(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Right over there in Matthew chapter number five and of course on Sunday mornings. We've been going through this series Entitled shine as lights and we've been learning about how to be the light of the world and the fact that we are the light of the world and How to let our lights so shine and this morning I'm not preaching a Christmas sermon I'll be preaching a Christmas sermon on on our Christmas Eve service this Thursday So I'd encourage you to join us for that and our Christmas Eve service will actually be the last sermon in this Series and on Christmas Eve. I'll be preaching a sermon called the light of the world But this morning I am dealing with a subject on how to not burn out and I want to speak to you about how to stay in the Christian life and we're supposed to shine as lights But the problem is that we Often find Christians who burn out and they burn up and they don't last Very long in the Christian life and you're there in Matthew chapter 5 and this of course where we began our series Several weeks ago verse 14 says this is what Jesus said to his disciples and what Jesus says to you and I he says he Are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel But on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house notice verse 16 let your light So shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven The Bible tells us that we as Christians and in the Christian life. We are to burn bright In fact, if you're taking notes tonight I encourage you to take our excuse me this morning and I'd encourage you to take notes this morning on the back of your course Of the week there's a place for you to write down Some statements and I don't want to preach very long this morning because we've already had Several long announcements and activities and the choir and of course But I encourage you to just jot these things down if you don't have a baby sitting on your lap or something like that Number one this morning is this in the Christian life. We are to burn bright like a lake candle This is what the Bible teaches or the illustration the representation giving given of the Christian life Is that we're the light of the world and therefore we are to burn bright You're there in Matthew chapter 5 flip over with me. If you would to the book of John John chapter 5 You've got Matthew Mark Luke John Matthew Mark Luke John John chapter 5 I want you to notice what the Bible says what Jesus said about John the Baptist Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest man that had lived up to that time And in John chapter 5 in verse 35, and of course not including the Lord Jesus Christ himself John 535 I want you to notice what Jesus said about the John the Baptist He's speaking about John John 535 He says this he referring to John the Baptist Notice these words was a burning and a shining light and he were willing for a season to rejoice in his light see John the Baptist was a Believer was a Christian was a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and John the Baptist Lived his life in the way that Jesus tells us we ought to live our life in Matthew 5 He was a light he let his light so shine, but I want you to notice the wording in John 535 he says he was a burning and a Shining light and we've been talking for the last couple weeks about shine as lights and what that means So we've been talking about our personal walk with God and testimony and we started off with a sermon on The fact that the Bible says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father Which is in heaven and we talked about what it means to let the world see our good works And how we ought to live our lives that our light may shine and then we've also talked about Spiritual warfare and light versus darkness and putting on the armor of light and Turning those that are in darkness from darkness to light but here's what I want you to understand everything we've talked about up to this point whether you take the idea of letting your light so Shine before men and the works that you and I must do in our lives not for salvation But because of salvation not to get saved but because we are saved whether it is an engaging in spiritual warfare Whether it is going out soul-winning or preaching the Word of God if you're a man, you know behind the pulpit whether it is Just preparing ourselves for the battle putting on the armor of light Taking off the old man putting on the new man all of those things require effort require energy require you to Use up some of that fuel and it's interesting because in John 5 he says this about John He was a burning and a shining light and I would submit to you this morning that you cannot shine you cannot be a Candle that is lit. You cannot be a Fire that is a providing light you cannot shine without burning. I Mean the act of shining a light shining a candle means you are also Burning that light Burning that candle Jesus said that John was a burning and a shining light So if you sometimes feel a little tired or a little weary you sometimes feel like man You know this there's this Christian walk and this being a disciple of Jesus Christ It kind of feels like I'm I'm using up some energy. I'm using up some fuel. I'm I'm burning up a little bit Hey, that's the whole point You can't light without burning you can't shine without burning he was a burning and a shining light You're willing for a season to rejoice in his light and people often say they say well You know, it seems like the being a disciple requires a lot of discipline Well, that's what it means to be a disciple the word disciple means to live a disciplined life means to live a life in which you are denying self and Walking in the spirit all of this all of