too many people in here trying to survive, trying

to make it in this world, trying to climb the ladder of the

business world, trying to trying to achieve all of this stuff.

And God's like, you can do that, but how is that consuming you in

a way that you don't have time for this other thing I'm calling

you to? We forget when the labor of

employment became a curse. Don't act, don't.

Don't forget that the labor of work is curse.

It was not labor when Adam and Eve was in the garden strolling

and then he God pronounced this curse.

Sweat from your brow. You're going to get up and not

feel like going to work. You're going to work jobs that

you wish you could quit. Double minded, but that's a part

of the curse. I'm going to work, I'm laboring,

I'm slaving. I got to work overtime to pay

these bills. Any type of lifestyle I want, I

got to do this. I got to do that.

That is not the blessing. It's a blessing that you get

paid. But to wake up every day and

have to do it, but not wake up every day and have to worship

and have to be at his feet and have to.

But I get up every day and I have to go to work or my kids

ain't going to eat. I got to make this deal or my

that's not the blessing. People.

This walked away sad means deep distress.

It does not mean anger. It does not mean rebellion.

He literally walked away grieved in his spirit.

He went away sorrowful. Watch this.

This is bless somebody at least two people.

Sorrow is the emotion of someone who knows exactly what they are

walking away from scripture never mentions him again who's

no repentance narrative right. We we there's most scriptures

give us kind of a resolve. This is one of the only

scriptures that don't give us a resolve.

You like he just walked away. OK, let me first.

Dude didn't pop up again. Nope.

What happened after this really good man who followed all the

law walked away? How many people in the graves,

in hospitals, in prisons and you like, I wonder what they could

have been. If obedience moves, heaven like

works will never do. It's following Jesus, not

traditions, rituals and laws. What if obedience is lighter

than anxiety? What?

What if obedience lifts burdens more than a therapy session?

What if obedience is lighter than anxiety?

What if surrender simplifies your soul?

Maybe not your schedule, but your soul?

What if letting go creates room? Forrest?

What if Jesus wasn't taking, but His invitation was him trusting?

What if the cross you avoid is the crown you delay?

What? What if the thing you fear

losing is the thing killing your joy?

What if stillness births courage?

It's in there. They'll bring it up one day.

Stillness births courage. What if faith feels risky

because it actually is? What if faith feels risky

because it actually is? Let's go back, Let's go back.

I want to. I want to feed your, your sight

and your hearing. What if obedience is lighter

than anxiety? What if surrender simplifies

your soul? What if letting go creates room?

Forrest? What if Jesus wasn't taking, but

he was trusting? What if the cross you avoid is

the crown you delay? What if the thing you fear

losing is the thing killing your joy?

And what if stillness births courage?

And what if faith feels risky because it actually is risky?

What if you don't just inherit eternal life later, but abundant

life now? What if peace is on the other

side of your yes what? What if your bloodline shifts

because you obeyed? What if we just find out?

Matthew 1921 says this and come be my disciple, side with my

party and follow me. Transformation precedes this

invitation. Discipleship always cost

something, watch this, but it never cost nothing.

Matthew 1922 But when the young man heard this, he left grieving

and distressed, for he owned much property and had many

possessions, which he treasured more than his relationship with

God. Don't let your life end in a

question mark. Don't let destiny stop at

hesitation. Be still long enough to hear, be

brave enough to obey and be faithful enough to find out.

Mark 10 says this guys, truly I tell you, Jesus said, no one who

has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or

children or fields for me and the gospel.

No one will fail to receive 100 times as much in this present

age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children

in fields alone with persecution.

Might I remind you and in the age watch this to come eternal

life. What a promise.

That's one of my favorite scriptures because when we came

to Canada, what else am I going to hold on?

Lord we leaving everything no one who leaves behind and this

doesn't mean cut people off, this mean reprioritize them.

No one who puts me first and the gospel first will go without 100

times return. Watch what First Corinthians

says. This is why scripture says

things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our

ability to imagine. These are the many things God

has in store for all His lovers. Wow.

Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither will they

unless they obey. Jesus never asked him to give

everything because He wanted him poor.

He asked him to give everything because he wanted them free.

And Jesus makes a promise not just for heaven, but for now.

He said if you leave houses, land, security, control for me

and for the gospel, you will receive a hundredfold in this

lifetime houses, land, family, provision and eternal life in

the age to come. The promise of following Jesus

is not lost is multiplication. What you release never compares

to what He returns. People.

Ephesians 3 says Never doubt God's mighty power to work in

you and accomplish all this. He will achieve it infinitely

more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream,

and exceed your wildest imagination.

He will outdo them all, for His miraculous power constantly

energizes you. Now we offer up to God all the

glorious praise that rises from every church in every generation

through Jesus, and all that will yet be manifest through the time

and eternity. Don't get too excited.

In that moment and in this moment, your praise represents

your response to follow or your paralysis because you thinking

about the cost. I know a message like this can

steal us. That's the point We're thinking

about, these questions we're thinking about.

That's why we mentioned the eschatological lens that we're

looking through because watch this, I believe.

I, I, I, I, I remember this was spoken into my spirit.

Son, you're going to live a long life because of the way you hold

life, precious. I always think about watch this.

I don't think about death in a defeated way or a fearful way.

