Sermon

What Motivates Your Life? - Luke 6: 24:25

Calvary Boise Sermons

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  1. We. Are now going to be in God's

  2. Word right where we left off in Luke chapter 6.

    Luke 6 chapter mention

  3. We've been spending the summer weeks going through the sermon

  4. on the plane, the the Luke version of Matthew's Sermon on

  5. the Mount. And today we come to the second

  6. part. Of what are called the

  7. Beatitudes. So for the last four weeks we've

  8. looked at all. Of these surprising or upside

  9. down blessings for the people within God's Kingdom.

  10. To expect a. Blessing that looks very

  11. different than how? You would expect.

  12. To be blessed in the ways. Of the world today, we'll look

  13. at the opposite. Of the blessing, which is the

  14. warnings. Wherever there is a blessing,

  15. there is seemingly an equal and opposite warning for not living

  16. the way. That Jesus describes.

  17. And so to get our minds a picture.

  18. Of what that? Looks like I'm mindful of this

  19. cultural phrase. Maybe if you've heard it.

  20. It's called. The script is.

  21. Going to flip the idea that everything that we're doing

  22. right now is going to turn on its head someday and that's

  23. actually a. Cultural phrase.

  24. Here's the. Definition when power dynamics.

  25. Drastically shift. In the opposite direction, the

  26. underdog. Becomes the hero and.

  27. The one on top gets humbled. So I actually use this.

  28. Very phrase in my household when I'm trying to console my

  29. youngest. My youngest is our only son and

  30. right now don't tell him I said this.

  31. But he is the. Slowest and the weakest in our

  32. whole family. And so there's times when he,

  33. you know, he has to live in that reality and he's crying tears

  34. of, you know, being the, the littlest and the slowest.

  35. And I, I tell him, don't worry, you know, stay in there, hang in

  36. there. Someday you're actually going to

  37. be the fastest and the strongest.

  38. So just be encouraged. And when that day comes, I want

  39. you to use. Your power for good.

  40. To use language he understands. I also.

  41. Have to give a similar message at times to my oldest children

  42. to remind them that in their current power dynamic they

  43. should consider that it's not going to be.

  44. That way forever. And so as sure as I have to

  45. console the weakest, I also have to warn the strongest.

  46. And I tell my oldest children, you know, there's coming today

  47. when this little. Guy that you guys?

  48. Pick on is going to be stronger and faster, so keep in mind.

  49. That the script is. Going to flip and you might want

  50. to start living according to what's coming and not just.

  51. What is because? You know if.

  52. If if he lives. Out in his flesh he may have

  53. vengeance in his heart against you.

  54. So be very mindful and, and, and with that in mind, this is in,

  55. in a way, the message that Jesus is bringing to his people.

  56. And some of you I know were encouraged.

  57. To hear that your current. Lot in life is going to flip.

  58. For for those of you who could. Relate to the sermon that said,

  59. listen, if you're in a season of weeping, don't worry, that's

  60. actually going to get turned into comfort.

  61. If you're in a season of of hunger, desperation that that's

  62. going to in the end, you're going to be filled.

  63. And some of you may have heard those messages and thought

  64. that's really not for me. I'm not really worried about

  65. that. I'm in a season of actually I'm

  66. pretty good. I come to church kind of

  67. optional and I don't necessarily need any of this.

  68. Well, for those of you who. Are so content in your current

  69. lot, the message is not blessed. Are you?

  70. It's be. Warned to not get too

  71. comfortable in your current condition on this.

  72. Earth, because there is. Coming a day when the current.

  73. Lot that you live will be flipped.

  74. Upside down. For better or worse.

  75. And it is with that lens that you can understand the warnings.

  76. And so today we'll look at a few of them.

  77. And then next week we'll do the second part of the warnings.

  78. So read along with me in Luke chapter 6.

    Luke 6 chapter mention

  79. We're now going to the. Woes of the Beatitudes.

  80. Starting in verse 20. 4 But woe to you who are rich, for you

  81. have received. Your consolation?

