Father thank you for the service that we have. Sing praise unto you and your son.
I pray that you bless the remainder of the service at this time and I pray that you
fill us with your spirit as he preaches for us this evening Lord. In Jesus name I
pray. Amen. For our next hymn if you would turn in your hymnals to hymn number
400 while shepherds watch their flocks. Hymn number 430. Hymn number 430 we'll go
ahead and start there right on the first. While shepherds watch their flocks by
night all see. This is the last verse of the chapter so we have this week and
next week as a grace week and then we'll be handing out those prizes for those
that finished the chapter memorization. Our service and soul winning times are
listed there as well as our nursing home ministry schedule and over the
Christmas break if you will I'm gonna work on getting that first quarter
schedule made so those of you that are preachers on that be looking for that
update on the bottom is our year-to-date statistics great job out soul winning
today so far I've heard we had six salvations so great job keep up the
great work on that and one very angry Karen apartment manager but you know
that comes with six salvation sometimes so it is what it is please be in prayer
for miss Whitney Reed for expecting ladies upcoming event again just want to
say thank you to the halls and to all the kids that participated in the
Christmas choir today it's a lot of fun seeing everyone sing make sure that if
your parents allow it you get your bag of candy if you haven't already I think
there might be a couple more or they all hand it out okay great awesome well
thanks again for that and December 25th after our Wednesday service we're gonna
have a cookie bake-off so make sure to bring some of your entries for that
evening December 31st is our New Year's Eve party that's gonna be on Tuesday and
as a reminder no service on Wednesday so if you come here Wednesday you won't see
anyone we're gonna have a immense preaching night on Tuesday and then we
have some games and food after that so that is it for the rest of the year we
have our online giving if you'd like to scan that code as well as our prayer
list make sure to update me with any requests that you have we'd be happy to
pray for you that's gonna be it for announcements this evening go ahead and
go to our third song right for our third songs if you would take your hymnal and
turn to hymn number 433 away in a manger hymn number 433 in 433 we'll go ahead and
start there right on the first this evening as the offering are being passed
around to Luke chapter number 15 chapter number 15 evening Luke 15 the Bible reads
then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him
and the Pharisees and scribes murmured saying this man receiveth sinners and
Edith with them and he spake this parable unto them saying what man of you
having in hundred sheep if he lose one of them doth not leave the 99 in the
wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find it and when he hath
found it he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing and when he cometh home he
calleth together his friends and neighbors saying unto them rejoice with
me for I have found my sheep which was lost I say unto you that likewise joy
shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than more than over 99
just persons which need no repentance either what woman having ten pieces of
silver if she lose one piece doth not light a candle and sweep the house and
seek diligently till she find it when she has found and when she has found it
she calleth her friends and her neighbors together saying rejoice with
me for I have found the peace which I had lost likewise I say unto you there
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth and
he said a certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father
father give me the portion of goods that follows to me and he divided unto them
his living and not many days after the younger son gathered all together and
took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with riotous
living and when he had spent all there arose a mighty famine in the in that land
and he began to be in want when he rejoin and he went and joined himself to
a citizen of that country and he sent him into his fields to feed swine and
when and he would feign have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did
eat and no man gave to him and when he came to himself he said how many hired
servants of my father have bred enough and to spare and I perish with hunger I
will arise and go to my father and will say unto him father I have sinned against
heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son make me as
one of thy hired servants and he arose and came to his father but when he was
yet a great way off his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on
his neck and kissed him and the son said unto him father I have sinned against
heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son but the
father said to his servants bring forth the best robe and put it on him and put
a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill
it and let us eat and be merry for my for this my son was dead and is live again
he was lost and is found and they began to be merry now his elder son was in the
field and as he came and drew nigh to the house he heard music and dancing and
he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant and he said unto
him thy brother is come and my father hath killed the fatted calf because he
hath received him safe and sound and he was angry and would not go in therefore
came his father out and entreated him and he answering said to his father lo
these many years do I serve thee neither transgressed I at any time thy
commandment and yet thou never gave us me a kid that I might that I might make
merry with my friends but as soon as this thy son was come which hath devoured
thy living with harlots thou has killed for him the fatted calf and he said unto
him son thou art ever with me and all that I have is thine it was meat that we
should make merry and be glad for this thy brother was dead in his lot and is
alive again and was lost and it is found. Let's bow our heads for a prayer. Father in
heaven we thank you for this day and help us stay safe out soul-winning and we just ask that you be with us people that got saved, that received you as your savior today and we just ask that you fill our past with the Holy Spirit and that you help us to pay attention to the sermon and to help us move by the Christian lives of Jesus we pray. Amen. Amen all right we're in Luke 15 the Bible reads in verse 11 and he said a certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, father give me the portion of goods that followeth to me and he divided unto them his living and not many days
after the younger son gathered all and took his journey into a far country and
there wasted his substance with riotous living and when he had spent all there
arose a mighty famine in that land and he began to be in want and this is of
course the story of the prodigal son a very famous story there's many movies
even made about the similar plot of the prodigal son and here at the beginning
of the story just to set some context we kind of see the story of a young man who
demands his inheritance now you know he had something that was rightfully his
but it was rightfully his at a certain time usually most people wait until
they're older to get their inheritance or sometimes even when their parents die
and often that could be sometimes for cultural reasons or even monetary
reasons allowing their assets to mature and get even more wealth but here for
whatever reason this young man he gets kind of hasty and he demands that the
inheritance is given to him right here right now and one of the interesting
things about this story is that this son that does this is in my view clearly the
son of a rich man it seems like this father here is a rich man why do I think
that we'll look at verse 15 and says and he went and joined himself to a citizen
of that country and he sent him into his fields to feed swine and he would feign
have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat and no man gave
unto him and when he came to himself he said how many hired servants of my
fathers have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger so here he's
thinking back to what he left behind with his father and he's thinking about
how even his servants have what they need of his father and even more so
there's even stuff left over so you know if his dad not only has servants but
also has so many assets and things that his servants have in abundance it makes
it sound like this man is a very rich man you know this this prodigal dad I
guess of this prodigal son but look at verse 18 it says I will arise and go to
my father and will say unto him father I have sinned against heaven and before
thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son make me as one of thy hired
servants and he rose and came to his father but when he was yet a great way
off his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him and the son said unto him father I have sinned against heaven and
in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son but the father said to
his servants bring forth notice the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on
his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and
let us eat and be merry and I kind of want to just explain to you again because
this is going to be important later on in the sermon that this man is a rich guy
I mean he's giving the robe to his son a robe was not something that everyone at
this time just had available a ring that's costly shoes on his feet I mean
it's not like us today we go to the thrift store and just thrift store
excuse me just buy any pair of shoes you know shoes were a cumbersome thing to
make that cost money and it says the fatted calf that's always been expensive
no matter what economy you've ever lived in the fatted calf is an expensive thing
and so he just has all these goods that he could just bless his son with why
because he's a pretty rich guy he's a rich man now the reason I bring that up
is because this young man when you read this story he really was born into a
great situation I mean most people in this world if you'd ask them would you
like to have been born into a rich family with a rich daddy that could just
give you everything you want most people like that idea right and this guy he had
that he pretty much had it all carnally speaking but because of his impulsiveness
because of him being impatient he kind of ruined his life and he kind of ruined
the blessings that he could have obtained and had of his father for his
temporary pleasures and why does God give us this story I think one reason is
that God does not want us to be impulsive God does not want us to be
short-sighted we're supposed to look at this story and say this was dumb that
this guy did he should not have gotten so impatient he should not have you know
been so rash and hasty he should have just been patient and gotten his
