Not Being Concerned About Natural Things

Let's pray, Lord Jesus. Lord, your scripture says where two or three are gathered, there you are in our midst. Our desire is that you would meet with us and that you would encourage us to continue on the journey, to keep going, that we wouldn't become sidetracked and disillusioned on the journey, but we continue to walk by faith, not by sight. Let's pray for the Holy Spirit to open our understanding and our hearts to receive with meekness some of the word that would bear fruit and bring forth good things in our life. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. I'm grateful that you're able to share some of your testimony, Jack. Being a father is not easy. You can go to school for all kinds of things, but to be a father, there's no courses. And so what we have is we have God's word, and a lot of times when we start out, we go by our example that we've been shown, and we take from the good things and we build on those, and we take from the things that we realize didn't work for our earthly father or people that we've observed as fathers, and we disregard those things and we find our own way. But there's a scripture that says, there's a way that seems right to a man, but the end is destruction. And every child doesn't respond the same way. Some respond, if you push them, they respond well, they excel. Others if you push them, they shrink back, they close down. And so we need to be sensitive to the things of the Holy Spirit in order to know how to correct and nurture each child. God knows how to do it perfectly. My experience with God has been that he's hard on me. And the reason I realize he's hard on me is because I'm hard on others. And I respond when he's hard on me, because I understand it puts some good fear in me. When I have some good fear in me, then I respond to the obedience that he calls us to. Other people respond differently, and so it's not one size fits all. We need to really learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit in every situation. I wanted to share something this morning from a passage in Luke chapter 12, verse 13. This is a parable of the rich fool. That's the title I have in my Bible, the parable of the rich fool. Luke 12, 13. Then one from the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But Jesus answered him, Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you? And this man said to them, and Jesus said to them, Take heed and be careful of covetousness or greed. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things that a man has. You know, in a family and growing up and many things, everybody wants to keep everything fair. When the food is going out on the table and there's a limited supply of certain things, everybody gets one piece of meat or everybody gets so many of whatever is there. And when you have many kids, as we have nine kids, if someone's taking more than their portion and they're smaller than the bigger ones, all of a sudden people are piping up. Hey, what do you think you're doing? You know, there's a bunch of us coming yet. You just take your portion. And we can get caught up in worrying about making sure that we're taken care of, that we have our portion. But where's the love in all that? Where's the love in all that? And we can become obsessed with natural things rather than being focused on spiritual things. And this man here, he was being tormented and burdened because probably his older brother got the whole inheritance. And he was getting nothing. He was getting stuck. And he's thinking, how am I going to provide for myself? And how am I going to buy a house for my family? Or how am I going to plant a garden or whatever? I don't even have any land. You know, and my brother's taking everything for himself. He says, you know what, I've got to talk to Jesus about this because Jesus is just and he's good and he's fair. He's honest. He's going to deal with my brother on this thing. But the exact opposite thing happens. You know, he had planned his way. He's going to get to Jesus. He's going to talk to Jesus about this thing. And Jesus, look how he answers him. He says, this guy says, tell my brother to divide this inheritance with me. And Jesus said to him, man, who made me a judge and arbitrate over you? A lot of times we want Jesus to solve our natural problems, our natural disputes. Somebody owes me money. Buddy didn't pay me for a job properly. Took money off my check. Right? Buddy took advantage of me. You know, and Jesus is saying, listen, you need to not focus so much on how you got cheated, but rather to accept wrong. Especially brother against brother. It says in Galatians also in 6, I think it is, it says brother goes to law against brothers and not before unbelievers. And people were very concerned about making sure things are right and fair and just. And Jesus says, we need to go beyond the natural things and we need to make sure that everything is fair between us and God and between the people of God. The natural man, he doesn't understand the things of the spirit because they're spiritually understood. And to be naturally minded or to be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. But we can be easily anxious. We can become easily fearful or easily disturbed because