this requires energy So you need to understand and you and I need to understand that we're gonna shine as light So I think most Christians would say oh, yeah You're the light of the world let your light so shine before men but realize you can't do that you can't do that without burning up and some Christians Don't only burn up in the process of shining because we all burn up We all get tired we all get weary some Christians burn out They burn up completely You've heard me say this before and I've heard it from others and I agree with it. The Christian life is not measured by years Don't don't tell me and don't try to impress me With how many years you've been serving the Lord and I'm not putting down how many years you've been serving the Lord But the Christian life is really not measured in years. It's measured in decades You know, if you want to really impress somebody to tell us how many decades That's why we don't normally when it comes to Anniversaries we don't normally go around asking every married couple how many years they've been married But there are certain couples that we do make a big deal about it because you want to press somebody tell somebody you've been married for 42 years Tell somebody you've been married for 50 years You want to impress me with your soul winning? Don't tell me how many months you've been out so winning how many years you've been out so I'm how many decades you've been out so winning The Christian life is not measured by years. It is measured by decades the reason that it is so It is so unique It is so unique to find a Christian who's been reading his Bible consistently every day and has a habit of daily Bible reading And has been doing it for decades The reason it's so unique to find a Christian who's read their Bible cover to cover 20 times 25 times 30 times You don't do that in three years Do that over a period of decades? Though the reason it's so unique to find a soul winner that's been soul winning for 30 years 40 years The reason is so unique is because when you shine that way you burn that way and is very likely to burn out There are many Christians who quit There are many Christians who burn up Who burn out? Who don't have the energy and the resources the fuel that is required to continue to burn There are people who have done studies and they've done studies on churches and and and and people who call themselves Believers in Jesus Christ and it's interesting because what they have found is that the average church goer last in their church faithfulness for about three years When people decide like I'm gonna you know, whatever we call it Hopefully getting saved and walking with God, but when they decide I'm gonna start going to church and I'm gonna start walking with God I'm gonna start living the Christian life Generally speaking people do that for about three years and then they quit I remember reading that and hearing that I thought that was interesting and I wondered if that was true, then I passed her to church and We came to about our three-year anniversary And it seems like almost everyone we started with was gone almost everyone not everyone almost everyone we started with was gone Then I began to just watch people in our church I'm talking about people who just came in one service or came in, you know, come in every few months or I'm Here Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night soul winners faithful serving and it seems that right about they get to that three-year Mark, they just kind of start getting an itch Start Needing to do something else and go somewhere else And we call it all sorts of different things But what it really is it's a burning out It is a burning up We're told that if you make it past the three-year mark then the next Time that someone usually quits about the seven-year mark We found that to be true. And of course, this is not specific. There are exceptions and we understand that But generally speaking most Christians are many Christians and hopefully not most Christians at Verity Baptist Church Will not make it very long in their Christian life will not make it past three years Will not make it past seven years it is an unfortunate thing, but when our church is celebrated ten year a ten year anniversary and when we get to 20 year anniversary and 30 year anniversary, it'll be rare the church member that we can say they've been with us for 20 years They've been with us for 15 years. They've been with us for 18 years They've been with it for a while because most Christians never figure out How to burn bright and not burn out See we're supposed to burn bright Like a kid like a lit candle go to the book of Leviticus if you would in the Old Testament Leviticus 24 you've got Genesis Exodus Leviticus Leviticus 24. We're supposed to burn bright in the Christian life We are to burn bright like a lit candle Here's point number two in the Christian life We must burn bright without burning out See the trick is the trick is To not burn bright see a lot of times you get new people in church And I'm always thankful for new people new people are excited and exciting and sometimes But I used to have a pastor who would call them. You know they're they're like they're like they're like a firecracker They're like a firework you kind of set them on fire And there's a you know big BAM all sorts of energy and show for a little while And it's like what would happen so-to-so And they were so excited, and they were so you know into all of it, and and they just you know blew up See in the Christian life we are to burn bright like a lit candle yes number one number two in the Christian life We are to burn bright without burning out Here's a question Can you keep a candle from burning out I Mean can you light a