inheritance when it was rightfully his and so the title of my sermon this
evening is this do not be short-sighted do not be short-sighted this is a lesson
that God wants us to take away from this story now what does it mean to be
short-sighted it describes a lack of foresight or long-term planning it
refers to focusing only on immediate concerns or benefits while neglecting
potential future consequences or broader implications here's some synonyms of
being short-sighted impulsive hasty rash imprudent careless reckless
uncircumstant and sometimes in life you see Christians and just people in
general are very short-sighted I mean you just look at someone's life you look
at the decision they make in all sorts of different categories in their life
and oftentimes a person is categorized by being just short-sighted being
impulsive being rash this is something God wants us to avoid let me show you
this principle and then we'll make some application go to Proverbs 22 Proverbs
22 verse 3 Proverbs 22 verse 3 the Bible says a prudent man foreseeeth the evil
and heighteth himself but the simple pass on and are punished notice God wants us
to be prudent people and part of being prudent is having foresight where you
could foresee problems evils harm and you could actually make a plan in your
mind to avoid those evils to avoid those problems but what is the simple foolish
person do they ignore it they don't pay attention and eventually they're
punished and didn't that happen to the prodigal son of course it did he spent
all of his living with riotous living and he ended up coming to himself
realizing hey I've messed up I've lost everything the servants are living a
better life than me and many times because people are short-sighted they
make rash hasty decisions that have life-long consequences and sometimes it's
consequences that they can never reverse never change go if you would to Matthew
chapter 7 Matthew 7 Matthew chapter 7 verse 24 Jesus said in verse 24 therefore
whosoever here at these sayings of mine and do with them I will liken him unto a
wise man which built his house upon a rock and the rains descended and the
floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for was
founded upon a rock you know if you are a builder if your job is to build homes
it would be good to be circumspect to have a vision to not be short-sighted
where you look at a piece of land and you think okay there's gonna come rain
there's gonna come wind there's gonna come storms and if I build my house
right here how is this gonna hold up against the storms of life and a wise
person looks at the Bible looks at the things of God and says okay the storms
are coming should I build my house on the rock the Word of God the Bible or
should I build it on the sand and of course the man's house who's built on
the sand what happens it falls and great is the fall of it and that is someone
that lacks foresight that is someone that is short-sighted they don't really think
about the long-term consequences they're just like oh yeah this sand looks like
you're good enough place to build a house and they build a house they spend a lot
of money on it they invest a lot into it but then that first storm comes along
and just wipes them out and there's many things like this in life go to Ephesians
5 Ephesians chapter 5 I'm just showing you this principle first in Ephesians 5
verse 15 that God wants us to be thinking about these things the Bible says in
Ephesians 5 verse 15 see then that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as
wise what does it mean to walk circumspectly it means that you're going
through life cautious careful thinking of the consequences thinking in your
mind okay if I perform action a what is the consequence gonna be good or bad if
I go down this road in life where is that going to take me in 10 20 30 years
we don't want to be fools that just don't think about things just make rash
decisions and it feels like in America in our day and age people have the
disease of now all they could think about is what they want right now what's
convenient right now what's gonna have the biggest impact on them right now not
thinking about what life is going to look like in the future what are some
ways people get short-sighted number one don't be short-sighted with your
finances don't be short-sighted with your finances go to Proverbs 21 you know
here in this story of the prodigal son it's really a perfect story of an
example of someone that's short-sighted with their finances I mean they're born
into a rich home they've got a rich dad they've got a big inheritance coming
their way but because they want something right now what does he want he
wants a party he wants to go live his life and have riotous living right he
wants to go be hunter Biden or something like that but guess what when you live
that type of a lifestyle money goes real fast and people that are just unwise
uncircumspect it does not matter how much money they have the quantity does
not matter someone who is unwise uncircumspect does not have a vision
they're they're short-sighted they could go through money like that it doesn't
matter how much they have and this is a prime example of that he's rich he had a
big inheritance and he just wasted it all look at Proverbs 21 verse 20 there is
treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise but a foolish man
spendeth it up and you're supposed to look at this story and say what a fool I
mean this guy was so blessed this guy was so set up yet he just spent it up he
just wasted it you know us we need to look at this story and say hey if God's
blessed us with some money if God's given us things we shouldn't just go
wasting it and blowing it on riotous living look if you're spending money on
alcohol you're wasting your money if you're spending your money on cigarettes
or gambling or something like that you are wasting your money that's not
something that God would be pleased with you're just being a fool at that point
and you know there's nothing wrong with spending your substance for living right
we all have to use our substance to live but riotous living is a different story
right yeah the economy is expensive yeah we got to put food in our bellies but do
we have to buy filet mignon every single night though no you don't we could learn
to be content we could be content with such things as we have whatever God has
blessed us with we don't have to have a party at all times go to Proverbs chapter
22 Proverbs chapter 22 Proverbs 22 verse 7 says the rich ruleeth over the poor
and the borrower is servant to the lender you know some ways that people are
just extremely careless with finances is just going into debt for any reason or
no reason whatsoever I mean they they want an 85 inch TV and they can't afford
it they have no second thought about just swiping the credit card and going
into debt where their interest rate is 24 25 26 27 percent and just getting
destroyed by the lender they're now the servant to the lender for no reason it's
not like they needed to make that decision and look it's it's wise to
avoid debt as much as you can obviously we lived in a debt-based world I'm not
saying don't get a mortgage I'm not saying don't buy a car but it's like
don't buy a timeshare on your credit card like that's a bad idea don't go and
live a riotous lifestyle on your credit card when you can't afford that that is
not wise go to Proverbs 23 Proverbs chapter 23 verse 4 says labor not to be
rich cease from thine own wisdom wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is
not for riches certainly make themselves wings they fly away as an eagle toward
heaven you know money when you have it it just has a way of just flying away
just seems like you know when you come into some money it's just life has a way
of just causing that to fly away so it's important that what God gives you you
make a plan for right that you budget out where your money is going and not
just fly by the seat of your pants and just decide oh you know I'm just gonna
spend money on this and that today no you should be wise especially if you're
providing for a family to make sure your bills are being paid and that your fun
money is the last priority in life you know us as men we should be men that
sacrifice for our families and we should make sure our families are taken care of
100% before we ever think about spending fun money on us that's just how we
should live you say that doesn't sound fun well you signed up to be a husband
and a dad so that's your job is to take care of your family first their needs
first I would say they're fun first as well and then you come last that's a
wise way to live go to Proverbs 6 let's look at some more financial wisdom here
in Proverbs Proverbs 6 verse 6 the Bible says go to the aunt thou sluggard
consider her ways and be wise which having no guide overseer or ruler
provided her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest so
notice how the ant without having to be what told what to do how to work the ant
shows us wisdom because the ant is gathering together providing meat in the
summer gathering food for harvest it's like this ant in a way kind of has
foresight saying hey there's coming a time where things are gonna be more
scarce we're not gonna have as many resources and so I've got to gather more
now and this supposed to teach us that hey we're supposed to look at life and be
wise with our finances planning for the future I think one way that men could do
this is don't just pick the easiest job that you could find you know don't just
pick like the most convenient job that you could possibly find well it's like
well this is the closest employer to my house so I just picked this or this is
just the easiest thing no you should be looking forward to the future and not
being short-sighted and thinking hey how is this gonna look like when I get
married how is this gonna look like when I have kids and you should pick
something that's actually hard to do you should pick something that's gonna take
a long time to learn that could eventually provide for your family
really well not just be so short-sighted be like well this is the easiest job and
I'm just gonna stick with it that's not a very wise thing to do and especially
when you're young it's the time to do this especially if you're not married
yet especially if you don't have kids yet like if you're not married yet and you
don't have kids this should be one of the biggest focuses of your life because
when you invest into it now it'll be easier once you are older and this is
something I thought about like ladies their childbearing years could be
between I don't know 18 years old and like 40 years old right so 22 years but
men providing from their family is from when they get married till they die
usually like like us men we have to have a little bit more foresight on this
because this is something that we're gonna be doing for decades and decades
and decades and decades until your body shuts down or you die and so it's better
to just put the investment on the front end of your life so that you could
