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["Pomp and Circumstance"] All right, well, thanks for coming, everybody. If you want to go ahead and take your seats, we'll be getting service tonight. Go ahead and turn on your handles over at song number 30. We'll sing Nothing But The Blood. Song number 30. ["Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"] ["Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"] ["Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"] ["Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"] ["Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"] ["Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"] ["Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"] ["Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"] All right, we're going to end the Word of Prayer. Good Lord, again, thank you for the opportunity to be in your house. It's really with me with us tonight. Be blessed with preaching and singing and fellowship. We ask in Christ's name, amen. All right, we'll sing that song number 147 next, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. Song number 147. Song 147. Let's sing it. ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] ["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"] All right, it's time to look at our announcements. If you need a bulletin, go ahead and slip up your hand whether Adam threw one. As always, we've got our service time listed there on the left-hand side. We're doing first teams tonight. I'm actually going to be wrapping up first teams chapter number 19. I was debating whether or not to preach, but it's just the last few verses, and I know hopefully it's just those that came down from camp today that are feeling like maybe a short service in the morning, so I'll do my best. Hopefully not everybody goes that way. I can at least sympathize with the people that are at camp. They get preaching every night, and I appreciate everybody coming out tonight. Again, I'll be at first teams 19 and wrapping that up. We've got the salvation, the baptism, the offering tools, and the tenets below that. We'll go ahead and count up the salvation going back to Monday. We're going to go from Mondays to Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Wednesday, or Tuesday. We'll keep up the good work out there slowly. Again, I know we're on the right-hand side. Hope you can join us this Sunday, July 3rd, at 10 a.m. to go into coffee. We're celebrating the month of July, so come on out early for that. You can get a go at it. Also, we've got the main conference schedule. Of course, Pastor Aaron Thompson was just here this Sunday and with us at camp. Pastor Joe Jones was just up there in Tempe this last Wednesday, so next Sunday I got Pastor Jonathan Shelley. Then, of course, next Wednesday we'll have Pastor Roger Menes. I will be running a shuttle up there, so anybody that wants to join me at 5 p.m. here in the building, I'll take a handful of people. I've got enough for about 15 people, 14, other than myself. We'll cram you in there. It's only an hour and a half in the way, so you can max it out. I think that's good, but I'm looking forward to hearing that. Servants and Pastor Menes, Pastor Dave Burgin, Pastor Robert, are also coming up. Don't forget, Mexico Monday has been put out until the second Wednesday. There's the notes in the back of our hand. Of course, that's coming on. And then we have the weekly Bible memory passage below that. We'll do it for announcements. We'll go ahead and sing another song. We'll get into the preaching tonight. We're going to go to song number 56. It'll be all of your companion. Song number 56. Sing the largest of the children, Sing his mercy and his praise. In love they shout, He'll be there for us to praise. In the arms of faith today, One day you'll rejoice, You'll never be. In the arms of sweet Jesus, We'll sing and shout the victory. While we walk the hill, We'll camp with clouds, We'll all course with the sky. On which traveling things are over, Not the shadowless sky. When we all get together, One day you'll rejoice, You'll never be. When we all see Jesus, We'll sing and shout the victory. Let us be true and faithful, Just be serving every day. Just one grace of living glory, We'll learn to work again. When we all get together, One day you'll rejoice, You'll never be. When we all see Jesus, We'll sing and shout the victory. Onward to the Christ, We'll sing and shout the victory. To the Holy Spirit, We'll sing and shout the victory. When we all get together, One day you'll rejoice, We'll sing and shout the victory. We'll sing and shout the victory. First, on the bottom. In the past, we went into the house of Jesus. And Jesus passed away. We watched him. And he wrote a sermon at the church. And he asked him to take us to the world. And he said, We're all supposed to heal what's happening. And the other piece, He took him to heal what's going to happen. And after that, he was saying, The contribution of God passes across all of us to a day. And God showed him to go out and pass him. And God asked him again. He took one of the arrows, And he went into the pit. And God showed up. And he said, You know, I've been waiting at your wedding. To sit down in the highest room With some more honorable men and thousands of visitors. And he said, Baby, you're coming to come And say to me, If it's not faith, You know, you're getting changed And you're going through Whatever it is, Go and sit down in the lowest room. And when you hear that baby coming, And you're saying, It's a threat, It's a poor fight. Then shout out, I'll worship you, And the rest of them And said, You will. 