candle? And keep that candle from burning out Because if you cannot Then we're all destined to quit if you cannot We're all doomed to fail But yet there are Christians there are Christians sitting in this room right now who have served the Lord for decades so Can you keep a candle from burning out? Here's what's interesting? God expects it God expects us to light a candle and to keep it lit Without letting it burn up or burn out. It's interesting because in the book of Leviticus we have God expressing to the children of Israel and to Moses how they are to set up the Tabernacle and in that tabernacle we could go do a whole study on the tabernacle We've done that studies on the tabernacle in that tabernacle You have all sorts of different types of furniture that represent certain things in that tabernacle You had lit candles lit candles that I believe represent the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe represented New Testament Christianity I believe represented the whole concept of he are the light of the world I want you to notice what the Bible says in Leviticus 24 and verse 1 the Bible says this and the Lord spake unto Moses saying Command that the children of Israel notice command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil olive Beaten for the light. So notice they're supposed to bring oil pure oil olive beaten for the light Why? They were supposed to bring oil for the light. Why were they supposed to do that notice to cause the lamps to burn Continually God said I want you to set these lights Why don't you set up these lamps? I want you to set up these candles and I want you to light them and I want you to keep them lit I don't want them to burn out and they would say well, okay God you mean that when it burns out Do you want us to get new fire and set them back on fire? He said no, no, no, that's strange fire See, I'm gonna give you God's fire that comes from heaven and I don't want you to let that fire burn out I want you to bring strange fine I don't have time to do a study on that but God actually killed people in the Old Testament for offering strange or different fire He said I want different fire He said I want the same fire to be continually lit and I don't ever want it to burn out And they would say well, how do you expect us to do that? because when you shine a light it burns and this candle will eventually burn up or burn out and He would say bring oil He said bring unto thee pure oil olive beats and for the light to cause the lamp to burn continually Don't let it burn out. I want to continue One of these days we will do a study in the New Testament of the word continue The Bible often tells us as New Testament believers that we are to continue Continue in the things that thou has heard of me Paul would say We're to continue in the faith continue in the one and walking with God notice verse number four same chapter Leviticus 24 verse 4 notice what he says. He says he shall order Leviticus 24 for he shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord Continually, he said I want those lamps on the candlesticks They're candles on candlesticks and I want them burning before the Lord Continually, so here's the question. Can you keep a candle from burning out and the answer is yes because God expects it The answer is yes, because God says I want you to cause the lamps to burn continually I want you to order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually So then you ask the question. Well, how do you do that go to the book of Exodus if you would Exodus chapter 25? You're there in Leviticus, so if you just head back one book you have the book of Exodus Exodus chapter 25 Luke verse 31 Exodus 25 in verse 31 notice what the Bible says and thou this is again God talking about the tabernacle and specifically about the lamps Exodus 25 31 and thou shall make a Candlestick of pure gold a beaten work shall the candlestick be made then he tells him he says here's what I want the candlestick To look like he says his shaft His branches then he says this his bowls His knops his flowers shall be of the same So he said I want you to make this candlestick and I want to be a beaten work I want to be made out of gold. He said I want the whole thing to be made out of gold I want the shaft to be made out of gold. I want the branches to be made out of gold He's I want the knobs and the flowers He said the decorations around it to be made out of all out of gold, but he says this he says his balls. I want the balls to be made Out of gold you say well, why would God want this candlestick? this candlestick with a shaft and branches and balls to place the candle in I'll read to you a little article here Called creating an oil lamp Science experiment. It's just a little article explaining how to do this And I think it's actually meant for like homeschoolers or for kids, but but it's interesting. I'll read this to you Pour about a half an inch of vegetable oil in a bowl Crumble up a paper towel into a ball and place it into the bowl with the oil You want the oil to soak the entire ball of paper, but you also want the paper to stick up above the surface of the oil Use a match or a lighter to carefully light the top edge of the paper towel It should easily catch fire now watch carefully the fire continues to burn but the paper towel does not burn up as Long as there is oil in the bowl the flame will continue without burning up the paper How can that be? When you have what you have just made is an oil lamp very similar to the ones that have been used for thousands of years The paper towel serves as a wick to carry the oil up to the flame as the oil is in the paper As the oil in the paper is burned more oil soaks up Into the paper the oil actually keeps the paper