of all of the things that people do or cause to happen to us. But he says he's able to keep our minds in perfect peace. Whose minds are stayed on what? On money? On things? No. Whose minds are stayed on him. Because we trust in him. I want to skip down to verse 22. It says, then Jesus said to his disciples, don't worry about your life, what you'll eat, about your body, what you're going to wear. Life is more than food and your body is more than clothing. We have to come to a place in our life where we're not concerned so much on all the natural things. How am I going to get ahead? How am I going to provide? How am I going to put gas in my tank because the inflation is crazy? How am I going to do all these things? But rather, what does he go on to say? But seek first, verse 31, the kingdom of God, and also another passage says, and his righteousness. And all these things shall be added to you. And he says, do not fear, little flock, for it is the father's good pleasure to give you what? The kingdom. Our kingdom is not of this world. Because if our kingdom is of this world, then what's going to happen between you and me? We're going to fight, right? You're going to take something that I want. We're going to fight for it. Jesus said, if my kingdom were this world, my servants would fight. But we're not in the world. And so we're not supposed to fight. Hey, he got more than me. He took extra. This is not the way of the spirit. This is the way of the world. It says, all these things the Gentiles seek after. What we're going to eat. What we're going to wear. Where we're going to live. Where we're going to work. But Jesus said, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And he's going to take care of all these things. He said, look at the birds. The birds, they don't sow in barns. But yet your Heavenly Father takes care of them. You know, they don't toil or spend. The flowers, he clothes them so beautifully. He said, the lilies of the field, when it's time when the flowers are blooming. And it's very beautiful. And just the wind blows them. Just to watch them is kind of majestic and graceful. And this lily is clothed more beautiful than Solomon. With all of his riches. All of his honor and all of his wisdom. And all of his glory. And yet, in the process of time, it's there for a small time. And it gets cut down. My son took the weed weeder. And he just went and cut down some of those flowers. As they were there wilting away. And they're gone. And same with us. Our life is but a vapor. We're here for a short period of time. And we start to become anxious about what's going to happen, Jack, in six months. What's going to happen in four months? What's going to happen in one week? Because it's coming. And if we start to say, man, this is where God has me. In this protective place. And now he's going to ask me to walk by faith and to trust him. What's that going to look like? And panic and anxiety can come. And now all of a sudden, hey, we're trying to knock on doors. We're trying to kick doors open. We're trying to make stuff happen. Rather than waiting on God to see what God will do. Because you know what? There's seven ways to Vancouver. But not all of them lead to salvation. You know, there's people who say, well, you can go the Muslim route. That will lead you to God. You can go the Catholic route. You can go the Christian route. You can go New Age route. You can go, you know, the reincarnation route. You can go all kinds of routes. Buddhism route. They all lead to Vancouver. Many roads lead to Vancouver. But you know what? The way is narrow. And the road is small. And the gate is narrow. That leads to life. Then there's many going on the wide road that leads to destruction. But there's few who find the narrow way. And if we really seek to do his will, we'll know concerning the doctrine. Concerning his teaching. Concerning his will and his ways. That which is of the spirit. We have to be still. We have to quiet our souls. Once we've been weaned as a weaned child. You know, it's time to leave the mother's milk. And we need to be able to hear his voice. To come to hear his voice. I think of young Samuel. He came to a point where after he was weaned, he went to the Eli. And he was there giving his ministry to God. Because God had answered the woman's prayer. And then all of a sudden, there's a voice that comes. Samuel. He runs over to Eli. He says, you called me master. He says, no, I didn't call you. Go to bed. I said, but you called me. He said, no, young lad. You know, maybe 10, 12, 13 years old. We don't know for sure. He happens again. Samuel. And he goes to Eli. Eli, you called. No, I didn't call. Go to bed. Third time. Samuel. He says, listen, somebody's calling the boy. Maybe God is speaking to the boy. He says, if you hear the voice again. He said, speak, Lord. Your servant is listening. And then God spoke to Samuel. The first time Samuel heard the voice of God from a young boy. And the Lord began to speak to him about things that were coming and things that would take place. You know, he gave. We have to tune our ears to his wisdom. You know, when you have a radio station. In the old days, you had a station. And it would be staticky. And then you would try to get it on exactly the right spot where it would be the clearest. We have to be in the spirit. Obedient to the word of God. Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Being an outflow of love to our neighbor. Loving our neighbor as ourself. Allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our life. And have our ears tuned to his wisdom. And then we're going to hear. This is the way walking. Right? There's a way that seems right. Oh, you can make 40 bucks an hour if you go up there and do it. Oh, you'll provide for family. You go up there. Whole bunch of bad company there. Next thing you know, you make one bad decision. It happened to me. You make one bad decision, young in the Lord, and all of a sudden, the rug gets pulled out and you have a slip. And, boy, I tell you, when you slip and you have a bad past, you slide as far as you once were. It just goes fast. Right? If somebody has a slip and their past is not that deep of a well, they'll slip as far as they fell. They're not going to fall. They're not going to fall into the same slip as we have. So we have to take the more earnest heed to the things that we've heard. It says in Hebrews 2. Lest we drift away. God is able to keep us from falling. But if we don't hear the way in which we should walk, and we go off course, and we're outside of his will, we're going to be in some trouble. You know, the prodigal son, he left. And he told his father. He said something to his father. What did he tell his father? Give me my inheritance. Sounds like this young guy. Give me my inheritance. Give me what I've worked for you all these years. I put in time. I fixed fences. I took care of the sheep. I milked the cows. We were haying. We did all this stuff. We did all this work. Fixed equipment. Did everything. You know, it's time for me to find my own way. The Holy Spirit didn't speak to that young boy. He wanted his inheritance. You know what the father said? You know, here you go. You take your inheritance. Father knew exactly he was going to waste it all. He knew exactly he was going to waste every cent. But yet he didn't hold it back. He didn't hold it back. And when we look at it in a spiritual sense, inheritance isn't money. It's our faith. Which is much more precious than what? Gold that perishes. So when he speaks this parable about the prodigal son, what inheritance did he give him? He had his faith. He had salvation. He left with his family robe on. He left with the ring on his finger. He left with the sandals on his feet. And he left and it says that he left with his bags full of all the blessings that God had given him. All the promises of God. All the fruits of the spirit. He wasn't lacking in any food. Any spiritual, any good thing. And he went and he squandered it. He wasted it with what? Worldly living. And he went and he went and destroyed all of the good things that his father gave him and wasted them to the point where he came to the end of himself where he longed to eat what the pigs were eating. You know what I can see in my own testimony in my life where I went and just slowly bad decisions, bad decisions until finally you come to a place where you just the lowest of low, you will just do whatever they're doing. You know, you don't even think twice about eating what they're eating. About participating in the sins they're participating in. And then we have to come to our senses. You know, we have to look up. Lord have mercy on me. What am I doing here? In my father's house there's bread enough even for the servants. And then to humble yourself. That's where God meets with us. When we humble ourselves. When we say, you know what, I'm a mess. I tried my best and I failed. Jesus help me. Father help me. This prodigal son, he comes to the end of himself. He says, this is what I will do. I'm going to say to my father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I'm not even worthy to be a son. I'm ashamed of myself. And he said, please make me like one of your servants. He didn't want to come back and take some big position again in the church or take some big position in the family. He just said, just put me in the lowest seat. Give me the lowest spot. I just learned my lesson now. I'm done with all that. And he came home and while he was still a long ways off, the father ran and met him and kissed him and hugged him. Jack shared about his relationship with his father. This is the relationship with our father. You know what, the heavenly father, he didn't just say never mind you. When you're ready to come home, you come home. I'm not coming halfway. I'm not beating you along the way. No, the father watched for him every single day. He could have sent people to go get him. He could have sent some of his servants to bring him back, tie him up and give him a good beating and will straighten him out until he comes to his senses. But that's not what the father did. The father had to wait until he was done fighting, until he was ready to drown. And then he cried out for help. And then the father met him while he was still what? A long way off. That's where God meets us when we're a long way off. When we humble ourselves and we repent in our heart even before we've had opportunity to make our amends, even before we've had opportunity to actually repent physically. That's where I was. I had