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You know, I'd be a little bit, uh, you know, this isn't normally how it goes. He ran off, you know, but it just goes to show you that Elisha, you know, there's nothing beneath him, you know, and if you're going to serve and this, you know, we could all apply this, you know, if we're going to serve in the local church, if we're going to serve to any capacity, if we're going to serve and be people that are, are, are good servants, people that are good stewards, people that are going to be promoted, whether in the church or whether at our, you know, at, at, uh, at our jobs or wherever, you know, we can't be these people who just pick and choose what tasks are worthy of our attention. You know, that's, you know, especially in the ministry, you know, that's not something that you have a lot of liberty of as liberty in, excuse me, when it comes to the ministry. I can't just sit here and say, well, you know, I, I just don't feel like cleaning this week and look, I'm happy to clean, but if it doesn't get cleaned, you know, it's not going to get cleaned, right? Well, I just don't feel like preaching this week. You know, well then who's going to do it? You know, well, I, I just don't feel like leading that soul winning time. Unfortunately, you know, fortunately we do have guys that'll step up and lead some soul winning times for me when it's needed. But you know what, but if that was just consistently week in and week out, these things are just going to go undone. You can't just say, well, that, you know, I'm, I'm above that, you know, that task is beneath me. You know, you have to have a willingness to humble yourself and be able to serve wherever and however needed. And really what I want to talk about is this, this type of attitude that you have to have in ministry. And you might not understand what I mean by it at first, but what I, what I think the type of attitude you have to have is just this burn it all attitude. You know, that nothing, nothing's off limits, just burn it all. Let's just go full tilt all the way in 100% just burn it all because that's what Elijah does here in the story. It says there in verse 20 and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother. And when I, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, go back again for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen. So the same plow that he was in, that same instrument, he takes that and he takes the oxen and he burns his own tools. He just burns it all because what it's showing us is this burn it all attitude is just this attitude of, Hey, I'm just, I'm leaving it all behind. I'm just, I'm lighting it all on fire. I can't come back to this. I'm going all the way in, you know, and I'm preaching specifically about the ministry tonight because I believe this is something that should be preached. You know, if you're, if you're one who wants to be in ministry, that's not something you just dip your toe in and see how the waters are. You know, that's something you have to go all the way in and stay committed. You know, that's not something where you just kind of, well, I'll see how this goes. That's not what Elijah did. He said, I'm being called to this ministry. This mantle has been cast upon me. I'm going to fulfill the room of Elijah. Let me just burn these instruments. Let me just slay these oxen and kiss my mom and dad goodbye and just go forward and serve God. You got to have a burn it all attitude. Leave, just leave it all behind in order to serve God. That's what's necessary for ministry. You know, and we see that in Luke. If you look there and if you're going to Luke chapter 14, go back there. And Luke five of course is the story when James and John, the sons of Zebedee and Peter are first, you know, called to the ministry. It's after that great miracle of fishes where they cast the net into one side of the boat and there's that great draft of fishes and then they have to come help Peter. Peter falls down and says, depart from me for my Lord, for I'm a sinful man. And he says, you know, from thenceforth thou shalt catch men. But it says that when he called them that they brought their ships to land, you know, and said, I'll be back in a little bit. You know, keep it warm for me. It says they forsook all and followed him. You know, when they were going to go follow Christ on his earthly ministry, they forsook everything. What is that? It's a burn it all attitude. Just leave it all behind. Just turn it all to ashes. Let me just serve God with my life. There's nothing there for me to go back to. I'm going all the way in. That's the type of attitude is needed to serve God, especially when it comes to, you know, being in the ministry, being, you know, I don't like to use that term full, you know, that, that term full time ministry because, you know, we're all full time Christians, but I'm saying, you know, you're going to be the preacher. You're going to be the one who's on staff. You're going to be one who's leading the church, you know, that you have to have this all in burn it all type of attitude. You have to forsake everything and be willing to just go full tilt into the ministry. The ministry again, isn't something that you just try out and look, I've known people in the past, good people, you know, but you know, and, and well-intentioned I'm sure, but I've known people in the past who tried the ministry, you know, and it didn't work out so well, you know, and that, you know, that's kind of a, it's kind of a black eye a little bit. It's kind of an embarrassing situation to be somebody who started to build something and then couldn't finish. You know, that's what it tells us here in Luke chapter 14. He said in verse 25, and there went great multitudes with him. And he turned and said unto them, if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yea, in