cool enough so that it does not burn Except at the very edge where you first lit it This is something that's been used and practiced for thousands of years by mankind an oil You say well How do you keep a how do you keep a paper a wick a? Candle from burning and the answer is this you place it in oil See when you take a candle and you light it on fire, and there's no other fuel. There's no other source Then there's no other way for it to burn bright it has to burn Something and it will burn its own wick it will burn its own candle It will use itself as the field needed to shine you say what's wrong with that the problem with that is that? Eventually the wick runs out eventually it burns up Eventually it burns out and the light goes out you say well How do you keep it from burning if you put a candle in a bowl and fill it with oil and keep it filled with? Oil then it'll soak that oil it'll burn that oil It'll use that oil as a source as a fuel to shine bright without ever burning up And This is the picture that God gives us When God appeared when the angel Lord appeared to Moses the Bible says that Moses saw a burning bush But what was interesting about the burning bush is not that it was a bush that was burning I'm sure Moses had seen many bushes that had been burning what caught his attention Was that the burning bush the bush was burning and was not consumed The Bible tells us that our God is a burning fire He's a consuming fire God wants to consume everything in our lives, but he does not want to consume your life See the trick to burning bright and never burning out is to keep the fuel source It's to keep the oil in the lamp is to keep the oil in The bowl go to 1st John if you would 1st John chapter 2 and towards the end of the New Testament You've got the book of Revelation if you go backwards you have Jude 3rd 2nd and 1st John Jude revelation Jude 3rd 2nd and 1st John the trach is to keep oil in the lamp I Thought about I wanted to actually bring a bowl today with oil and a paper towel And you know just do it here live, but then I you know I thought more about it I thought goodnight. You know I'm gonna make these Fire you know the the fire alarm to go off and then the sprinklers are gonna go off And I thought that could become a I mean it'd be funny to watch the sprinklers go off and all the ladies and the water You know, but you might not come back and the kids were singing and all that so I decided not to Maybe after the service in the parking lot kids meet me in the parking lot and we'll Set something on fire We must burn bright Without burning out The oil becomes the field for the flame not the candle itself in the Bible oil represents something first John chapter 2 look at verse 27 first John 2 27 but the anointing But the anointing What do you use to anoint something oil? you anoint something with oil But the anointing the oil Which he have received of him talking about God notice what it says abideth in you This is all referring to the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit is what abides in you and He need not that any man teach he but as the same notice anointing teaches you of all things and is truth and is no lie and Even as it have taught you he shall abide in him Why don't you notice that all throughout the Bible and I'm not gonna take the time to run you to a bunch of verses But you can study this out on your own all throughout the Bible oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit oil and anointing represents the Holy Spirit and I want you to notice in this passage specifically he talks about the anointing and then he Connects it. He connects it with the Word of God He says but the anointing which he have received of him abideth in you and he need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and is truth and is no lie and Even as it hath taught you he shall abide in him in the Old Testament You can go to the example of David when David when Samuel anointed David to be king The Bible says that he poured oil physical oil upon David and when that oil came upon David The Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him because oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit and Here's what the Bible is teaching us And here's what the Bible tells us That when you have the Holy Spirit as a source of fuel you can burn bright and not burn out When you have the Holy Spirit as a source of fuel you can burn bright and not burn up Over the last 10 years of ministry I've had many people unfortunately Say to me pastor I just feel like I'm burnt out You know every Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night in the soul winning and then you know tithing 10% And then you know and then special meetings and then this and then that and then choir and then service and then cleaning and things There's just so much. There's so much going on I'm just kind of tired of it. I Just got tired of reading the Bible. I just got tired of having a prayer time. I'm just kind of tired of being married Just got tired of raising my children I just feel like I'm I feel like I'm I'm at my wits air I Would submit to you this morning that if you ever say that if you ever feel like that I'm not beating up on you if you've said that or you felt that way I'm just telling you that is a sign that you're burning the wrong fuel So I'm just feel so tired tired we're tired we're in my flesh well, why are you doing it in your flesh? I'm just so tired in my flesh of soul winning well. Let me let you in a little secret You're not supposed to be so winning in your flesh I'm just so tired of raising these kids just in my foot, but you're not supposed to be doing it in your flesh You're supposed to be doing it in the