made a decision in my heart. I was going to repent. And then God met with me. And I heard something like chains breaking in my head. I began weeping. And I began to experience the love of God while I was a long way off. And this is God's plan for us. That we would not stray from his perfect will for our life and try to figure another way out. And say, you know what? I'm fully equipped. I've got all the promises. I've got all the gifts. I'm ready to tackle, you know, the world. You know, wherever we're going to go, we have to go with the Father. We have to go with the Holy Spirit. And you know, I think of the times when the children of Israel were going and the Spirit was leading them and then God got angry with those people. And he said, you know what? I'll send an angel with you guys. You can go with an angel. I'm not going anymore. God said, I'm not going with you guys. Moses says, if you're not going, we're not going. Because if you're not going with us, we're finished. Well, he said, I'll send an angel or you guys can keep going, but I'm done with you guys. You guys are rebellious, stiff-necked people always fighting with me. You know, we can find ourselves always fighting against God, always asking God to make things work out according to my will. See, Lord, give me this and give me that and I need this and tell my brother to share the inheritance and make sure everything's fair and I need a raise and I want a better job and I'm not happy with this. And God is saying, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Why don't you quiet your soul like a weaned child on his mother's breast and just let me share my secrets with you. The true riches. We go back to this passage here. Verse 16, Luke 12. Then Jesus spoke a parable unto them, saying a certain rich man yielded his crop and his ground yielded plentifully. And the man thought within himself, saying what shall I do since I have no more room to store my crops. So he said, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to pull down my barns and I'm going to build better, bigger barns and there I'm going to store all my crops and all my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. I can retire now. I have so much stuff I can't even eat it all in two lifetimes. I'm going to take my ease. I'm going to eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, fool, this night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself is not rich toward God. You know, we have a lot of wisdom. We take some RSP sometimes. We make some investments. We sell land and we give some to God. We want to always get ahead. We want the account always to be going this way. But if the account starts going this way, then we start crying out, what's going on? You know, maybe even do some repenting. But it shouldn't be this way, brothers, sisters. You say, well, we've been successful. What should we do? We need to expand. We have to go bigger. If we go bigger, things will be better. But it says the man who desires to be rich will what? Pierce himself through with many sorrows. So you want more money? Then you need to double down and go after more then. But you are going to ask for a lot of stress and problems and struggles in your life. But the Holy Spirit would want to spare us from all these things. Because after we've toiled and spun, we're going to find out that we're still not happy. And you know what? The money just went somewhere. It says the man who gathers, he's going to put it into a bag that has holes. You know, and just as fast as you put it in, if you have a hole in your bag, if you have a grocery bag, a plastic bag has got a big hole in it, and you say, I'm going to fill that thing all up with loonies and toonies, and I'm going to go to the store. You put them in there, they'll just be falling all over the place, all over the ground. You've spent all your time trying to pick them up and trying to patch your bag. You have no time for God. You have no time to quiet your soul and listen to the Holy Spirit. And so we have to make sure that we have our priorities right. What is the greatest commandment? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. And the second commandment is like it. To love others the way that you love yourself. I don't have a problem loving myself. In fact, I'm a professional at it. We need to be able to love others the way that we love ourselves. Consider others' interests better than our own interests. This is where the love only can come from God. If your love toward God is not right, then you don't have love toward others. You can dot every I and cross every T. You can be blameless in the sight of yourself, and according to the law, but you know what? You can go out there with an axe and go and knock down brothers who follow the Holy Spirit. That's what Paul he was there seeking to grab people and put them in prison and he missed the love of God because it surpasses knowledge. He sought after God to know God and he missed him because he missed Jesus. And we can become righteous in our own eyes. We can become rich in all of our righteousness and it can be like dung to God. Paul speaks about the things according to the law, he was blameless and he says all those things that were gained to me all of his own righteousness all of