  82. Woe to you who are full, for you shall.

  83. Hunger and woe to you. Who?

  84. Laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep, and then next week

  85. we'll see woe to you when all men speak.

  86. Well, of you, for so did their fathers to the false.

  87. Prophets. These are completely and

  88. perfectly mirroring every upside down blessing.

  89. We now have an upside down warning using the word woe and

  90. and for that word, not a. Word you you use.

  91. Often, unless maybe you're you're in, you know, you train

  92. horses or you ride horses. You might say woe is a way to

  93. slow them down. I I I like.

  94. What the new Living Translation says for this?

  95. Word it says, what sorrow awaits you.

  96. There's something that's happening in your current

  97. comfort that's going to change and your comforts are going to

  98. turn into sorrow. So we're.

  99. Going to look at. Three of them.

  100. We're going to look at the rich, the full and the laughing.

  101. And each one of them will. Serve as a.

  102. Lesson to examine your current law Do you consider your current

  103. lot a blessing or a warning? And so he.

  104. Says woe to you who are rich. And here's why for.

  105. You have. Received your consolation if you

  106. are enjoying the. The earthly lot.

  107. That you have and all of your wealth and your earthly

  108. comforts. Jesus says that's a warning

  109. because that's going to be a. Reward there will be what you.

  110. Have now is. What you.

  111. Get in the end and that is a warning and and it's not

  112. necessarily a condemnation. So in in no ways is this going

  113. to be a message to condemn your bank account this morning.

  114. I like how AW Tozer puts it, he says.

  115. It is not. That riches are evil.

  116. But they are dangerous. Because they.

  117. Fool you into thinking you don't need God.

  118. And I think as we journey this Christian walk, it's good to

  119. know the difference between the category of evil and dangerous.

  120. Riches are in the category of dangerous.

  121. They can tempt you into the most dangerous thing that can happen

  122. to your life, which is taking your.

  123. Heart's Worship. Off God and worshipping

  124. something. Of this world.

  125. And the word consolation there is essentially saying it's

  126. dangerous because instead of seeing God.

  127. As your great reward. Instead of seeing what God.

  128. Has for. You as the thing that you're

  129. living your life to be comforted.

  130. By you're actually. Seeing all the things you

  131. already. Possess as your reward.

  132. For this, this is not a a theme that will be left untouched in

  133. the. Gospel of Luke as.

  134. Jesus continues to to. Teach to the people he will.

  135. Touch on this theme again and and and and for later in the

  136. gospel. Of Luke Luke chapter 12 he

    Luke 12 chapter mention

  137. actually. Is going to give it to us in

  138. parable form, so I find it. Helpful so that we.

  139. Would know where Jesus repeats himself.

  140. We should. Probably give double.

  141. Lesson or double listen, and this is in the context in Luke

    Luke 12 chapter mention

  142. chapter 12. You can turn there.

  143. It's in the context. Of of two brothers.

  144. Arguing over their earthly inheritance, they're trying to

  145. figure out. Who gets what?

  146. Because, as they say, where there is a will, there is a

  147. relative. And so in Luke.

    Luke 12 chapter mention

  148. Chapter 12 he's. Going to give an answer to them

  149. in verse 16, says then he spoke. To them a parable.

  150. A. Earthly story to help.

  151. Us understand the heavenly truth.

  152. And saying this, the ground of a certain rich man yielded

  153. plentifully, and I have to pause.

  154. Right there, just because. Some of us need to hear this

  155. message as an antidote. That will lead you.

  156. To some humility, Jesus. Right out the gate.

  157. Gives us something we all need to hear.

  158. Notice he's going to give us a whole.

  159. Story about a wealthy. And rich man.

  160. And he gives a message as to where the wealth comes from.

  161. He says the ground of a certain rich man yielded.

  162. See, every person, whoever acquires any treasure on earth,

  163. is borrowing from God's economy. It was not the rich man isolated

  164. from any reliance on. The the grace of.