enjoy and reap the benefits later from it so here's an example if you're gonna
go into debt for education or trade pick something that pays well I'm not saying
college is always bad I used to be probably a little more anti college than
I am now I think there's some good things you could do with a college degree
there's some good trades that you can learn I'm not a hundred percent against
those things but if you're going to get an education or go into debt for
something make sure it's for something that pays off well in the end don't get
just a random general degree on something that's not going to make you any money
get a specialized degree get something that's going to be paying you well
here's an example of a trade how about being a pilot so right right down the
road here at Wiley Post there's the ATP flight school which granted is like one
of the most expensive flight options you could do but the the kind of cool thing
about their flight school is that they take you from zero to airline pilot
certifications in 12 months now the catch is you can't work a job it's a
hundred percent full-time it's a full-time thing to go to this flight
school but if you went to ATP flight school from zero to twelve months you
would pay $117,000 for the whole thing that's pretty expensive like that's a
big loan for sure no doubt about it but if you got hired as an entry-level pilot
you would make an average of $87,000 a year that's year one okay here's after
year five the average salary of an airline pilot after five years of
experience is two hundred and nineteen thousand dollars a year so it's like you
pay a hundred and seventeen thousand dollars to go to ATP flight school but
in five years you're making two hundred nineteen thousand dollars a year like
that would be an example numerically speaking of an investment that just
makes sense right but what doesn't make sense is just getting your you know
random degree that has no actual tangible skill attached to it and you're
still paying a hundred seventeen thousand dollars or more that doesn't
make any sense that's not good so that's just an example and like I said that's
like the most expensive option if those of you aspiring pilots out there you
could do this a lot cheaper but that takes you from 0 to 12 months so it's
just like a short quick way of doing it and you know I was telling my younger
brother he wasn't really you know doing anything he wasn't going to college he
wasn't working and I was like dude 12 months you'd be airline pilot you know
and he went and joined the military but I'm just saying like that could be an
option for someone out there. Now this is especially important I'll say this this
is especially important for people who are not planning to go into full-time
ministry with their whole life because you know for me I have been working
full-time in the ministry from 23 years old so it's not like I had like so much
time in my life to invest in my career I was a full-time working for church since
I was 23 years old I'm 27 that was my goal since the day I got saved that's
what I was working towards I'm not my life isn't here on this earth to strive
for some great career that's something that I kind of laid aside because I
wanted to dedicate my life to Lord Jesus Christ now that being said it still is
important for everyone and you know I still did get a CDL certification and I
work in IT right now and my mentality right now is that I'm gonna work my
secular job so hard as if I'm gonna do it for the rest of my life like that's
my mentality I'm working as if I'm gonna be working secularly for the rest of my
life but if that someday you know I'm able to drop that and work full-time for
the church praise the Lord I would do that 100% but I'm just saying like us as
men you got to have that mentality that like I have to do this the rest of my
life so I need to like take care of business right now I need to invest in
this right now and not just think like oh what's the easiest thing I could do
what's the most convenient what works the least hours what's the closest to my
house what's the you know thing I could use my brain the least about no like you
should try to do something hard with your life go to Hebrews 12 so you know
people are often short-sighted with their finances number two don't be
short-sighted with your virginity this is something people are often short-sighted
about they want something right now and they completely disregard the
consequences that they're gonna be facing in the future because they have
the disease of now they just want that right now but I'm telling you that's a
foolish decision look at Hebrews 12 or 16 lest there be any fornicator or
profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright for
you know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was
rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully
with tears you know the Bible's comparing a fornicator with Esau who
what did he do something very similar to the story of the prodigal son where he
just traded away his birthright for a little bowl of soup basically because he
was hungry right he had a temporary feeling a temporary need and he just
said hey give me that bowl of soup and I'll sell you my birthright and just
what a stupid foolish thing to do and the Bible here is comparing that's like
someone that commits fornication they have a great future ahead of them they
have all these blessings ahead of them that God wants them to have God wants us
to get married and enjoy that relationship but oftentimes people just
trade away the future that they could have just for that short moment of
pleasure and it's foolish and stupid you know we need to make sure we're not
being short-sighted go to deuteronomy 22 deuteronomy chapter 22 and i want to
show you how people are harming their futures by committing fornication
deuteronomy 22 verse 28 says if a man find a damsel that is a virgin which is
not betrothed and lay hold on her and lie with her and they be found then the
man that lay with her shall give unto the damsels father 50 shekels of silver
and she shall be his wife because he have humbled her he may not put her away
all his days so in the old testament if some guy went fornicated with the young
virgin she wasn't betrothed she wasn't engaged or anything like that he would
have to pay money to the father of that virgin and he was supposed to marry her
now the father could refuse him but that would be the right thing to do according to god's law
is that if you do this you're supposed to pay money and marry that virgin why because you've
defiled her you've taken her virginity and so now you should be the one marrying that woman but what
i want to point out though is that there was a monetary value associated to a woman's virginity
in the old testament there was literally a price tag associated with it and how foolish would it be
if a woman in old testament israel who she could literally redeem money by getting married and some
some guys literally going to pay money to her family to redeem her but she just completely
wastes it and gives it away for free to everybody that doesn't make any sense right that's so foolish
go to esther chapter number two esther two esther two and you know there's money attached to it
because news flash men like women men want to get married and there's even literally a monetary value
attached to it look at esther 2 verse 3 says and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces
of his kingdom that they may gather together notice all the fair young virgins unto shushan the palace
so when the king is looking for the best women what is he looking for in them fair meaning beautiful
young virgins these are qualities that make a lady attractive to a man to marry and when ladies
purposely give away or maybe not purposely give away certain of these qualities it makes them less
desirable to get married this would offend a lot of people but this is just true okay i mean if some
dude is just like 25 years old he's killing it in his career he's making tons of money he's a great
provider he's fit or whatever do you really think that he's going to marry some 40 year old divorced
woman with three kids does anyone in here think that that happens no it doesn't happen because
that's not reality okay what are good men really every man what are they looking for young fair
virgins this is just whether you like it or not that's just how it is let me read for you you can
go to second samuel 13 let me read for you this amos 8 13 says this in that day speaking of the
day of god's judgment in that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst he's saying
he's kind of highlighting like look the judgment of god is going to be so bad that even the beautiful
young ladies no one's going to want to take care of them or even be able to take care of them why
is that even highlighted because it's just so obvious that a beautiful young woman there would
be tons of men lining up to take care of her and want her and desire her but he's saying look when
i'm going to judge the world here when i'm bringing god's wrath on this place even the young virgins
aren't going to be able to be taken care of they're going to be fainting for thirst god's
highlighting like the the cream of the crop of society that everyone wants are going to be not
able to be taken care of and look this is still true today good men high quality men are looking
for a fair young virgin to marry and when ladies decide as a young person to just give away
something for free that should only be given to their husband they are literally devaluing
themselves as a person it's just true i wish that women wouldn't be doing this today but think
about it a man's willing to marry you commit to you provide for you for the rest of your life
and again it's not 20 years of childbearing it's age 18 to 80 or whatever when you die i mean that's
a lot of money he's going to be bringing in in all these years and women will just give it away to
some jack wagon loser for absolutely free i mean what a stupid thing to do i mean you have so much
value you're on the marketplace some great guy could scoop you up and marry you but you're just
going to give that away to just some loser scumbag and any guy that would do that with you before
is probably a loser you know the real man the one that actually loves you is not the one that just
says oh i love you babe words are cheap it's the guy that actually says i'll put a ring on it
i'll provide for you i will commit to you i will vow myself only unto you as long as i shall live
that's the only person that you should ever give that away to it's so foolish to do otherwise
go to second samuel 13 and of course everything i'm saying applies as well to men godly young
ladies they also want the same thing in a man you know but obviously it's usually the man that's
approaching woman for marriage anyways and it's usually women that are struggling with this more
second samuel 13 11 says so this is a very very crazy story but in verse 11 it says and when she
had brought them unto him to eat he took hold of her and said unto her come lie with me my sister