his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And of course people get confused. What do I mean? Is he saying you have to hate them? He's saying, in comparison to serving me, it has to be as if you hate these other things. You can't just be so affectionate and so, and hold on so dearly to these other's relationships and yea, even your own life, if you want to serve me to the capacity that I need you to serve me. And of course, you know, this is a very unique situation. This is when you're, we're talking about literally following Christ in the flesh for three, you know, the three years that he was, you know, in doing, working his ministry, you know, but there's a, there is still that principle that applies that, you know, if we're going to serve God, we can't just be overly concerned with all these other relationships and all, even our own plans and ambitions, our hopes, our dreams, you know, we might just have to burn all those things. We might just have to leave all those things behind. We might have to pull up stakes and go to some other town and, you know, leave everything that we've known behind, everything familiar behind in order to just go serve God. You know, that's what's needed in ministry. That's what it requires. You have to have this burn it all attitude. Look at verse 33. He said, so likewise, whosoever be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. You know, and that's the disciple. That's not even just, you know, an apostle. That's just, hey, if you want to be a disciple, you've got to be willing to forsake everything. You know, if you're going to serve God to the capacity that he wants you to, you have to at least be willing to forsake everything. You know, and this was quite literal for the people back then in Luke chapter 14. Today, you know, that's not really what you're asked of us, is it? I don't know anybody that's been asked to just forsake everything. You know, we've got to, you know, God takes it easy on us today. We might have to forsake, you know, an hour or two on our Saturday afternoon to go serve God. We might have to, you know, forsake a few hours during the week to go to the house of God and hear the word of God preached. We might have to forsake some other things in our life in order to, you know, praise God and live godly in Christ Jesus, right? But have any of us been asked to just forsake everything? You know, I know I haven't, and I don't know of anybody else that has. But there still has to be that willingness. You know, and I think about that. What if the persecution gets so bad in this country? I'm not saying it will, but what if it just gets so bad that we can't even minister? What are we going to do? Well, Jesus said, if they persecute you in this town, flee and go to the next. And I take that literally. You know, if it gets so bad, well, let's just leave. I'll just go somewhere where I can serve God. I'll forsake everything. I'll leave my house. You know, I'll leave my 2007 Dodge caravan. Such sacrifice I'll make for the Lord. You know, I'm willing to put it all on the altar. You know? But that should be our attitude, to forsake all that we have. To hate our own life also is what's necessary. That's what you have to have in order to serve God. Especially when it comes to the ministry. A burn it all attitude that doesn't look back. Because that's what Elisha is showing us. He's saying, I'm going from being a farmer, from plowing, to going and ministering, being a man of God. It's not something I'm just going to try for a while and if it doesn't work out, I'll just come back to my oxen. No, I burnt that. It's gone. I ate those oxen. I gave them away. You know, there's nothing for me to go back to. Because I'm not planning on coming back. That's what he's showing us. That when he set out to go out and follow Elisha, he's saying, I'm going all the way. I'm burning it all. I'm leaving it all behind. You know, a lot of Christians today, they don't serve God to the capacity that they could because they don't have this attitude. They don't have this attitude of whatever it takes, I'll serve God. Whatever it takes, I'll be in church. Whatever it takes, I'll be out soloing. Whatever it takes, I'm going to serve God to whatever capacity I can. They let such small things stop them. It reminds me, if you would go to Luke 9, keep something in Luke 14, go to Luke 9. It reminds me of the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. You know, they were hungry, so God gave them manna from heaven. I mean, wouldn't you think that's pretty cool if God miraculously just started feeding you manna from heaven? I mean, I wouldn't really care what it tastes like. Well, maybe not at first. I don't know. I shouldn't speak too soon. But I mean, I would probably, I would be amazed. You know, if I walked across the street, like the park across my house, and it was just covered in manna. You know, and it was just, you know, if I took too much, you know, and it bred worms. If I didn't take enough, there was always enough there. And it had, you know, it was like a coriander seed, and it tasted like honey. You know, it would be an amazing thing. But, you know, that's exactly what he did for the people that he took out of Egypt. Right? And that's a picture of salvation, right? We've been taken out of Egypt. We've been saved out of the world through the blood. We've been baptized in that sea, so to speak, right? And what did they do? What did the children of Israel do? They started to look back. They said, you know, they started to complain, and it displeased the Lord, and they said, we remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely. And they had this desire to go back and eat. They wanted the leeks and the melons and the