  165. God in his life, everything you have the word says is a good and

  166. perfect gift from God. Whether you realize.

  167. It or not, this Wretch man needed God's dirt and rich men

  168. that are in this sanctuary right now needed God's wisdom and

  169. God's ingenuity in your brain. You needed God's opportunity,

  170. and there's nothing that we. Have that should cause.

  171. In us a self of self governance and this is the danger that

  172. Jesus is pointing out. So he profits off.

  173. God's ground, and he thinks to himself.

  174. What shall I do? Since I have no room to store up

  175. my crops. So he said I will do.

  176. This I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I

  177. will store all my crops and my goods.

  178. Jesus is giving. The the the best picture of

  179. wealth of his day. There there were no pantries and

  180. bunkers filled with rice and ammo in that day.

  181. So Jesus is is. Pointing out something that

  182. would be obvious to his listeners.

  183. This man has so much wealth in the form of.

  184. Supply. And I and I only point that out,

  185. lest we think that this message. Is for the select.

  186. Few among us that would consider themselves the One percenters.

  187. We are all. Blessed in the the day and era

  188. that we live in that we don't even understand the.

  189. Wealth that we have. And this is again, not to

  190. condemn, but just to make us aware.

  191. We have to be extra. Cautious of the temptation to

  192. make. Our life about us.

  193. And our things. So he's got crops and goods so

  194. much that he needs to tear down 1 silo and put up one that can

  195. handle more. Verse 19 says, and I will say to

  196. my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years.

  197. Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.

  198. He's preaching the message to his own soul, praising his

  199. condition in life and in this one little.

  200. Phrase he says to his soul. You've got many years of.

  201. Supplies laid up Eat. Drink and be merry.

  202. We now have the. Woes that we've just discovered.

  203. He's got enough wealth. To take off a couple years of

  204. work. And he's just said, let's eat,

  205. let's get full and let's be merry, let's laugh.

  206. Here are all the. Woes in one parable, and for

  207. this I will point out when we look at the the temptation to

  208. love money. You have to ask yourself.

  209. Why do people love money so much?

  210. And one of the answers is seen in this little parable.

  211. Money. Of all the things that you get

  212. in your buying power, one of the most precious commodities.

  213. That it offers you. Is time says, look, I've got so

  214. much that. I've got years of.

  215. Supply I can. Sit back for years.

  216. And, and the temptation will come to you and say, man,

  217. wouldn't it be nice? I had enough money where I could

  218. just work a little less? Wouldn't that be?

  219. I mean, we've all thought it and I don't think there's nothing

  220. inherently wrong in it. But money does buy you time, and

  221. it doesn't just. Buy you free.

  222. Time. It buys you quality time, so not

  223. only can you sit back and have your ease, you can do it at a

  224. beach. Or for those of you who don't

  225. like sand and ocean, you can go to the Arctic tundra.

  226. I don't know why you would, but you can do some ice fishing.

  227. Whatever. Your quality time looks like you

  228. need money to get there and it can also Not only you did get

  229. extra time quality time you get extended time.

  230. Money is a great temptation because you know you just.

  231. Look at all. The people who find themselves

  232. with enough buying power to have it be disposable and they can

  233. start buying back their youth, they can nip and tuck and pull

  234. it all up and it's great for a time and you can even extend

  235. your older years and you can afford.

  236. The the the the best healthcare. With the best medicine, and this

  237. is one of the reasons that it's such a dangerous trap, because

  238. you're exchanging. The love of God for the love.

  239. Of temporal time and surely no matter how much money you have,

  240. the time that you. Bought for yourself is.

  241. Nothing but a vapor. In fact, this will be part of

  242. the lesson that Jesus says in this story.

  243. It says in verse 20, But God said to him, fool, he had all

  244. this money to buy all this extra time, but tonight.