his good deeds that he had done, all of his what would commend him to God in his own mind, he says these I have counted loss. These I have counted as dung for the excellence of knowing Jesus, knowing him. Knowing him is greater than all the amassing of this world's goods and all the amassing of this world's righteousness. Brother Dan shared last week of many of the religions actually on Thursday how they're all seeking to become good so that the good would outweigh the bad that they might be acceptable to God and by their works they would appear righteous and they would have a standing when it comes to spiritual things. God doesn't work that way. God does not work that way. Let's look at Matthew in chapter 20. God's ways are not our ways. We would think if we work harder, if we do all those things that were asked of us, then we should be treated differently. We should be treated more righteous. We should become one of those very special ones. And God does have special ones, but when it comes to giving gifts to man, he doesn't say, well, you know what, I saw you've been really putting in a good effort. I'm going to give you a gift to prophesy. I saw you spend extra time putting money. You gave some, you know, you're going to get the gift of giving now because you really, I've seen you really putting an effort to be generous. It doesn't work like that. It's not by our efforts that commends us to God. And sometimes we can get upset. We can see a guy that comes from the creek or from Wagner and say, that guy sharing the word of God, that guy should sit down and put tape on his mouth. He shouldn't share for 10 years because of all the bad things he did. But that's not how God works. That's not how he works. It's good, the woman at the well, she had messed up more than anybody probably in the town. And she was out telling everyone about a wonderful man that she'd met. You're thinking, this woman's after another man now. No, no, she's talking about something. We've got to go see what she's talking about. She's going crazy about this man. Could he be the Christ? Could he be the Christ? Let's see how God works. Matthew in chapter 20. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers that they were going to work for a denarius a day. It was a day's wage. Today, inflation if we'd call it a dollar a day, we'd say, I wouldn't even get out of bed. But let's call it a day's wage. The denarius was a day's wage. He'd work for a day's wage. And he sent them into vineyards and they said, you know what? Yeah, we don't have a job. You give us a day's wage. They shook on it. They were happy. They were thankful. They were grateful. Until when? Until something manifested in their hearts. It was always there. Now when they had agreed the laborers to work for a denarius, he sent them into the vineyard. And then this landowner, he went out on the third hour and he saw other guys, maybe by the 7-Eleven standing around or in town someplace or on the road standing around by the marketplace doing nothing. And so he said to them, you want to go work? You want to go in the vineyard? Whatever's right, I'll give you. He didn't make any promises to them. But he says, I'll give you what's fair. You go work. And these guys, they said, yes, we'll go. It wasn't predetermined. If you give me so much, I'll go. They just said, we're not doing anything. It's an opportunity to make something. Let's go. So they went. Maybe it was 9 in the morning already. Then he went again about the 6th hour to the 9th hour. Let's call it lunchtime to 3 in the afternoon. And they went likewise. And they said, you know what, let's put in a half day or whatever we can. We'll get something out of it. We're not doing anything anyways. Nobody hired us. Then the 11th hour, he went there, let's call it 5 o'clock if they went from 6 to 6. At the 11th hour, he went at 5 in the afternoon. And he went out and he found others standing there idle. They're doing nothing. And he said, why are you guys standing here idle all day? Doing nothing. Laziness isn't good. Because the man who said that he tore down his barns, he was going to build bigger barns so that he could be idle. He wanted to be idle. You know how many times I've heard testimony of people who after they retire within 6 months to 2 years, they get cancer, they die. Not just believers, but unbelievers also. It's not good for us to be idle. We need to be about we need to have purpose. Not just to just eat and drink and be merry. That is not God's purpose in calling. But the flesh would like to eat and drink and be merry. But this is dangerous for us. Because this kind of laziness leads to sin. That's when David got into sin. That's when others have got into sin. I myself have got into sin, being idle. We don't want to be idle. We want to be about the Lord's work. Even if we're volunteering or helping or doing something. Idle hands is not good, brothers and sisters. I'm not just saying you need to work a haul. I'm saying we need to be about our Father's business then and serve and go and share with someone. Go and see how you can be a blessing. But not just sit around and feed the flesh. Because this is not profitable. They said, well, nobody hired us. Verse 7. So he said, what? Go into the vineyard then. And whatever is