onions and the fish that they ate for. It's like, yeah, but did you forget about the fact you were being oppressed? That they were whipping you and making you, you know, give a certain tale of brick, and they were making your life miserable with hard bondage? Did you forget about that? Did you forget about they were telling you to cast your firstborn, you know, your children into the river? Did you forget about that? And people get so shortsighted sometimes in their service for God, they forget how bad, they think that going back to their old life is going to be good. It's not. It's the same bondage. It's the same hardship. It's all still there waiting for you. Yeah, there might be some fish and some leek and some onions, but good night. God's giving you manna. What else do you need? But this is human nature. This is what we do. We take for granted these great things that God has given us, and we start to wonder about what it would be like to go back. And what that is is a lack of what? Of a burn it all attitude, like Elisha had to just say, I'm not coming back. I'm burning this. I'm slaying that oxen. It's over. It's not even an option. You know, sometimes I'll tell myself that, like, you know, if we're tempted to do something or if we feel like quitting, I'll just say, well, it's not even an option. I've taken that off the table. It's not going to make any point for me to sit here and think about this. I shouldn't even be pondering it because I've already determined that's not an option for me to go back. It's not an option for me to quit. You know, when you have an attitude like that, what you find yourself is you start to figure out a way to make things work. You start figuring out, okay, well, if it's just not an option, well, then I'm going to figure out how to get through this temptation. I'm going to figure out how to keep serving God. I'm going to figure out how to just get better at what I'm doing. But, you know, if we don't burn the instruments, if we leave the oxen there, we might eventually start going, well, you know, it's there. It's available. I guess I'll go back. Look, if you're going to serve God, you have to burn it all attitude. Jesus said in Luke 9, where you are, verse 62. And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. So you're going to labor for God. You're going to grab ahold of my plow. You're going to go out, and you're going to break up the fallow ground in the hearts of the sinful. You're going to sow the seeds of the gospel. You're going to get in the plow of preaching the gospel. You can't sit here and look back. If you're going to serve me, you've got to put your hand in that plow and keep your eyes forward. And I always love that verse, and I know I've probably shared this illustration before, but, you know, it reminds me of when I was first taught how to mow a lawn. Now, if you're native here to the Arizona, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. But, you know, where grass actually grows, you have to mow the lawn, you know, once or twice, you know, every couple weeks, usually. But, you know, we had a long lawn. I mean, it was probably like from here to the water cooler. You know, and people drive by, they'll look at, you know, when you start mowing lawns, you start looking at everybody else's lawn. And say, oh, they did that diamond pattern. Oh, they did an angle. You know, or they were all over the place. You know, and I was told the way you mow is you pick a spot, and you just keep your eye on that, and you just push, and you'll make straight lines. You know, it's a perfect illustration of what Jesus is talking about. Look, you want to get to the end of your life and look back, and God, let's say, let's look how you plowed your field, and it's nice, straight furrows. Everything's where it should be. It's the most efficient use of the land. It was able to bring forth the most that it could. It was because when you put your hand on that plow, you kept your eyes straight forward. You weren't doing this. But this is how Christians live their life. And then they wonder why they're bumping into a tree over here. They're digging up into rocks. They're getting into the neighbor's garden over there. Everything's a mess. It's because you're looking back. You have to keep your eyes forward. You have to have this attitude of, I've burned it all. There's nothing back there to even see. There's no reason for me to turn around and look. It's all gone. There's nothing to go back to. I don't need to look back. That's what a burn it all attitude does. It doesn't look back. It says goodbye to the world. It says goodbye to the past. You know, and that would probably help a lot of us out to learn to just say goodbye to the past. Because some people, you know, we look back on our past and, you know, it's just heartache. It's something we would probably prefer to forget. And God's saying, yeah, go ahead and do that. Go ahead and forget about the past. Go ahead and forget about all those things that you're ashamed of, those things you wish you didn't do. Go ahead and forget about them. I already have. Why don't you do it and just keep your eyes forward and keep serving God. That's what a burn it all attitude does. It says goodbye to the world. It says goodbye to the past. That's what we see in our story. He said he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and mother. And what was he saying? Let me tell him goodbye. Let me say goodbye to the past so that I can follow you. That's what a burn it all attitude does. And I want to wrap this up early tonight. My next point about a burn it all attitude is that it can be belittled. It says goodbye to the past. It doesn't look back. But you know what? It can also be belittled. Let me explain what I mean by that. Verse 20 again. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother. And then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, and I love Elisha's response here. Oh, I'm so glad you're following me. I'm so glad you chose to come and take up my mantle. I'm so glad that I have a servant. I'm so glad that I have somebody to impart this knowledge unto and to show how to do this. You know, he gets right into it with him. He says, if you want to serve God, it's not going to be enough. He says, go back. What have I done to thee? It's such a weird statement. And if you're Elisha, you're kind of like, dude, I'm leaving everything, man. I'm burning the oxen. I'm saying goodbye. You're going to give me attitude right out of the gate? I was busy working, and you just came and throw your mantle on me. And I'd like to come serve you, but let's check that attitude, Elisha. Let's get something straight here. I'm taking up your mantle, and you're going to show me something. No, he says, you know what? What have I done to you? Do whatever you want, Elisha. I really don't care. And that's why I always had this impression of Elijah just kind of being this bit of a grump. And maybe I'm totally wrong, and maybe I'll get there, and he'll be grumpy with me. I don't know. That's not how I was. But that's the impression I get. He's just like, go back. But Elisha, he took that, didn't he? He was belittled. I haven't done anything. Who are you? He didn't have this, well, I'm the one who's following up in your footsteps. That's who I am. He said, OK, all right. And he runs back. He does what he has to do, and he gets right back where he was. And then we don't hear about him for several more chapters. And what we do find out about him, it was he who poured water on the hands of Elijah. That's what he was doing the whole time, and we don't hear about him. We're talking about grown men here. If one of you guys came to me and said, I need to wash my hands. I will hold them over the sink. I need you to grab that basin and pour water on my hands while I wash them. We'd probably be like, wash your own hands, dude. We have indoor plumbing now, right? And obviously, there was something practical behind that back then to pour running water on someone's hands. I don't know if you ever tried to do that yourself, try to pour water on your own hands. Go home and try that. Use your teeth. Pour the pitcher on it. You're going to make a mess, right? So obviously, there was a practical reason behind that, but that's kind of a humbling job to just sit there and be the guy. Well, what do you do? I pour water on his hands. What is it? He's a gopher. He's just a gopher. He's just like, hey, do this. Do all the menial tasks that get no glory. Just go scrub that toilet. Go mop that floor. Go do those dishes. We saw a lot of this at camp, didn't we? Some of us did a lot of menial tasks, didn't we? And at one point, I had to kind of check myself. I hope I'm not barking orders too much. But then I thought, you know what? I'm just trying to get something done. And I'm sure maybe someone might have felt like I was kind of short, maybe. It's like, hey, I need you to do this, do this, and do this. And it was kind of that way, right? Why? Because we're trying to get something done for God. We're trying to make something happen. We're trying to serve God's people. And I don't have time to sit there and say, well, you'd be really great, you know, and coddle you and hold your hand. I'm not saying it's an excuse to be a belligerent jerk. But sometimes, you know, when you're trying to get something done, you just want to get it done. You know, sometimes people ask, hey, can I help? And you just want to say no because I know if I say yes, I'm going to spend more time just explaining what I want done and making sure I say it the right way. I'd rather just do it, you know, and not have the headache. You know, but when you have someone who knows how to serve, they're not, they're not, their feelings aren't their main concern. They just want to get the work done. They don't go, oh, I mean, I volunteered, but I didn't realize you're going to talk to me like that. Can I get a pretty please with sugar on top? It's like, no, just get it done. You know, and I'm thankful for my old pastor because this is something like he taught me, you know, by example, by, by this exact thing. And he would just, and if I got out of line, if I got an attitude, he'd just check me on it. I'd be like, all right. You know, in the longest time, the only good thing I had going for me is that I learned how to, I knew how to be rebuked. I don't know if I shared that story, but that he tried to get me, I was roofing with him and he went in to get me a job with the roofing supplier that supplied all the shingles and things. And he was trying, he was talking to the manager there trying to get me a job. And he, and he, and he said, well, what, why should I hire him? We can handle being rebuked. That was it. It's like, I don't know. That's exactly the best thing you want to hear about, you know, in a potential me. Well, he's, he messes up a lot and you got to correct him a lot, but he can be corrected. And look, there is something to be said about that. The person that can be corrected will go far in life. If you can handle somebody telling you, hey, you're doing this wrong. This is how you're supposed to do it. Now do it this way. Grab that water and get over here and pour it on my hands. My hands are dirty because I've been working hard and I need you to do something that, you know, is going to teach you some humility. You know, that's the kind of, that's what I mean by a burn it all attitude can allow itself to be belittled because there's humility there. They