  245. Your soul will be required of you.

  246. And then whose will those things be which?

  247. You have provided he's got. The time is gone in a blink of

  248. an eye and the treasure belongs to somebody else.

  249. And this is the only recorded time that Jesus calls someone a

  250. fool. You would be a fool to look.

  251. At an earthly comfort that riches can buy you and stake.

  252. All of your reward. On the here and now.

  253. Jesus says so is. Anyone who lays up.

  254. Treasure for. Himself and is not.

  255. Rich towards God riches. Aren't evil, they are dangerous.

  256. They give you this. Temptation that you can live a

  257. good and healthy and productive. Life.

  258. Apart from the only thing you were actually.

  259. Created to do which is to. Seek and love God with

  260. everything you have. Woe to you who are rich for.

  261. What you have now is your only reward, and it will be gone in a

  262. vapor, and the treasures will belong to someone else.

  263. And now we look at the next. Category of full.

  264. Verse 25. The second part?

  265. Woe. To you who are full for you.

  266. Shall hunger, You know, there's certainly a an element to this,

  267. that Speaking of physical hunger, physical hunger.

  268. Is a great spiritual teacher because this is just obviously

  269. true. In the.

  270. Everyday way that we all have to wrestle.

  271. With the hunger pains of life, you guys are second service, so

  272. you might be feeling them right now.

  273. Every one of us. No matter how much you eat after

  274. church. No matter.

  275. What your fill is Whatever buffet.

  276. Then all you can eat can you can go to after church.

  277. All of us by tomorrow are going to hunger again you.

  278. Your earthly and physical hunger is a reminder that you will not

  279. be. Satisfied.

  280. In the end, and physical hunger is a great.

  281. Spiritual Teacher. In fact, the Apostle Paul will

  282. will warn people of those who make their whole pursuit on on

  283. this side of heaven. Earthly.

  284. Appetites, and he actually uses physical hunger as a.

  285. Picture of this look what he says.

  286. To the church in in. Philippi Chapter 3 verse. 18 He

  287. says for many walk, of whom I've told you often and now tell you,

  288. even weeping, that they are the enemies of the.

  289. Cross of Christ. Whose end is destruction?

  290. Whose? God is their belly.

  291. And whose glory is their shame? Who set their mind on earthly

  292. things? Thomas Watson said.

  293. The belly makes a terrible. God, it's always.

  294. Hungry and never satisfied. And the Apostle Paul.

  295. Says there are those. Who are the enemies of Christ?

  296. That are so. Set on earthly things.

  297. That they're just. Living for the earthly appetites

  298. and one of the great challenges to the Christian walk to

  299. following Jesus will be to come into a season of your life.

  300. Where you try to. Be satisfied and filled by an

  301. earthly appetite. It is clearly seen in the

  302. culture that we must. Preach the gospel to that we

  303. have a. Culture that is looking.

  304. To be filled. For an appetite of earth, I just

  305. I, I, I. Could give a whole.

  306. Series on earthly appetites and what we see in culture.

  307. But for the purpose of. This morning.

  308. Let's just talk about two categories that we all have.

  309. To wrestle with and we can all. See, our culture is.

  310. Dying to be filled in that is simply pleasure and

  311. entertainment. They are both pictures of what

  312. it would look. Like to be tempted to just find

  313. your fill in those two categories, and they're both

  314. clearly the warning that you cannot find satisfaction by

  315. filling up on pleasure, sex and entertainment starting with.

  316. With pleasure we have. Right now a generation that are

  317. giving us the returns on the. Lie that was preached 40 or 50

  318. years ago. When a message went out that.

  319. Said have your fill. Remove all boundaries for

  320. pleasure seeking in. What God had.

  321. Designed for sex between a man and a woman in a covenant

  322. relationship called marriage and our.

  323. Culture said well, what if we. Could just have as much as we

  324. wanted with whoever we wanted for whenever we wanted and the

  325. only real sin would be to tell someone else they're doing it

  326. wrong. Sound sound like a

  327. representation of the culture we live in.