so amnon here he's kind of fallen sick in love with his half sister tamar he had a bad friend
who kind of gave him this wicked plan to feign himself sick pretend to be sick so that his sister
tamar could come into the chamber and wait on him and serve him and then he says that's where
he took takes hold of her says under come lie with me my sister verse 12 and she answered him name my
brother do not force me for no such thing ought to be done in israel do not thou this folly and i
whither shall i cause my shame to go and as for thee thou shalt be as one of the fools in israel
now therefore i pray thee speak unto the king for he will not withhold me from thee
albeit he would not hearken unto her voice but being stronger than she forced her and lay with
her and of course this is an extremely just disgusting act not only is this fornication
but this is rape because he's forcing her against her will very terrible situation verse 15 notice
what happened though it says then amnon hated her exceedingly so that the hatred wherewith he hated
her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her and amnon said unto her arise be gone
so at first amnon was so in love with tamar that he was physically ill from it where he's
experiencing these emotions of love which he was it was really just infatuation it wasn't true love
but the bible saying here that once this act happened once he finally got what he wanted
did he love her now does he cherish her now that he got what he wanted no he hated her so much that
he hated her more than any amount of love that he ever loved her and this is what happens oftentimes
when people fornicate is they mistake in their mind love with infatuation or they mistake in their
mind love with lust and when they finally get that they realize that they don't even love the person
and you know that's a scary place to be in as a woman where all of a sudden now you've given that
away you can't take that back there's no going back on that and now all of a sudden this guy
that you thought loved you now hates you and sends you away and it says in verse number 16 and she
said unto him there is no cause this evil and sending me away is greater than the other that
thou did unto me but he would not hearken unto her and you know she's right that's why the law of god
said hey if a man does lay with a virgin and if they do commit fornication the right thing to do
is to get married because it is more evil to just send her away after that than the first sin that
was done does that make sense to everyone verse 17 says then he called his servant that ministered
unto him and said put now this woman out from me and bolt the door after her and she had a garment
of divers colors upon her for with such robes were the king's daughters that were virgins
appareled then her servant then his servant brought her out and bolted the door after her
and tamar put ashes on her head and rent her garment of divers colors that was on her
and laid her hand on her head and went on crying so notice the just emotional pain that she goes
through because she's been defiled in this way she's been forced in this way and now not only has
she had to endure that but now this man doesn't even love her just completely discards her as
trash let me tell you this is happening in college dorm rooms all over america where women are just
getting used and discarded as trash where the man will never see them again never talk to them again
there's all sorts of broken families in america where children are being produced as a result of
fornication and dad does not care at all you see it out soul winning all the time the single mom
with the kids dad's gone and it's like she's probably experiencing very similar emotions here
she's sad she's eaten up she's been her life has been destroyed in a sense all because of
this foolish decision to commit fornication and of course in tamar's situation it wasn't her fault
whatsoever but let's just be brutally honest about a lot of people who are in similar situations today
it was their fault it was their decision and many women today are not just having children out of
wedlock because they were raped look that's terrible i feel terrible for those women those
men that did that should be put to death okay that's a terrible crime but most people in that
situation they were just deciding to give it out for free and now they're suffering as a result why
because they're being short-sighted they're they're looking at something that they want they're not
thinking about the consequences and they're just giving up all the blessings that they could have
received just because they wanted to commit fornication 1st Corinthians 6 18 says flee
fornication every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committed fornication sinneth
against his own body look we all have to be reminded that it does not matter what our flesh
is telling us is good we have to remember what the bible says is good okay every single human being
is going to struggle pretty much with this desire but you just have to remember the bible says flee
fornication do not be short-sighted in this area do not think that it's not a big deal don't think
that god doesn't really care about it no it's a big deal that could have life-altering consequences
whether that's through disease whether that through that's childhood teen pregnancy
no you need to flee fornication go to 1st Corinthians 7 1st Corinthians 7 now a similar
topic number three don't be short-sighted on who you marry don't be short-sighted on who you get
married to this is a big big decision in your life 1st Corinthians 7 verse 34 this is a funny
verse to me there is difference also between a wife and a virgin it's like oh you don't say
this is like a blatantly obvious with ben moment there is difference also between a wife and a
virgin yes the unmarried woman careth for the things of the lord that she may be holy both in
body and in spirit but she that is married careth for the things of the world how she may please her
husband and this i speak for your own prophet not that i may cast a snare upon you but for that
which is comely and that you may attend upon the lord without distraction but if any man think that
he behave with himself uncomely toward his virgin if she passed the flower of her age and need so
require let him do what he will he sinneth not let them marry you know elsewhere in this chapter
talks about how it's better to marry than to burn talking about burning in your lust towards this
person the bible saying look there's nothing wrong with getting married if you're behaving yourself
uncomely towards this person as long as she's past the flower of her age people get all weird
about that age notice it says past the flower of her age right so this is an adult woman this
is a fully grown mature woman if you want to of course that you're not sinning let them marry verse
37 nevertheless he that standeth steadfast in his heart having no necessity but hath power over his
own will and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin doeth well and paul of
course he himself decided not to get married this was something that he could control in his life
let me just say this for 99.999 percent of men this is not you you are not the apostle paul you
likely should get married now the apostle paul is a real person that existed but for most guys this
is not the case verse 38 so then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well but he that giveth her
not in marriage doeth better the wife is bound notice this the wife is bound by the law as long
as her husband liveth but if her husband be dead she is at liberty to be married to whom she will
only in the lord notice what the bible teaches till death do us part that phrase is a biblical phrase
because the wife is bound by the law to her husband as long as she lives god does not recognize
divorce divorce is not something that god wants no the only time that you could be loosed from your
spouse and get married to someone else is when your spouse has died that's it and so because
this isn't even like men i told you men providing for their family that's a long commitment okay
marriage is longer it's literally till death and so you want to not be short-sighted with who you
marry this is a big big decision and i worry about you know i like the fact that we promote
getting married young i preach a sermon of why i think that's a good thing but i worry though that
on the flip side of that that people are just like oh i turned 18 that means i have to get married
right now because that's just what you do in the new ifb i mean you turn 18 and you get married
look there's nothing wrong with that if it's the right time for you but let's just be honest that's
not necessarily the right time for every single person alive right now okay some people it may
be just better and a just different part of your life for you to wait until you're a little bit
older a little more mature or things are different why because it's a lifelong relationship here is
some tips okay so that you don't make a big mistake with who you marry then don't marry just for looks
don't marry just for looks okay i've known guys where that was their number one qualifier
they ignored major character flaws they ignored major family issues all sorts of big problems
because they were just into that one thing and they end up not living a very happy life afterwards
look i want you to like how your spouse looks you want to be attracted to the person that you marry
but do not marry for the sole purpose of looks and let's just be honest it's it's not women that are
marrying for looks okay it's usually dudes that are marrying for the sole purpose of looks that is a
foolish thing to do it is till death do us part the bible talks about how how it's like like gold
in the snout of a swine it's like a fair woman without discretion it's like oh you cool you
married a fair woman how wonderful it's like you have a pig with a little nice little gold thing in
his nose it's still a pig and those looks are only going to satisfy you for so long until you realize
i've got a pig with me and i'm not very happy so don't marry the pig okay don't marry the pig
let me say this to everyone don't feel pressured to just marry the first person that comes along
don't feel pressured to just marry the first person that comes along again there's like kind
of this culture in baptist circles where it's like you turn 18 and you got to get married and look if
that's right for you there's nothing wrong with that praise the lord if that's you i know great
pastors who have done that other people who have done that but that doesn't mean that oh the first
girl that talks to me is the one i've got to marry the first guy that ever talks to me is the guy that
i have to marry that is not necessarily the case now look if the first guy that talks to you happens
to be just an awesome godly on fire wonderful christian man then praise the lord there's no
reason you shouldn't marry him i'm not saying that you can't marry the first person that comes along