understand that, you know, the ministry isn't about the minister. It's not about the person. You know, and if you want to be in ministry, let me just, let me just go ahead and break it to you right now. You know, and I won't say this is a hundred percent for everybody, but it's a thankless job. I mean, it's always a mixture of both. There's always people that are very grateful, that are very helpful, that are always there and appreciate what you're doing, but there's always going to be people there who could really just take it or leave it and are just never going to express any kind of appreciation. And that's fine because that's not why we're in it. We're not in it to receive praise from men. We're not in it to be thanked. We're in it because there's a burden that has to be borne and somebody has to bear it. Otherwise, the work's not going to get done. You know, and I know I've shared this, but I expressed this recently. I said, you know, I just feel like there's somebody else that could do this job better than me. And I wasn't told, no, you're the best guy for the job. I was told, well, you're the one that's available. And that's not in a demeaning way. It was just like, hey, well, here's the reality of the situation. You know what? There probably are people, in fact, I know there are, that are much more intelligent than me, much more well-spoken than me, that could probably do this job a whole lot better. But you know what? Where are they? Where are they? You know, they're out, you know, with their oxen somewhere. They're out tilling some other fields. So, you know, you've got to just get over the whole thing, well, it's about me. It's about me being thanked. It's about me being lifted. It's not about that. It's about you being willing to do the menial tasks, being belittled, being unappreciated, as well as appreciated. I don't want to come across as, I don't feel, I feel appreciated in this church, believe me. But I already know that that's part of the ministry. That there's people out there just kind of, whatever. And those are the people usually that end up washing out, that don't stick around and go back to the world. You know, the ministry is not about the minister. That's why a burn-it-all attitude has to be willing to be belittled. Because it's a thankless job. It's about serving others, which is something that requires sacrifice. And that's what Elisha is learning here. That's what he's doing. It says he, you know, he boiled the flesh of the oxen, he burned the instruments of the oxen, and he rose and went after Elisha and did what? Ministered unto him. He just went and served. And did whatever it was that needed to be done. And that's why, you know, a burn-it-all attitude has to be willing to be belittled. Because, you know, let me just break this to you too. Is that, you know, the world is going to belittle the servants of God. That's the other thing. You want to get in the ministry, you better be getting used to being belittled. Because there's a lot of people out there, especially in the internet land today, that are just going to have, make it their life's purpose to belittle you. And to try to just besmirch you and just try to belittle you and just try to, you know, go, oh, can you believe this guy? Can you believe what he said? And just try to make you, you know, enemy number one for the things that you said. And look, we can debate whether or not that's really an attack. Look, if they're just, if people are just repeating what I've said, are they really attacking me? No. But their intention is to try to, you know, bring, you know, harassment, you know, to incite an angry mob to come against you. And the world will belittle you. They'll hate you. I should have had you go to 1 Corinthians, but I'll just read to you because I want to wrap it up tonight. I know it's been a long week for most of us and I'm sure everybody would appreciate getting out early, but go to Luke chapter 16. Now I'll just remind you, in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, what Paul told the Corinthians, he said, we are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong, you are honorable, but we are despised. The apostle Paul. I mean, we read about the apostle, I mean, we think about the apostle Paul, we read about his life, we say, what a great man. I mean, we say it, I've heard it, I believe it, the greatest Christian that's ever lived, the apostle Paul, outside of the Lord himself. Powerful man of God. But you know, in Paul's day, there are people that despised him, that belittled him. He said, even at this present hour, we hunger, we thirst, we're naked, we're buffeted, we have no certain dwelling place, and labor, working with our own hands, being reviled we bless, being persecuted we suffer, being defamed we entreat, we are made as the filth of the world and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day. You know, they crucified Jesus. You know, and he said, if they hate me, they'll hate you also. And you know, Paul's proof of that. He's saying, look, I'm serving God and I made the filth of this world. The world hates me. So that's why a burn-it-all-out attitude has to be willing to what? Be belittled. Because that's exactly what the world is going to do. You know, and this is something that I remember being told before I ever got in ministry, and it's something, you know, I've talked with others that were there that night at that preaching class with Pastor Anderson, when he got up, when he was going through some great persecution, he stood up in front of all those men that were hopefuls there that wanted to be pastors, he said, you know what, there's some of you in this room that are never going to make it. You're going to wash out. When the persecution