  328. And yet woe to them who? Try to be full.

  329. From that or think they are. Great sorrow awaits.

  330. Because we now see the return on that lie and we are watching a

  331. generation. That has tried.

  332. And been attempting to. Fill up with pleasure.

  333. Turn and say we're depressed, we're lonely, and we're empty.

  334. Listen to this from the book Tech Wise Family by Andy.

  335. Crouch Our culture has separated sex.

  336. From intimacy and commitment, and in doing so, we've created

  337. an experience of connection. That leaves us.

  338. Lonelier and emptier than ever. As I said, some need to hear the

  339. woe. If you think you come to church

  340. and you need no repentance or reform from the way you're

  341. living, your. Life because it all.

  342. Seems to be working out if you are living in the cultures

  343. definition of what God's design is for when it comes.

  344. To sex great sorrow awaits. That is a great warning just

  345. hanging over the sanctuary and some of you know.

  346. That all too well. And and have experienced God's

  347. grace on the other side of that. What about the?

  348. Appetite for entertainment a belly makes.

  349. A horrible God. Always hungry, never satisfied.

  350. You know I'm old enough now to say I'm old enough to remember.

  351. You know, now that I'm 45I, I can live out some looking back

  352. to the way things used to be. I'm old enough to remember when

  353. a family only had a small collection of movies, and

  354. that's. All you could watch.

  355. And I remember our little collection, it was like, well,

  356. we got about 20. I felt pretty rich back then.

  357. And if we wanted to watch a movie, we chose from those 20.

  358. And if if we didn't want to watch them, then we went

  359. outside. And you just compare to the

  360. offering the world lives in now. You can watch any movie at any

  361. time at the push of a button. And the same with television.

  362. I'm old enough to remember when around midnight, the thing just

  363. stopped working. They didn't keep programs 20.

  364. I mean, I remember I'd watch and then it would just scramble.

  365. It was like, go to bed. Now there's nothing else to

  366. watch. And now it's just this infinite

  367. loop of entertainment. The same with sports.

  368. There used to be. Seasons now every sport is year

  369. round and what is the return? The return is we feel less

  370. entertained than ever, more bored and more dissatisfied and

  371. more empty in all of our consumption.

  372. We were told we'd be filled. And we are now empty.

  373. There's actually a an actual kind of definition for this.

  374. It's. Called post pleasure void.

  375. Maybe you've experienced it a. Phrase used to describe the

  376. hollow. Sinking feeling after an over

  377. indulging in things like pornography.

  378. Food. Online shopping and scrolling on

  379. your phone. Have any of you experienced the

  380. post? Pleasure, Void, all of these

  381. ways to be filled up. And we have a generation that

  382. feels empty. Woe to you who are.

  383. Full now. Great sorrow awaits.

  384. This is not a cultural problem. This is a spiritual problem.

  385. There is nothing new under the sun.

  386. There's actually an entire. Book of the Bible.

  387. That is wrestling with the earthly appetites, not working.

  388. Ecclesiastes chapter 2 written by Solomon, the the wealthiest

    Ecclesiastes 2 chapter mention

  389. man in the world. He had his fill.

  390. And the lesson is the world could not.

  391. Fill his soul. Says in chapter 2, whatever my

  392. eyes desired, I did not keep from them.

  393. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure.

  394. My heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my.

  395. Reward. I looked.

  396. At all my works and all that I'd done and all that I'd toiled,

  397. and indeed all was vanity. It was like grasping at the

  398. wind. You cannot fill your heart and

  399. your mind with anything. That will satisfy you.

  400. Apart from the love and the pursuit of God and His perfect.

  401. Will for your life. Which brings us to the final

  402. warning or woe, which is laughing.

  403. Woe to. You who?

  404. Laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

  405. It's a reversal of those who. Weep in the Kingdom of God,

  406. trusting God. With their heart.