I actually respect it. Knowing that it's coming shifts

how I watch this. You cannot live in Max gratitude

and not think about the end. And many of us in here avoid the

end. But what did he overcome death

for? He took the sting out of death.

So when you do consider the end, it is not paralyzing, but it's

empowering and it's gasoline. And yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because he conquered death. But there's no way that I cannot

think about, yeah, there is an end coming on this side.

And because I know that the end is not my end, that that doesn't

fuel me to assure that what I leave behind encourages others

to get to the finish line. Your life, when it's over, when

you go through the ribbon, you should be standing at the

ribbon. Come on, come on, come on.

When you go through the ribbon, your life should go all the way

back to the starting line and walk with people and say, Yep,

I've been there. You can get through this moment.

You can get through that moment because I did.

Hebrews 12 tells us that Look at when it gets tough.

Look at the life of Jesus and look how he endured.

Way too many people are trying to dodge the end.

I don't want to think about. That's why you hide.

That's why you drunk. That's why that's why you can't

go deep in conversation. That's why you don't want to

deal with trauma. That's why you because you just

kind of. But what if.

Yeah, because the end is coming. Before I get there, I'm going to

make sure this trauma, the the power over my life has an end

before my life ends, whether before the life ends, I'm going

to go show people how to be an overcomer, not just read

scripture that says I'm an overcomer.

He defeated the grave. He conquered death so in full.

And most people don't think about the end till they get

older still. And yet there's people that

that's five years old passing. We've made the end or death all

about what happens to old people.

No, no, no, no. That's what happens when it's

time to transition into eternal life.

Watch this. You came in, you go out.

But when you go out, it's not all you just transition man.

Why are you talking about this? BT I hate that.

No, no, no, because because because you take in your call,

you're in control by even saying by by weighing things in me like

I don't got time. So if yo-yo watch this, your

lack of time somehow speaks that God is saying it's not time

versus I got some priorities wrong.

So as a dad, my son, my daughter, my wife might be

watching this and then my 18 year old son and my 20 year old

daughter can be thinking, whoa. Because when I was 18, I wasn't

thinking about the end. I thought I had all kind of

life. But then then my age, I'm not

telling you yet. I'll tell you in two years.

But my age came and I'm like, whoa, we here already?

Where did time go? And you always have.

Man, if I could have. If I, if I just got serious a

little bit earlier in life, where would I be?

Well, I'm telling nobody in here got to wait another day.

You can take this and nobody in here got to wait another day.

Nobody in here got to wait another day.

This is why our hands are up high.

This is why our knees hit the floor.

And here's the crazy thing, we have exactly what the rich ruler

was asking for. That's crazy.

Jesus had not yet left this or he had not just went, yet went

to the cross. So he's like, you're going to

have to follow me. But watch this.

Jesus gives us eternal life even if we ain't following him.

No, we get eternal life because we accept Him and we believe,

not because we follow. Because there's some of y'all in

here that have accepted and believed you don't follow.

You got your ticket though. I'm going to heaven when it's

all over. But now I'm a play with my life

and be a terrible example of what it looks like to follow

Jesus and not just follow but when have fruit or follow it.

It's not just about being a Christian man, it's about

following Christ, being Christ's followers and Christian is what

they gave Christ followers. The name they gave Christ

followed. Jesus never called us Christian,

but they got labeled them Christ's followers, Christians.

I don't want the label if I'm not the true essence of what

that means. Discipline 1 and what the world

needs is not more Christians. We need more Christ followers.

Lift your hands if that's you in this room.

Lift your hands if you are you don't want to come to the end

and there be a what if the tragedy of never finding out.

No, we going to find out. You get to the end of your life.

May there be, by the grace of God, nothing else to find out,

but it is finished. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That the Lord is pleased. May you get to the end of your

life and there's nothing else to find out except see the face of

Jesus. I believe there's a few people

in here that the Holy Spirit grabbed a hold of today.

If that's you stand to your feet and you going to make some

changes, not just be convicted. Take the next two, two to three

minutes and respond. Whether that is on your knees

rather that is with your hands lifted, whatever it may be, but

respond, respond, shift, tell your soul this is the direction

we're going. Come on now what is the

direction we're going? Yes, Lord, I don't know how to

plan right now, but I'm turning, I'm turning, I'm figuring out

how to turn. I'm turning, I'm turning.

I'm going to take some stuff off my plate.

I'm turning. God, I repent.

Come on, open your mouths and lift your voices.

Come on, open your mouths. Lift your voices.

No, no, no, no, no, no. This is what making disciples is

about. We confront the throne.

We confront the throne. Jesus comes to confront the

throne. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Come on.

Come on, Saints. Lord, Lord, Lord, we repent.

You can be enthroned today, be enthroned today, be enthroned

today, be enthroned today, be enthroned today.

You watching right now, Repent. Pray and repent.

Is not this evil thing. It's not because you sin.

No, you're just turning. You're turning your heart,

you're turning your mind, you're shifting things.

Thank you so much for tuning into this week's sermon.

We pray you were challenged, equipped and encouraged.

Make sure to follow us on all platforms.

That's love quest intl church. We out here for real.

We're really doing it. That's Facebook, Instagram,

YouTube and TikTok. You can find us anywhere you

need to find us. But until next time, you know

the drill. You know the motto, get your

love fixed man and we'll see y'all real soon.