comes, when the devil comes knocking, when the world starts to put the pressure on and belittle you, you're going to quit. You know, and those words burned down into my heart. Those words sank down into my ears. And I often think about that, because I walked away saying, well, how do you know that about yourself? You can't really know that until you're kind of in the fire. You know, there was another guy there that was that night, his name's Pastor Jonathan Shelley, he wasn't pastor at the time, but you know what, he's going through exactly what Pastor Anderson was warning about. They're going to hate you, they're going to persecute you in this town and cause you to flee from this town. I mean, he's going through persecution for the last two years that I've never seen anybody else go through. You know, I'm not at liberty to share everything I don't believe. I'm sure I don't know everything, but I'm telling you something, folks, that guy's going through the fire right now. But you know what, he's not quitting. Because he's somebody that's willing to be belittled for the cause of Christ. You know, and I wish there was something more I could do for him that we could do for him as a church, but you know, really, at the end of the day, all you can do is pray, and that he sticks by the stuff and goes through it. But you know what else I can do? Is I look to somebody like that as an example and say, I hope if I ever go through what he's going through, I have the character and integrity to maintain the cause for Christ and to not fold and to not buckle. Because there's plenty of people out there that would. There's plenty of other people that were in that room that night years ago that if they were in that position would have quit before the heat even began to get cranked up on them. And I'm preaching this because hopefully, again, there's people in this room that want to go into ministry. But I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm not going to sit here and say, yeah, it's great. I mean, it is. It's very rewarding. It's the most rewarding work I've ever done. But you know what, it comes at a price. And I don't believe I've even begun to pay that full price. And I've known others that have. A burn-it-all attitude is willing to be belittled. But not only that, but burn-it-all attitude bears a burden. That's my last point. It bears the burden. You know, that was, Elisha was kind of pre-qualified for this. You say, why Elisha? Why did he go to him and not that first servant? Because the first servant, they got to Beersheba. He's like, just stay there. He's like, okay. Oh, you know, Jezebel's after me. She's going to take my head. Why don't you just stay here? Okay, sure. Is that what Elisha was like? You know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but you go to 2 Kings 2, when Elisha's finally passing off the scene, Elisha says the same thing to him. He says, why don't you just stay here, and I'm going to go and be taken up in heaven. He says, I'll never leave you. He said, I want a double portion of your spirit. You're going to have to, a fiery chariot's going to have to separate me from you. I'm going to be with you. I'm not staying at Beersheba. That's what I mean by stick-to-itiveness. You know, and that was something that you see, you say, well yeah, you find that out later about Elisha. No, you see that Elisha, or Elisha, that was something that was part of his character from the first time we meet him. He was pre-qualified to do what? To bear a burden. You see, because he's in there what? He's in there with the 12th. You know, he's a good fit for the ministry because he's somebody who already knows what it's like to sit there and just bear a burden. To do just some thankless task, to do something that others might consider humiliating, to just be like a big dumb animal, to just be, you know, a servant. That's something you already had in him. And look, that's something that we all have to have, especially if we desire to be in ministry. Where'd I have you go? Luke 16? Go to Luke 14. I'll wrap it up where we were. Luke 14. He said in Luke 14, this is part of that same passage that I was reading earlier, where he talked about how whosoever doth bear his cross and come after me, he cannot be my disciple. He goes on in verse 28 and says, for which of you intending to build towers sitteth not down first and counteth the cost? Whether you have sufficient to build it, lest happily after he laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all that beholden begin it to mock him, saying this man began to build, but was not able to finish. He couldn't finish to work. Why? Because he didn't sit down and count the cost. This is what I'm saying, and I saw him close, and this burn it all attitude, it bears a burden. That's what I'm trying to get across. There is a cost to being in the ministry. I'm not saying that to try to get sympathy. I'm just saying that because that's the case, because that's the truth. And I know other men of God that have borne a much greater burden than I have. I feel like I've got it pretty much made in the shade, ironically in Tucson. Figuratively speaking, of course. I really haven't had to go through it, but look, I'm still well aware of the fact that there is a cost to be paid. You're going to build that tower, you're going to bear that burden, you better mark it down, that's going to cost you something. So before you decide you're going to go out and try that, or see if the ministry is for you, you might as well just give up, just quit then. If that's your attitude about ministry, well maybe it'll work, just don't even bother. It has to be a burn it all attitude. I'm all in, all the way, 100%, whatever it costs me. Because you know what, if you