  407. They're going to be comforted. But there are those who look at

  408. the the state of the world and the state of their life.

  409. And they use laughter as a medicine to distract them from

  410. the deeper. Truths of God, Jesus.

  411. Is not anti laughter. Jesus has a great.

  412. Sense of humor and he gives. Joy to, to us to to.

  413. Enjoy life with the warning is that if.

  414. You are so focused. On finding all.

  415. Everyday your life's. Joy and happiness, no matter

  416. what, that God could never break your.

  417. Heart for what breaks his. That you could never hear a

  418. message about repentance and actually have a softened heart

  419. to turn God with weeping. Tears.

  420. Great sorrow weights. There's so much of, you know,

  421. pastoral ministry. That I get to.

  422. See this happen on this side of heaven.

  423. There's so many things that you know, I hope you've experienced

  424. in your ministering to one another or even the comfort you

  425. found in the body of Christ, so many of the tears in the

  426. pastoral ministry that I comfort.

  427. Started with laughter. You know, if I could categorize

  428. some pastoral ministry. It would be the category.

  429. Of just heartbreak when relationships fall apart.

  430. The category of. Addiction when when something

  431. you go down a road that you cannot break free from, you

  432. become a slave to a substance. The category of life.

  433. Crisis, financial crisis, and so many times where you're

  434. ministering to tears, you hear a.

  435. Story that started with the world.

  436. Offering a little bit of laughter.

  437. Nobody walks into a relationship to get their heart broke.

  438. It starts with. The the throes of pleasure.

  439. Nobody goes to a party and and and says yes to something that

  440. God says no to thinking they're going to get.

  441. Addicted. They're there for.

  442. The fun and nobody's spending, you know, money and, and, and

  443. going out on on a limb financially thinking that

  444. they're actually going to go into some great debt and the

  445. bill is going to come. It turns into tears.

  446. But it starts as. Laughter.

  447. I think of, you know, one of the very first mission trips I got

  448. to go on. We actually went to Amsterdam,

  449. which is famous for its red light.

  450. District. And we stayed there long enough

  451. to try to form real and meaningful relationships with

  452. some of the prostitutes and some of them.

  453. We did. We had.

  454. Real friendship and and real times to eat together.

  455. It was not just window dressing and there was there was one

  456. woman in particular that became kind of a friend of our group

  457. and and she told us the journey because it's so challenging to

  458. try to bring the. Gospel to a life.

  459. That you can see is so broken and yet they still.

  460. Reject the love of. God and she said, you know when

  461. you first start out. Every one of these.

  462. Girls came from a country that was so.

  463. Poor a life. Circumstance that was so broken

  464. that when they first. Start out.

  465. They actually love it. It's actually.

  466. Filled with more money than they've ever made, more people

  467. giving them attention than they've ever.

  468. Received they can be. Helpful to family sending money

  469. back. It starts with laughter.

  470. But it ends in tears and it's such an extreme example, but

  471. that is my message. To all of us.

  472. When we hear the seriousness of sin in our lives, it will come

  473. to you in the form of laughter. But.

  474. Great sorrow awaits. I was last week we did.

  475. Blessed are the rejected. And so.

  476. Right the the last. Blessing before today was.

  477. Blessed are those who are hated so as I was.

  478. Praying through that message. I decided to go.

  479. For a midnight walk on Saturday night to downtown Boise.

  480. So I could just. See, you know the the, the, the

  481. world that we live in and the. The world, that is.

  482. Downtown and partying and having fun.

  483. It was so interesting because I actually came across a street.

  484. Preacher. Midnight.

  485. Boise, ID you got. Everybody going to party and

  486. there was. A street preacher.

  487. And he came with a message to say very simply, I am here to

  488. let you know. That God loves you.

  489. He loves you too much to say dead in your sins.

  490. He loves you too much to pursue things that won't satisfy you.

  491. He he came with this message where you're going will not end

  492. well. And it it.