spirit Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh And I just just know this just submit it because people leave churches for all sorts of things and nobody ever really tells the Truth as to why they leave people always have to give a fake reason as to why they leave nobody ever Quits a church and says hey, just let me send a text message to everybody let you know I'm backslidden That's why I'm not coming back I'm back on drugs. That's the thing just letting you guys know remember you guys I was a recovering alcoholic and the church helped me, but now I'm back to drinking alcohol That's why I'm leaving that's not what they ever say here's what they say they say The pastor said something in the sermon that offended me Translation I'm backslidden I Do not burn up walk in the spirit Let the Holy Spirit fuel you Let the whole I mean how is it that some people how is it that some people stay married for 42 years? Raise kids for the glory of God go soul winning our faith for the church do it live for God Do it for decades and decades and decades and like Caleb say hey I'm just I still got the energy like Moses says at 80 years old I still got the strength of a young man. Give me that mountain it belongs to me. How do you make it to the end? Not burnt out and tired and weak and faint You do it by tapping into a different source When you're tapped into yourself when you're doing it out of your flesh when you're doing it out of your own energy You will not make it In the Christian life we are to burn bright like the lit candle number one In the Christian life we must burn bright without burning out Number two here's point number three. Go to the book of Ephesians if you would Ephesians chapter 6 you kept your place in John, and I'd encourage you to keep your place at John We're coming back to John in a minute if you have your place in John you go John acts Romans first second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians John Acts Romans first second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Ephesians chapter 6 here's point number three. We're almost done In the Christian life We connect to the Holy Spirit through the Word of God You say well, how can I be filled with spirit? There's lots of things you can do to be filled with spirit I preach entire sermons on the subject of the filling of the Holy Spirit And I'd encourage you to check those out But if there's just one thing that I can tell you you know if there's one thing that the Bible Emphasizes in regards to the Holy Spirit and us and what connects us to the Holy Spirit I would say this it is the Word of God in fact We just saw it in 1st John where he says the same anointing Teacheth you it is a reference of the fact that the Holy Spirit is going to teach you the Word of God The Holy Spirit will help you understand the Word of God Unsafe people cannot understand the Bible because they don't have the Holy Spirit They are spiritually discerned Throughout the Bible you find this connection between the Holy Spirit and the Word of God the Holy Spirit in the Word of God I'll show it to you in Ephesians 6 We've been talking about the last couple of weeks spiritual warfare And we've been talking about the armor of light and we've talked about Ephesians 6 is that famous passage with the armor of God notice verse 17 the Bible says and take the helmet of salvation and Notice these words the sword of the Spirit Notice how the Bible what the Bible connects the Spirit of God with the sword of the Spirit you so well Here's the Holy Spirit in the armor of God. He's the sword of spirit. What is it? He says which is the Word of God the Word of God is The sword of the Spirit there is a connection in the Bible between the Holy Spirit and the Word of God in Fact the Holy Spirit one of his primary purposes like we've already said is to help you understand and learn and teach you the Word of God There's a connection between the Word of God of the Holy Spirit go to John John chapter 15 if you wouldn't John chapter 15 look at verse 6 John chapter 15 in verse 6 In John 15 and verse 6 the Bible says this if a man abide not in me, this is Jesus speaking By the way, Jesus is the word If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch notice these words and is withered Now this is using an illustration. There's all sorts of illustration in the Bible here. We're using illustration of a of a plant With a branch that is withered that is the same as a candle that burns up That's the same as a tree that dries up It's all in reference to the fact that they're not connected to the proper source if a man abide not in Me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire The end they are burned if he abide in me notice what he says and my words abide in you You shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you Look at verse 3 if you go back to verse 3 same chapter notice the context of these words that Jesus said John 15 verse 3 He says now you are clean through notice the words the word referring to the Word of God Which I've spoken unto you The Word of God fills us with the Holy Spirit The Word of God is connected To the Holy Spirit go to Deuteronomy chapter 17 if you would in the Old Testament you have Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 17 Deuteronomy chapter 17 and look whatever illustration you want to use if you want to use the Illustration of the branch if you want to use the illustration of the tree if you want to use the illustration of life It's all the same thing if you're not connected to the right fuel if you're not connected to the right source You will begin to get weary you will begin to burn up you will begin to burn out You will not last in the Christian life if you don't learn and figure out how to get connected