what i am saying is don't feel pressured to don't feel like oh this is my only chance i'm 18 years
old and no one will ever come around again it's like you're 18 years old you're okay you're still
going to be beautiful for a long long long long long long long long time all right ladies worry
about these things and sometimes guys do too in fact just i'll just admit my fault to you of a
funny story about me this is just young men are just dumb okay i'll just admit to you they have
issues but when i was like i don't know i think i was 19 or 20 years old i was working as a pipe
fitter and i was working like 60 hours a week i had no time for anything else in my life at
least i thought so now i live my life now and i realize it was it was a lot easier then but
anyways i was just thinking like how am i ever gonna find a girl and i'm just working so much
i'm working around all these rough dudes and constructions and i just i had this foolish
thought i was like you know i just give up i'm just gonna join the marine corps and i went down like
a recruiting office and i was like i might as well just you know have some fun and blow some stuff up
this is what men do we're just dumb okay i'm sorry i went and enlisted in the marine corps and i was
going through the background process and just by chance my brother had just graduated from the
marine corps in san diego and on our way back up i stopped at the red hot preaching conference
which is where i met my wife and i said you know maybe the marine corps is not for me
and so you know praise the lord i met my wife at red hot and didn't go down that road but look
sometimes young men and young women can think like well i haven't found anyone yet so i just i'm giving
up or whatever look that's not reality okay that's not true you don't have to worry about that and
thankfully god was looking out for me and led me to a great woman here's another um tip use the
dating person to really get to know the person you're dating right don't waste the opportunity
you have during the dating phase where you're not actually talking to each other you're not
communicating you're not giving your expectations of what you would like your life to look like
what your beliefs are what your philosophies on marriage and child rearing and church and things
like that like these are all things you should really be talking about during the dating phase
not just like wow i like your eyes oh cool i like your smile oh man your hair is wonderful
i really like your shoes it's like don't waste your time actually get to know this person because
you're going to be with them till you die if you marry them so that is something you should keep
in mind here's another thing don't ignore major red flags now here's the thing don't hear me wrong
we're all sinners everyone is a sinner and you don't want to be having such a high standard
we are constantly passing up wonderful ladies or ladies are constantly just passing up good godly
men because you have some weird standard of perfection but also during the dating period
you should not ignore major red flags and those of us that are parents we should be looking out
for our children and looking for those major red flags and trying to help our children with those
things when those times come but you know you should be looking out for those things here's
some red flags here's some major red flags in a woman so man this is something you should be
thinking about a major red flag is when a woman is majorly disrespectful to her parents if a woman
is extremely disobedient and disrespectful to her mother and father you are going to be extremely
disrespected and disobeyed when you are the authority you got to realize that how does she
treat her authority right now oh she crap talks mom and dad she doesn't listen to anything that
they say she breaks all the rules you're going to be in for a world of hurt when she's your problem
so when you see that kind of stuff that's a red flag that you should not ignore here's another
major red flag don't ignore when a woman is overly flirtatious with other dudes because
everyone puts their best foot forward while they're dating and if while you're dating
she's flirting with other guys that's a serious red flag a woman that refuses to dress modestly
when you're dating her that is a major red flag and look i've heard guys say oh i'll never even
approach a woman that wears pants it's like dude come on you can go approach a girl you could get
her saved you could try to get her in church and try to get her to learn the bible you know you
don't have to have this ridiculous expectation but if you've been dating a girl for a really long time
and then she refuses to dress modestly she's being flirtatious she's showing off her body to
other men that is a red flag that you should not ignore you should not marry a woman that you know
is a major flirt and it's just promiscuous like that that sounds like a recipe for disaster to me
here is some major red flags in men lack of ambition and work ethic ladies here's the thing
you know us as men whoever we marry we could force her to go to church because we're in charge
we could force her to you know go soul winning with us we could force her to do certain things
because we're literally the authority we're literally in charge you ladies are marrying
someone who you're kind of like giving up the ship and saying okay you're the captain you've
got to lead this you've got to be in control here and if you're dating a guy who doesn't have any
work ethic no drive no passion no tenacity that's not a problem that's just going to fix itself
magically when life gets hard it's like if he can't work hard as a teenager if his and i'm not
saying he has to be rich but look at the trajectory of his life like is he working super hard okay the
trajectory is good he's going to be successful because he's working hard but if while you're
dating he's lazy he has no drive he has no goals he has no vision for his life that's a major red
flag that you should not ignore a lack of character or a history of commitment issues that's a red
flag in men that ladies should not ignore again men are the leaders they need to be people of strong
character because they are setting the tone for you and for the whole family so you don't want
to ignore when you see that there's just major character issues major commitment issues he never
follows through on anything he's constantly quitting jobs he's constantly burning people
in his life that's a major red flag that you should not ignore and of course this is the
same with men a man that is flirtatious flirtatious with other women that is a big red flag that you
should not ignore okay because usually unfortunately what i've just seen is that this is something
that's just not easily fixed. Someone that grows up and is really promiscuous, commits a lot of
fornication, usually, unfortunately, they bring that stuff into their marriage and causes issues.
And so when you see a man or a woman overly flirtatious like that, you should not ignore that.
Here's another red flag in men when they push boundaries during the dating period. You know,
the young man should be respectful to you. The young man should be respectful to your body,
to be respectful to your father, should honor your parents, obey your parents' rules. You know,
that is the sign of a man that actually has character and integrity. You should not ignore
it when the man is constantly pushing boundaries, trying to do things with you that you know your
dad doesn't want you to do. Constantly wanting to touch you, things like that. You should be aware
of that. And last red flag in men is spiritual immaturity. Spiritual immaturity. Do not marry
ladies, especially ladies growing up in church, going to a good church, knowing what the Bible says.
Don't marry a guy that's less spiritual than you. He should be more spiritual than you.
You should look at him and be like, "Wow, he's a really awesome soul winner. Wow, he's really
zealous. He really knows the Bible well. He's passionate about the things of God." That's the
type of guy you should marry. Not someone who's like, "Well, he's got a cool car. He's never read
the Bible." Don't make that mistake. That's a foolish mistake that's being short-sighted.
Why? Because you're gonna be with this man for the rest of your life. Man, you're gonna be with this
woman for the rest of your life. And unfortunately, I've seen people rush into marriage and they're
struggling. They're having serious issues because they just like, "All right, I'm 18. I just gotta
get married." Or, "Hey, this is the first girl to talk to me. We just gotta get married." And just
being short-sighted, not thinking about the things that I'm telling you. Look, I haven't given you
Bible verses for everything that I'm talking about, but I'm telling you, I've just seen this to be true.
Okay, and I would be, I would beware if I were you. Go to Genesis chapter 16, Genesis chapter 16.
Here's another one. Don't be short-sighted when it comes to having children. Don't be short-sighted
when it comes to having children. Genesis 16 verse 1 says, "Now Sarai, Abram's wife,
bare him no children. She had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said
unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto my maid.
It may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai,
Abram's wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian. And Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan
and gave her to her husband, Abram, to wife. So notice, Sarai's getting impatient, right? She's
becoming hasty. And in her desire to have a child, she ends up being very short-sighted and says,
you know, rather than just waiting on God and allowing him to bless us with a child, let's do
something sinful. Let's just give Abram to another woman. That's a short-sighted thing to do. And you
could tell it's short-sighted because Sarai's immediately pissed. She's ready to burn the world
to the ground because any woman that gives their man to another woman is going to be ready to burn
the world to the ground, right? But yet it was her idea. And man, don't just listen to every idea
that your wife gives you, especially in this area, okay? Like if your wife ever tells you to do this,
this is a trap, bro. No, she's a fed. No, I'm just kidding. She's not a fed, all right?
But this is a bad idea. This is being short-sighted. Genesis 2 24 says, "Therefore shall a man leave his
father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." The Bible says that
a marriage is literally between one man and one woman. I know that's real controversial today,
but polygamy is not biblical, okay? This was a one-time act of adultery. This was not perpetual
adultery, but Abram going in unto this other woman, it was a one-time act of adultery because
polygamy was not something that God ever permitted. It was something that people did, but it was not
right. But because they were short-sighted, they ended up what? Sinning. Today, sometimes people
get impatient. They want to have children, and they end up sinning in order to do so. It's called IVF.