  493. It was so. Striking to me how?

  494. Real it is. So often.

  495. That is, I just sit back stood. Back and watched the majority of

  496. the reaction some. Hatred.

  497. And a lot of laughter. What a fool.

  498. All these people are going to have fun.

  499. They're going to meet new friends and enjoy pleasure and

  500. spend the money they worked hard to make.

  501. They're going to laugh. He was weeping.

  502. And the question that divides this sermon in your.

  503. Life. Who's the fool?

  504. Who is the fool? In that picture the way you

  505. answer that question. Is actually the way you?

  506. Answer the question of eternity. Because the Apostle Paul says

  507. if. Christ has not risen.

  508. If death is the end, if there is no life beyond this life, then

  509. the fool. Is the street preacher.

  510. Eat, drink, be merry, go out on Saturday nights and have fun.

  511. I saw some of you doing that. I won't say who, I'm just

  512. kidding. Something like is it me?

  513. Eat, drink and be merry. The the question is.

  514. What do you believe? Is the final reward if there is

  515. no resurrection, if there is no eternal reward to preach a

  516. message with? Tears that, people.

  517. Are wasting their life. He's the fool.

  518. And yet. The Apostle Paul says you.

  519. Sing with your. Worship.

  520. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, singing to Jesus, because He's

  521. in our presence with the faith of those who don't.

  522. Believe, but look forward to the future day.

  523. You believe in the power of the rest of the resurrection, which

  524. means. That the actual fool.

  525. Is the one who's living their life for the here and now.

  526. The. Actual fool is living.

  527. As though this is the reward of life.

  528. Go make money so you can spend money and find some pleasure and

  529. take. Your ease because this is all

  530. you have. Another quote from Thomas

  531. Watson. It's not that riches.

  532. Food or laughter are. Evil.

  533. It's when they replace the dependence on God, they become

  534. dangerous, eternally dangerous. Jesus is warning against

  535. building a life on temporary comfort and reward, with no

  536. regard for eternal reality and final reward.

  537. The. Blessings only work in light of

  538. eternity, and the woes are only dangerous if eternity is real.

  539. So really the only question that this sermon.

  540. Forces us to ask is what? Reward motivates your life.

  541. What? Is the reward that you will

  542. stake your life? On Is it to find some money to

  543. have enough pleasure so that you can laugh through the pain?

  544. Or is it to press? On to the final reward of

  545. eternal riches. Eternal.

  546. Joy. And eternal laughter?

  547. What? Sorrow awaits we already.

  548. Referenced Paul's message to the church in Philippi when he

  549. talked about those who are not living for.

  550. Jesus, really just. Living for.

  551. The God of the belly, but he also.

  552. Says in that same passage, Brethren, I do not count myself

  553. to have apprehended but one thing I do, forgetting those

  554. things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things

  555. which are ahead, I press towards the.

  556. Goal of the Prize of the Upward. Call of God in.

  557. Christ Jesus he was. Determined that there was no

  558. money that could buy him from stopping the mission of.

  559. The Gospel of Christ. There was no comfort that was

  560. going to get him away from pushing.

  561. Forward for what Christ laid. Hands on him to do and I will.

  562. Say the greatest. Challenge of our journey with.

  563. Jesus. The greatest challenge of what

  564. we're doing right now is to remember that we have not

  565. arrived. We have not arrived.

  566. This is not heaven, as great as it is to be in church and to

  567. fellowship with one another and and love God.

  568. Together. We must press on and reject all.

  569. Comforts both religious. And worldly.

  570. That the world will throw at us for those of you who are

  571. stirred. By this message and you think

  572. man, I don't want to fall into a warning, I want to stay in the

  573. blessing. I just want to get very

  574. practical with some things that maybe you can offer the Lord.

  575. To give you. To give him your heart and your

  576. mind in these matters when it comes to the warning against

  577. earthly. Riches, there's actually a

  578. great. Spiritual practice that can keep

  579. us from falling into that pit. That you would.