right, I'll give you. They worked for one hour, it seems. Whatever is right, I'll give you. I'll give you something. So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to the steward, call the laborers and give them their wages. They paid them every day after they worked. That's how it was done in those days. Because they needed money for food for the day. They couldn't go two weeks with a draw and then 30 days the way we do it now. They did it every day. They gave them money for their wages so that they could buy the food for the day. Because it was a day's wage. And he brought them from the last to the first. So the ones who came in the eleventh hour, who worked one hour, they came first. And what did he give him? What did the landowner give them? He said, those who came the eleventh hour, verse 9, they received a denarius. He gave them a full day's wage for working one hour. Well, nobody had called them. They were available. Nobody called them. So he didn't punish them because they were willing in that last hour to go. A lot of people, when the Lord calls them, they're not willing to go. It's not worth it to them. They're busy doing other things. They'd rather stand around. They're busy without doing their own interests. I think of the man who called those men to the wedding and they all began to make excuses. I bought a piece of land and I've got to go see it. He's making these kind of investments without seeing land. I married a wife. I've got to go spend time with her because this is a very important business. But if the Lord calls you to something specifically, then you need to be obedient. You need to love the Lord more than father, mother, brother. What else? Wife. There's times when you have to be obedient to what the Holy Spirit says. Now, if you're going golfing and you say to your wife, you know, I'm sorry. The Holy Spirit's leading me to go golfing. Okay, well, it's probably not the Holy Spirit leading you to go golfing. So we need to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is saying. But when the Holy Spirit says we have to love the Lord more than. There's a time there in the New Testament where it says, now those who are married, who have spouses, should live as though they had what? No spouses. How's that love? Because our love for God must supersede our love for anything else in the world. And we want to make sure that we're equally yoked so when we marry a spouse, they're understanding that my purpose and my love for God, my call of God is first. And you come second. Sometimes we say, well, you know what? How can I love God and how do I reconcile that with everything else in my life? You know what? If both people love God, there's an understanding. It's not always easy. There's an understanding that we need to fulfill the purpose and call of God for our life. Because unless the husband or the wife fulfills that purpose of God that they've been created for, you feel empty. You feel like all of your striving and all of your doings is vanity. But if you're in the will of God, you have purpose. You want to have purpose, that our life would count for something. That's my prayer when I ask the Lord that my life would count for something. I shared that, I think I think it was with you, Jack. I said I'm 54 years old this last week, and my desire is that my life would count for something. That I wouldn't just say, well, you know, I did what I could and now I'm going to go buy a place in Palm Springs and we're going to go winter there for eight months out of the year. No, it's not God's plan. God's plan is that every day our life would count for something. To be a blessing, to have our ear tuned to the Holy Spirit, that we would fulfill that purpose and call of God. Here are these guys standing around the 11th hour. God calls them, the landowner calls them to say, hey, can you labor in my vineyard? And they're willing. And God gives them, this landowner gives them a day's wage. God is just, He's fair. And then He goes from the last, and He goes through all of them and they're all getting the same. Everybody's getting a day's wage. And when the first came, verse 10, they supposed that they would receive what? More. They were so happy to get a day's wage when they agreed to it, when they shook on it, when they said, yes, Lord. But now they suppose that they would get more because they saw these other guys getting what they thought was not worth it. If we put it in dollar value, working for $20 an hour for the whole day, and these guys, they worked one hour, they made like, you know, $200 an hour. How's that fair? I worked and made $20 an hour. How's that fair? But God doesn't see things the way man sees things. If we get caught up in calculating every dollar and figuring out who's got what fair and who's getting more meat and who has the extra potato and who got a nicer house and that guy got a deal on his car and this guy bought a business and he's successful and mine is struggling. If we focus on these things, man, you're gonna be the most miserable of people. Because our life consists of more than these things. And so he said, these last men have worked, verse 12, only one hour and you made them equal to us. And we who have borne the burden, we did the bulls work. We bore the heat of the day. We were out there at high noon when it was hot. And we were faithful. We didn't quit. We didn't sit around. We worked hard. And the landowner answered them and said, friend. Interesting he called him friend. He said, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what's yours and go your way. I wish to give to this man the same as you. That's up to the landowners. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first and the first last. For many are called but few are chosen. Now I think when it comes into a spiritual sense, the Jewish people and the Pharisees, they figured they've been doing all these things. And now all of a sudden these people are coming in and we could even look at it. These Gentiles are coming in. And they're getting the Holy Spirit and they're getting all this blessing and they're getting the fruit of the Spirit and they're getting the gifts of the Spirit. And these guys are Samaritans. These guys are Corinthians. These guys have a past of sexual morality and drunkenness and all that. And they're getting we are the Jews and we got born again and we got salvation and these guys have botched up their life completely. We've been faithful and now we've come to Christ and all that. They're getting the same. This is wrong. And you can see how this kind of thinking or this kind of wrong understanding of God's kindness and His goodness towards us can get us in a world of mess. Self-righteousness can take you down my friend. Judging others can take you down. Loving money can take you down. You can't serve God and money. You're going to love one and hate the other. Because of the love of money the love for God will wax cold. At the end of one's life you're not going to take nothing with us. God blesses us and He provides for us and He gives good gifts to His children. But I'm going to say this. We need to be generous. This church needs to be generous. Not stingy. We want to be willing to help. We want to share when the Holy Spirit speaks to us. We want to show compassion to others. Not just with our resources but also with our time. It's easy to say, well you know what, I'm going to go and make a thousand dollars and I'll give God His hundred bucks. And be very diligent on that and even become proud about that. But you know what, to take an hour to go and visit somebody who's sick in the hospital you know what, I've got my things I'm busy. To go and hand out some food to people who don't have or to take a trip or to be led by the Spirit to do those things that the Holy Spirit leads sometimes it's easier to give money than time. Sometimes you don't have money and so you give what you have. You give your time. But we want to be available both with our resources and with our time and with what we have to be a blessing to others. Now we can fail in this regard and we can repent. But God wants us to be His hands and feet. And if we're willing to allow ourselves to be used of Him, it doesn't matter whether it's for 40 years or whether it's for 4 days. He's going to give us the same salvation the same inheritance that the guy who was faithful all his life got. Because He's good. Because God is compassionate. Because we're not earning it. Because He called us when we were standing around. Whether it was for 40 years, He still called us. It was all grace. It was all Him. It never was us. If He pulled that grace, we would have left long ago. We would have went back. We would have put our hand to the plow and we would have looked back and said it's not worth it. May the Lord give us understanding in these things. To love God with all our heart. If we want to see people free, if we want to see our family come to Christ, if we want to see our neighbors, the people we rub our shoulders with, we can't be ashamed of the gospel. People need to know that we are set-apart people. A peculiar people who love God. That we have convictions. That we have morals that we stand by because God has given us His word and we desire to be well-pleasing to Him. And people will come to us and say, can you share of the hope that you have? We see that you're different. You're glowing. You're a kind person. You're bearing some fruits in your life that I don't have. We can share. You know what? I used to be like this. But I was able to overcome by the blood of the Lamb. And this is my testimony. I gave up loving my life. And now I love Jesus. Brothers and sisters, if we want to make it, we're going to have to surrender our will to God. We're going to have to submit ourselves to God. Resist the devil so that he flees. And draw near to God. We need to cleanse our hands, some of us. We need to purify our hearts through the washing of regeneration. Through the washing of the word. And the renewing of the Holy Spirit to renew our minds. Brother Jack shared about having the helmet of salvation. We need to bring every thought captive. Right? To protect our minds from all these thoughts that are coming. To the obedience of Christ. We need to hold up the shield of faith with which we can quench all these fiery darts. We need to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. And not lean on our own understanding. In all our ways, if we call on the name of the Lord, He will save us. And He'll direct our paths. In Jesus' name. Amen.