don't count the cost at the beginning, what happens? When the cost starts to come home, and the bill comes due, and you go, oh I can't pay this. Others begin to mock. Oh, yeah, I thought you were going to be this great preacher. I thought you were going to start a ministry. Oh, I thought God could do anything. Oh, I thought you were willing to do that. People will mock. Make fun of it. And I'm not trying to scare anybody away from the ministry, I'm just trying to be realistic, because the fact is, and I promise this is the last passage, go to 2 Peter 3, 2 Peter 3, we'll close there, is that, again I'm not trying to scare anyone away, but there is a burden that has to be, that comes with the ministry. But let me just say this, it's a burden that must be born. It's a burden that must be born. How do you think we got to where we are today? I mean, how do you think that there's just been this non-stop continuation of Christ's church, of just the gospel being preached, of just church after church being started, churches starting and rising and falling and other ones coming? How is it that Christendom just has this unbroken line all the way back to Christ? It's because with every generation there were people that stood up and said, I'll bear that burden. Because there's a burden, they understood there's a burden that must be born. They said, I will pay the price, I'll burn it all, I'll follow him, I'll wash the hands, I'll do the menial test, I'll do whatever it takes, because they understood there is a burden that must be born. So burn it all. They said, I don't know, I don't know about that, I don't know if I'm willing to give up this or that to serve God. You know why you should burn it all? Because it's all going to burn anyway. It's all going to burn anyway. You know, we came into this world with nothing, we leave with nothing. So I'm not going to sit here and make my life about money and possessions and wealth and things and fun. There's nothing wrong with those things. They're useful. God has given us all things to enjoy, I get that. But that should never come at the expense of serving God. Saying, I'd serve God, but you know, there's just too many other things I'd rather do. I'd rather just do something else and say, you know what, then go do that, but just understand that someone else is going to have to bear that burden, because that's a burden that must be born. And I count it a privilege, I count it an honor to bear that burden. And hopefully somebody else feels the same way, and let me just, you know, it's kind of a bit of a downer of a sermon, let me just go ahead and try to encourage you by telling you it's all going to burn anyway. It's all going to burn anyway. So these might as well just start burning it now. Just burn it all! Because it's all going to burn. Look at 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10. The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, and in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat. He's literally speaking about how God's going to engulf this whole world in flame. He said, I thought he promised he's never going to destroy the earth again. Yeah, with water. That's why he put his bow in the clouds. Yeah, I'll never do that with water. I'll never again flood the earth, but I'll burn it to the ground. And that's what he's going to do. He says, I'll melt it with fervent heat that the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. All these great arenas, all these museums, all these great edifices, the works of man, are just all going to be ash. Including all of our toys and everything that we covet and hold so near and dear to our hearts. It's all going to burn anyway. So my message is, you know what, you might as well just strike that match now. And just burn it up. If it's getting between you and serving God, you might as well just burn it now. It's already ash, according to God's word. That's what Peter's trying to get across here in 2 Peter chapter 3. He's not just telling us about end times prophecy so we don't go, wow, it's going to be awesome. He's not just trying to blow our minds. Right? That's what he says in verse 11, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. He's saying, because it's all going to burn, you should live your life understanding that. You should live your life with the knowledge and understanding that God's going to burn it all. And all I'm saying tonight is, hey, if God's going to burn it all, let's just go ahead and kindle that fire now. If there's something that's getting between me and serving God, you know, I just want to dump a gas on it and light that thing up to where there's just, you know, it just goes off and it's just concussive. Boom! And my eyelashes roll back and there's a smell of burnt hair in the air. That's what I'm saying, burn it all. Be willing to bear that burden because it's a burden that must be born. Let's go ahead and pray. Dear Lord, again, thank you for all of the men of God, the servants of God that have come before us. Lord, the unnamed multitudes of people who are lost to history but are known in heaven. And Lord, I pray to help us to live our lives so that we can be counted as one of them. Lord, servants for you, who might have been belittled by the world, Lord, but will have the praise of God in due time. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. All right, we'll sing one more song before we go tonight. That was less than 45 minutes, 24 minutes and 31 seconds. Which is shorter than average? 56 when we all get to heaven? Or no? We can sing that one. What's the last one we're singing? I got it here. You know? You don't know. That's in here somewhere. Bringing in the sheaves, 3.79. Bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.