What is IVF? It's in vitro fertilization. Literally, that just means fertilization in
a lab. What is IVF? This is from the Mayo Clinic. It says in vitro fertilization, also called IVF,
is a complex series of procedures that can lead to a pregnancy. It's a treatment for infertility,
a condition in which you can't get pregnant after at least a year of trying for most couples. IVF
also can be used to prevent passing on genetic problems to a child. During in vitro fertilization,
mature eggs are collected from ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab. Then a procedure is done to place
one or more of the fertilized eggs called embryos in a uterus which is where babies develop. One full
cycle of IVF takes about two to three weeks. Sometimes these steps are split into different
parts and the process can take longer. Here's a simple breakdown of how it works. So now it's
just going to give us points of the simple way that it works. Number one, how does it work?
Ovary stimulation. Normally a woman's ovaries or woman's ovary releases one egg per month.
In IVF doctors give medication to stimulate the ovaries to produce several eggs at once. Number
two, egg collection. Once the eggs are mature, a doctor uses a small needle to collect them
from the ovaries in a minor surgical procedure. Number three, sperm collection. The partner
provides a sperm sample which is processed in a lab to isolate the healthiest sperm. Number four,
fertilization in the lab. The eggs and sperm are brought together in a dish. The sperm fertilizes
the eggs just like it would in the body creating embryos. So what is happening here in the dish,
in the lab is conception, right? Fertilization is conception. So they are literally creating human
beings in the lab with IVF. Don't let anyone fool you. That's literally what this is saying.
They are creating human beings in the lab. Then it says, number five, monitoring the embryos,
which let's just be honest is babies. Okay. Monitoring the embryos, the embryos,
fertilized eggs are watched closely for a few days as they start dividing and growing into cells.
It's weird how it's not a life, but its cells are dividing and growing. That's so weird. A non-life
would do that, right? Because it is alive. Doctors look for healthy embryos that are developing
properly. Number six, transferring the embryo. One or sometimes two healthy embryos are placed
in the woman's uterus using a small tube. This is called embryo transfer. If the embryo attaches
to the uterus lining, pregnancy begins. So this kind of begs the question, if the doctors in the
lab are taking the seed and the eggs and just fertilizing all of these and bringing conception
forth in these little petri dishes, what happens then to the ones that they don't use? Okay, now
number one, it says number one, not all eggs get fertilized. Some eggs might not combine with sperm
or may not grow into embryos. Okay, fertilization didn't happen then life wasn't created, right?
Number two, abnormal embryos. Some embryos stop developing because they aren't healthy enough to
continue. These are usually not used. For three, freezing extra embryos. There are extra healthy
embryos that can be frozen for future attempts. Number four, discarding embryos. Embryos that
are abnormal or not used are typically discarded based on the couple's or individual's decision
and medical guidance. So what happens is a lot of times these doctors, they're taking the seed
and the egg, they're fertilizing it, conception has taken place, human life has been created,
but they say, hey, you know, we made all these, we're going to put two in your uterus, see if one
implants and then they take the rest and they just throw it in the trash. You know what that is?
That's called being short-sighted because in your haste to have a child, just like Sarai was just so
hasty to have a child, it's like, okay, just go commit adultery, just go into my handmaid. People
today are just so in a rush to have a child with like, hey, let's just create human life in a lab
and we'll just implant some and the others will just throw in the trash and literally murder
because life begins at conception, friends. Life begins at conception and when you're taking
fertilized eggs where conception has taken place and you're just discarding those, that is murder.
That is murder and no Christian should ever engage in IVF. Do not get impatient. Do not get
short-sighted. Wait on the Lord. Trust in the Lord and even if God decides to never give someone
children, it's better to not have children than to have murdered children. What would you rather
have? Lacking a blessing from God or having a child but you've also murdered other children.
That's sick to have that on your conscience. That's something you should never ever do. Do
not get short-sighted when it comes to having children. Go to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1.
We got to get one Christmas verse in this this uh Sunday right? Why is it a problem to discard
fertilized eggs well here's why Luke 131 says and behold thou shalt notice
conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shalt call his name Jesus when
conception took place in the womb of Mary you know who was there the baby
Jesus was there and you conceive you don't conceive a watermelon you don't
conceive an orange you don't conceive conceive a lemon you conceive a child
when a woman has had conception she has a child inside of her and of course that
child was Lord Jesus Christ it's the same with every woman who's ever been
pregnant conception has taken place and life is there I have four beautiful
children on this earth but guess what two other times conception has happened
or we've had a miscarriage I have had six children in reality I've got four in
this world two are in heaven because two were real human souls that were created
by God and unfortunately they passed away but they were real people okay and
these babies made in the test tube they were real people real souls and those
babies are in heaven right now but just because they're in heaven doesn't excuse
the wickedness of killing them that's sick and disgusting go to Exodus 21
Exodus chapter 21 it's the same thing as like people desiring to be rich and
being hasty to be rich and lying cheating ripping people off cutting
corners to get rich it's like look there's nothing wrong with being rich
from working hard and dealing honestly and God blessing you that's great but
there is something wrong with doing wicked things to get rich nothing wrong
with having kids there is something wrong with doing wicked things to have
children look at Exodus 21 verse 22 if men strive and hurt a woman with child
so that her fruit depart from her and yet no mischief follow he shall surely
be punished according as the woman's husband will lay upon him and she shall
and he shall pay as the judge is determined so notice if two men are
fighting they hurt a pregnant woman her child departs her fruit departs the child
dies and it says and yet no mischief follow I think that's saying that there
was no premeditated murder that happened here this was an accident the man is
going to be punished still why because there was a loss of life but it says
this and if any mischief follow if it comes to light that this was
premeditated that you purposely hurt this woman that you purposely killed her
child which happens to this day notice the result then thou shalt give life for
life the Bible says that a child in its mother's womb child that has been
conceived is a life it is a living being eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand
foot for foot burning for burning wound for womb wound stripe for stripe you
know if we're to apply this today we would have to look at IVF we'd have to
just look at the facts and just determine that it is murder it is
premeditated yes mischief has followed the diet the doctors the scientists they
know that fertilization is taking place they're not dummies and that's why it
says like well they discard them based on the individuals preferences because
they know this is wicked and they know that people struggle with this idea
because they are committing murder the Bible says when you premeditatedly hurt
a woman or with child and kill the child that you would get life for life stripe
for stripe burning for burning what you did onto that baby should be done unto
you if it was done purposely is what the Bible says and you know of course we
should apply this to abortion too that these disgusting abortion doctors that
oftentimes use a saline solution to melt a precious little child in the womb you
know we should just drop those doctors into a vat of saline solution let them
melt like a snail burning for burning stripe for stripe wound for wound life
for life don't be short-sighted when it comes to having children don't don't also
you know get pregnant and worry so much about your future that you're
short-sighted and then you commit an abortion and kill the child that God has
given you I mean this works both ways don't be short-sighted if God has given
you a child he's giving you that child for a reason don't discard your child
and don't in your haste to have a child do something that God hates go to
Proverbs 29 number five don't be short-sighted with your relationships
this could apply to family friends co-workers just don't be hasty and rash
and short-sighted when it comes to your relationships
Proverbs 29 20 says see is thou a man that is hasty in his words there is more
hope of a fool than of him he that delicately bringeth up his servant from
a child shall have him become his son at the length an angry man stirrith up
strife and a furious man aboundeth in transgression you know it's a good
reminder to us not to be short-sighted and hasty in our words because
oftentimes what is it that destroys relationships oftentimes it's the things
that we say and sometimes people say the most hurtful things to the people that
they should be loving the most you know we got to remember that in our
relationships there's gonna be times where you're angry you're upset you
feel vindicated and justified for whatever you're feeling but you know
what don't be short-sighted ladies and mouth off to your husband because you
could harm that relationship and men don't be short-sighted and just come
down like a ton of bricks on your wife and just be a complete jerk to her
because yeah you're in charge but you know what you could still hurt that
relationship on how you speak to her and we should be wise in the words that we
use not being hasty go to Proverbs 27 while I read James 1 9 says wherefore my
beloved brethren let every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath
that's something we need to be reminded of slow to wrath don't be someone that's