  580. Live for earthly things in your own lot and in the treasures

  581. that you can build. Up for yourself.

  582. And that is to simply practice generosity, to practice using

  583. the resources and the time and the possessions and the money

  584. that God has given you from the increase of the ground that you

  585. stand on when you practice generosity.

  586. It is a discipline to say, my real treasure isn't this stuff

  587. so I can give it to people who need it.

  588. Practicing generosity is one way to continually.

  589. Cultivate a heart that. Stays in the blessing and for

  590. the warning against being too. Full.

  591. I think. All of us.

  592. Maybe. Felt a little bit of holy.

  593. Spirit Nerve. We talked about the

  594. entertainment culture we live in.

  595. We've. Probably all had our moments

  596. where we felt the void of scrolling our phone too long, or

  597. staring at a screen for too long, or being passionate about

  598. sports more than we are about the Kingdom.

  599. There's a spiritual practice for that as well, Jesus says.

  600. Win you. Fast.

  601. He doesn't say if you. Fast, he says.

  602. When you do it, when you when you take part in this exercise

  603. to continually practice removing yourself from the appetite.

  604. Of this earth so. Fasting can be from food and

  605. you, you say, OK, I'm going to skip lunch and dinner and just

  606. reorientate, reorientate my appetite to spiritual things.

  607. I want to read the word. I'm going to spend time in

  608. prayer over a lunch break. And you can also spend dedicated

  609. time away from your phone in your screen and you can turn off

  610. the radio and you can just. Reset.

  611. The engines on your pursuit of God, and then it says.

  612. Woe to those who laugh, Great sorrow awaits.

  613. Well, we talked about this. In the sermon on weeping for

  614. those of us who want to. Have that healthy.

  615. Weeping heart we can continue to pray the prayer God break my

  616. heart for what breaks yours and Noah already mentioned it, but

  617. we send out. Prayer requests as a church body

  618. daily. And one of the.

  619. Great ways that. You can overcome the the

  620. temptation to just make this whole.

  621. Life. An antidote on laughing so you

  622. never. Feel is to.

  623. Learn the power of intercessory prayer because when you when you

  624. look at the prayer requests that will come in starting tomorrow

  625. all throughout the week, you'll find that there's not a lot.

  626. To laugh about. There's a lot to pray about.

  627. There's a lot to trust God over. There's a lot to hope for.

  628. But if we can just take a moment to be reverent and say, God,

  629. these are your people and we're going to present them to you

  630. because we know that you. Have the power to.

  631. Heal and to provide. And the fervent prayer.

  632. Of the righteous. Will avail much and you will be.

  633. Free. From getting sucked into.

  634. The the perspective that this. Whole thing is fun and games, so

  635. you can practice generosity, you can practice fasting, you can

  636. practice intercessory prayer, and I'll just end with a final

  637. word. For all of us to just refocus.

  638. How we answer the question What motivates your life?

  639. What? Reward Are you living for for

  640. the here and now, or for the eternal promise Paul will end?

  641. That that. Portion of scripture to the

  642. church in Philippi when he says. Our.

  643. Citizenship is in heaven, from which?

  644. We also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

  645. Listen to this reward who will transform our.

  646. Loadly body. That it may be conformed.

  647. To his glorious body. According to the work, the

  648. working by which he is able to even subdue all things to

  649. himself, He's going to transform our weakness into glory.

  650. He's going to subdue all things to himself.

  651. In other words, the Kingdom of heaven, it's going to come in

  652. such a way that the power dynamics and the struggles and

  653. the suffering are going to be flipped upside down, and the

  654. ultimate script is going to flip.

  655. Amen. Let us pursue.

  656. God in such. A way this week that we pursue

  657. that reward. Thanks for joining us today.

  658. If you would like to watch the full service, check out the link

  659. in the description. For next steps and to learn

  660. more, visit calvaryboise.com.