just so quick to get angry blow off your mouth scream at your spouse or at your
children or at your co-workers whatever let us be slow to wrath Proverbs 27 verse
10 I love this verse thine own friend and thy father's friend forsake not
neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity for better as a
neighbor that is near than a brother far off don't be short-sighted in your
relationships the Bible says your friend and your father's friend don't forsake
them yet today we live in a society of an epidemic of people just willing to
burn friendships and relationships at the drop of a hat right and it's so easy
for us it's just the unfriend button right it just made us mad it's just the
unfriend button and look there's a time and place to use that believe me but we
should not be just by default so quick to cut people off in our lives we should
be people that are not forsaking our friends all the time forsaking our
father's friends we should be people that are loyal to the people in our
lives and not just immediately forsaking them go to Luke chapter 14 Luke 14
number six don't be short-sighted in big life decisions what am I talking about
buying a house buying a car moving to other states changing careers these are
things that you should not just do on a drop of a hat right getting married look
at Luke 14 verse 28 for which of you intending to build a tower sit if not
down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it what is
that a picture of being circumspect of being wise of not being hasty not being
prudent saying hey I want to build this tower I want to do something great what
am I gonna do I'm gonna sit down I'm gonna count the cost right before you
move to a different city count the cost before you start a business count the
cost before you get married count the cost make sure you're not doing these
things on a split decision lastly this evening go to John chapter 6 will be the
last one we talked about don't be short-sighted when it comes to church
don't be short-sighted when it comes to church specifically what I'm talking
about is quitting church sometimes people just quit church in an emotional
fit and it was not a wise decision they didn't leave a bad church they left a
good church for a dumb reason let me show you some people quitting on a
pretty good guys name was the Lord Jesus Christ now you think these people are
quitting for a good reason or a bad reason obviously a bad reason look at
John 6 verse 53 then Jesus said unto them verily verily I say unto you except
you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you
who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will raise
him up at the last day for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed
he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in him and I in him as
the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me
even he shall live by me this is that bread which came down from heaven not as
your fathers did eat manna and are dead he that eateth of this bread shall live
forever these things said he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum many
therefore of his disciples when they had heard this said this is an hard saying
who can hear it so notice his disciples are offended now is there anything wrong
with what Jesus preached absolutely not he's the word of God everything was
right that he said he is the bread of life but even his own disciples were
shocked by this sermon they were upset they were offended and notice Jesus
reaction in verse 61 when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at
it he said unto them does this offend you notice his reaction was not coddling
them well let me explain myself a little more what I really meant when I said I
was the bread of life is that I'm the bread of life does this offend you right
he's not coddling them he's just saying look does this offend you verse 62 what
and if ye shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before why is he
saying this because they're kind of offended at the the way that Jesus is
exalting himself because he's God I mean he's literally saying hey I'm not
talking about the manna that came down from heaven I'm saying I'm literally the
bread of life and that if you eat of me you will never be hungry look there's
only one man that could claim that that's the Lord Jesus Christ but these
disciples are just confused or carnal or not thinking of Jesus in the proper
perspective that he's God in the flesh and he's saying look does this offend
you how are you gonna how you gonna be feeling then when you see me ascend up
to God the Father it's like you're gonna think I'm a little exalted then you're
gonna think I'm a little high and mighty then when I ascend up in glory to God
the Father he doesn't you know mince words with his sermon he doesn't take
anything back he's saying look everything I'm saying was right why are
you offended guess what it's gonna get even more glorifying for me verse 63 it
is the spirit that quicken if the flesh profit if nothing the words that I speak
unto you they are spirit and they are life he's saying look my sermon is a
hundred percent right in fact the words that I'm speaking to you are life itself
he's not backing away from what he said whatsoever but there are some of you
that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believe not
and who should betray him he said therefore said I unto you that no man
can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father verse 66 notice
from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him
even the Lord Jesus Christ had people get upset at his preaching and quit
serving God and guess what there's never a good reason to quit on Jesus Jesus
didn't do anything wrong Jesus didn't preach anything wrong these people are
quitting walking with Christ because they themselves are backslidden they
themselves are carnal but it's just so funny because when people even do this
today and people will quit a good church they'll never tell you like well it's
because I felt like I was pressured to go soul winning there and I just never
wanted to go and so I just quit or just like well I just really wanted to live a
super worldly life and I really just wanted to embrace feminism and so my
family was just uncomfortable and hearing all the preaching about fix your
face and all these things I don't like that kind of stuff and so I'm gonna walk
away and it's like they're never gonna tell you those things but that's just
reality if people just impulsively with a short-sighted view with just not being
prudent not being circumspect if they did that to Jesus if they just on a
dime quit on Jesus let me just remind you that it's going to happen to good
churches today and look just the reality is is that if you stay in church this
church in five years is gonna be unrecognizable from what you see right
now I wish that wasn't true but I've seen it to be true so many times and
like I kind of expected it to be that way in five years I didn't really expect
that to be in five months but I'm telling you is that that's just reality
in five years it'll happen in five years it'll happen again five years it'll
happen again I mean this is just what we see happen but look at verse 67 notice
Jesus's response to seeing people quit on him leaving his ministry walk away
from him then said Jesus unto the 12 will ye go will ye also go away then
Peter asks a good question here verse 68 then Simon Peter answered him Lord to
whom shall we go thou has the words of eternal life you know that's a good
question that people should ask themselves before quitting a church
before quitting on a good church or a good pastor what these people should have
asked themselves is to whom shall we go you know Peter is the only one who's
actually thinking clearly here he's the only one that actually has a vision for
the future who's not being short-sighted who's actually looking at the big
picture saying okay you know Jesus offended some people he's had a hard
sermon here people are quitting on him maybe outsiders are looking at this
saying oh look Jesus's ministry is sinking it's getting destroyed here but
Peter says but to whom am I gonna go he's the one that has the words of life
he's the one that's God he's the son of God and it's like oftentimes I think
people leave a great church just because they're upset about one thing or they're
they're not even they could just have misunderstood something I mean these
people just misunderstood what Jesus was preaching they didn't understand it and
they leave a good church but it's like where are you gonna go though are you
going to go to the old IFB like we talked about this morning where they
want to welcome in the pedophiles where they want to welcome in the convicted
child predators to sit in the church with you where you want do you do you
want to hear about tithing every single service like do you want to have an altar
call where the Gospels preached every single service and every sermon is about
salvation is that what you want do you want the new King James do you want the
the NIV do you want the Deacon led church and the democracy church where
the women are voting on everything do you want the pastor and pastor's wife
duo do you want the church with no soul winning program do you want the church
where the hard preaching is never going to happen ever do you want the church
where they preach a Bible study through Romans 1 and they'll stop once it gets
to the reprobates and we're going to Romans 2 we're just reading the gospel
part of Romans 1 do you want to hear the pre-trib rapture every week do you want
to hear let's worship Israel let's worship the Jews oh well you know Pastor
Os said a mean thing one time okay well well you go away also but I'm telling
you that's just a short-sighted way to live your life and it's so funny how
people will give grace to these other churches for all these major issues but
then it's like they're upset at they're upset at Jesus here for what what did
Christ do preach the truth preached a hard sermon oh sorry that this offends
you but what are you gonna do when you hear the next sermon that's also offensive
I mean who cares but here's thing I do care though because I care about people
just leaving a good church for no reason because it harms them it's their it's
their loss and it's your thing like like I'm not harmed by people quitting church
because I'm still in a great church like I get to congregate with great people I
get to go out soul winning I get to be new IFB I love it I'm not suffering from
it but I do feel bad for people that leave a good church and go to a much
lesser church for no reason I do that does hurt me not because of my personal
pride or anything like that but because of the betterment of your family or the
hurt of your family I mean where are you going to go to where it doesn't make any
sense and you know praise God Oklahoma City does have some good old IFB
churches but I'm just saying like if you actually believe the doctrines that we
believe you're gonna get sick and tired of hearing about the Jews I mean if you
know what the Bible says if you've read the scriptures debunking Zionism you're
gonna get real tired of please donate your money to Israel please help us
build the Antichrist temple please would you just pass the plate again and pay
for the Jews that hate Jesus Christ to bomb some more kids in Palestine that's
gonna start eating at you a little bit and you ought to just stop being so
short-sighted and say like where am I gonna go you know sometimes people will
move they'll just like oh I just want to live out in the middle of nowhere and
just build a farm build a ranch it's like dude you live in Oklahoma you can
do that 20 minutes from church why would you just move super far away though you
know to where are you gonna go you're being short-sighted and people's lives
constantly are destroyed by this I mean to where are you gonna go are you gonna
go to anchor Baptist Church or the anchor Baptist Church we talked about
this morning where your kids are gonna be forced to go into the nursery where
you're gonna be publicly rebuked for having your kids in the service is that
where you're gonna go would you gonna go to the church where the pastor's wife is
wearing pants the pastor's wife has a short haircut is that where you're going
to go but it's so funny people get so blind they overlook everything else
because the one little thing that they're upset about and they act like you
know they're the most gracious loving people in the world go to Psalm 119 Psalm
119 but you know what these disciples missed out on the ministry of God in
the flesh because they got offended by one sermon I mean can you imagine the
loss of rewards of these people like you literally were walking with the Word of
God in flesh you had Jesus before your very eyes you could follow him and you
quit on him you stop following him because you got mad by one sermon that
he preached that was true anyways I mean those people had to beat themselves up I
mean it's just like they're good to heaven it's just like alright here's the
mansion of the disciples of Christ that were killed for Christ that suffered
persecution for Christ that stuck with him that failed in at times in life but
got back up and kept serving God and it's like here's the losers that got
bitter over his John chapter 6 sermon and quit on him yikes that's a really sad
backstory there Psalm 119 verse 165 notice this says great peace have they
which love thy law and nothing shall offend them now oftentimes people use
this verse and I think it's a fair application talking about being offended
in the way that we use the word being offended today meaning our feelings were
hurt but I don't think that's the primary interpretation of what this
passage is saying to offend oftentimes in the Bible means to cause to stumble to
cause to cease doing something and what the Bible's saying is that when you love
God's law you have great peace why because nothing will offend you meaning
nothing will cause you to stop serving God that is what that verse means it
means hey I'm gonna be steadfast why because I love God's Word that gives me
peace and nothing shall offend me nothing shall stop me from serving God
look no sermon I hear preached is going to stop me from serving God even if it's
against me even if it steps on my toes even if it corrects my actions I've told
you guys this story before I've literally had a pastor come up to me and say the
service tomorrow is specifically against you don't skip church come to church and
listen up you know what I did I came to church and I took it like a man I wrote
my notes I opened my Bible I turned along I'm saying amen okay he's right
yep I know he's right about that one and what people are like oh you preached
against me you said something against me you hurt my feelings I'm quitting well
it sounds like you don't love God's word because great peace have they which love
thy law and nothing shall offend them you know people who love God they could
literally have the pastor tell them I'm gonna preach against you tomorrow and
they still show up and they still listen and they still say amen other people
they think everything's about them they're so they're mad at every sermon
they're super upset at everything they're offended they're ready to quit
they move on somewhere else because they don't love God's word that much and look
I don't know if you notice I try my best to bring a lot of Bible into my sermons
because I love God's word I want you to love God's word and it's like to where
are you gonna go to the old IFB that has a 15-minute sermon with one verse look I
love God's word I want you to love God's word and if you do nothing's going to
offend you nothing's gonna cause you to stop but look I need church you need
church I need people to encourage me by going out soul winning I get encouraged
when I see the children of this church going out soul winning preaching the
gospel that fires me up I get encouraged singing the hymns together
fellowshipping with God's people you know iron sharpened with iron you know
we need church really really bad in this world and it would be so foolish and and
just short-sighted to quit on church today you know the closer we get to the
coming of Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says the more we should be coming
together and every day we go on in the future when you quit it's that much more
foolish of a thing to do last place we'll go where we started we'll finish
where we started Luke 15 Luke 15 verse 11 look I'm not just preaching this
sermon to try to beat up on people that have been short-sighted in the past in
their finances or in fornication or who they've married God forbid or anything
like that I'm trying to prevent other people from making those same mistakes
and I'm trying to help you minimize the damage in the future because we've still
got a lot of decisions left to make in our life every day is a series of
decisions and we need to constantly be reminded don't be short-sighted let's
finish with this Luke 15 11 and he said a certain man had two sons and the
younger of them said to his father father give me the portion of goods that
falleth to me and he divided unto them as living and not many days after the
younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country and
there wasted his substance with riotous living when he had spent all there rose
a mighty famine in that land notice this and he began to be in want here is the
reality is that in any area of our life whether it's finances marriage
fornication sin issues children church when you decide to make the
short-sighted decision without thinking of the long-term consequences this is
where you're going to come to in your life you're gonna come to a point in
your life where you begin to be in want where you realize I've messed up and I'm
lacking some things and I'm hurting in some area because of the decisions that
you've made and we live in a world today that wants to eliminate pain and
eliminate the consequences of bad decisions right that mean that's what
abortion is it's trying to erase the consequences of bad decisions there's
all these safety nets trying to save you but I'm telling you God especially us
those of us that are saved those of us who are going to be punished by God
chastised with God God can make sure that those safety nets fail for us God
can make sure that we do feel the pain and the suffering of our mistakes and so
what's better is to just not be so short-sighted in the first place be
prudent circumspect last verse will read verse 17 and when he came to himself how
many he said how many hired servants of my fathers have bred enough and to spare
and I perish with hunger you know this is what I'm trying to do with this sermon
is to get you to come to yourself now before you're in the situation of the
prodigal son come to yourself now and realize hey I'm gonna be in a world of
hurt on my finances if I don't start working hard now as a young man or hey
you know I'm gonna be in a world of hurt if I'm a woman that has a body count in
the teens and I've got all these bastard children and I'm 30 years old I've never
been married look that's a situation where you could be in a big world of
hurt and I want you to avoid that don't want you to have to go through that type
of pain you know I don't want you to have to come to yourself when you've
burned all the relationships in your life you've burned all your friends you've
burned your pastor you've burned your mom and dad you've burned your church you
quit on church you quit on God and then you just come to yourself and realize
I'm an idiot I screwed up I wasted my life here I am you know I'm messing up
now thankfully this story has a positive ending where the father receives him and
brings him back you know we want to be that way as a church where this world
has gone out living in the pig pen of this world they've ruined their lives a
lot of time and we want to let them know that hey God loves you God can forgive
you we want to receive you as a church but you know it would be just better all
around is if those of us in this room we never had a prodigal son story let us
just skip the prodigal son phase of our life let's just be faithful children of
God the father why because we have a really rich dad we have a really cool
dad God the father that has so many blessings for us in this life why would
we just run off on him and quit being his son and just stay away and just give
us the blessings now let's just ruin our lives now no let the time pass of our
lives be sufficient for all those things you know let us not be short-sighted as
Christians let's pray Lord thank you for this day and thank you for this parable
I just pray that you'd help us all in this room especially the young people to
be circumspect in their lives and every decision they make to think about the
long-term consequences that it may have I do pray that you would be merciful to
us and gracious to us as we navigate life of course we are just flesh Lord we
make mistakes we are sinners but I pray that we would take seriously every
decision that you'd help us to have foresight and not be so hasty in our
decisions and just pray that you would receive us when we sin and forgive us
when we sin we love you and you send me pray amen and if you would take your
hymnals at this time we'll go ahead and sing one last song to conclude the
service. Hymn number 432 we'll sing. Angels from the realms of glory. Hymn number 432
432 we'll start there right on the first. Angels from the realms of glory, when you
♪ Your flight or all your stars in your watch ♪