to the right source This is why Psalm 1 says this blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly Nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of scornful But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law that thee meditate day and night and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water That bringeth forth his fruit and his seeds and his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever you do it shall prosper How do you become a tree? That brings forth his fruit and his season That it does not wither his leaf also shall not wither And whatsoever you do it so proud. How do you do that? You get your roots down into the rivers of water John 17 a says this for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and That spreadeth out of her roots by the river and shall not see when he cometh And shall not see when he cometh but her leaf shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought Neither shall cease from yielding fruit You say pastor, what is the trick? To maintaining in the Christian life and there's lots of things that we would say to that There's lots of things that we could say, but if I just say one thing it would say I would say this daily Bible reading Well, I'm just I'm not trying to hurt your feelings trying to help you with something here Say what is the difference between the one you know, you two guys start at the same time the same year to come to church Three to thrive Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night soul winning tithing serving get involved get connected Three years later one burns out while the other one's still shining bright What's the difference it look and sometimes they don't tell us that we don't know we don't ask those types of questions But I will say this if I had to guess one figure it out the discipline of daily Bible reading And the other one did it in their flesh Why do people burn up Why do people burn out? Yeah, pastor, but they said they quit cuz you offended them or really cuz Bible says great Peace have they that love thy law and nothing shall offend them You know what I know about a guy you say pastor Why are you trying to get people to read the Bible read the Bible read about you know? Why I'm trying to get people to Bible cuz who's I know if I can get you in the word the word can transform you And you're not gonna get backslidden, and you're not gonna get offended and even if I step on your toes You're gonna say well. I mean that's what the Bible says But the Word of God says See in the Christian life we connect to the Holy Spirit through the Word of God This is why we must practice daily Bible reading You're on me 17. Let me just show you a couple of verses. We'll finish out Do not be 17 look verse 18 and it shall be When he and these are instructions in the Old Testament for the future kings of Israel Don't forget the Bible says that we are kings and priests unto God and his father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen and It shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom Notice that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which before the priest out of that Which is before the priests and the Levites look at verse 19, and it shall be with him And he shall read therein all the days of his life Say why why does God want the king to read the Bible all the days of his life? Here's why that he may learn to fear the Lord is God and to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them It's not it's not about knowledge for knowledge's sake It's about application. I Read it. I do it. I read it. I do it. I read it I do it go to Acts 17 if you wouldn't act 17 New Testament Matthew Mark Luke John acts because somebody was it Well, that's just all time. That's just the kings of Israel in the Old Testament Well, let's look at it in the New Testament New Testament believers New Testament Church act 17 verse 10 Matthew Mark Luke John acts act 17 verse 10 and the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night Unto Berea who coming hither went into the synagogue of the Jews look at verse 11 These were more noble than those and Thessalonica Here we're told the Berean Christians were more noble than the Christians and Thessalonica Now we live in this, you know, no child left behind Culture that says oh you never say that anyone is better than anyone else Okay, but that's not what the Holy Spirit doesn't ask. He says look the Christians in Berea were better than the Christians in Thessalonica And I'm not preaching about this this morning, but let me just tell you something. Not all churches are created equal There are some churches that are better than others And some of you aren't you afraid, you know people go visit some other church somewhere Why aren't you afraid your church people go visit somewhere else? What if they like that church better You know my thoughts if you if you leave this church and go to some contemporary watered-down and I be rock concert look like you walked into a casino church If you can't tell the difference I can't help you I Mean if you can't tell the difference between this preaching Bible preaching full biblical preaching and watered-down liberalism then Then you deserve them And they deserve you Act 17 11 these were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with already as might notice They were under the preaching of the Word of God. They had received the Word of God They were ready to take in the Word of God That's part of the Christian life going to church where you're gonna be given the Word of God in heavy doses And you need to be ready to receive it. You say how do I get there? Here's how you do it and search the scriptures daily whether those things are so You know what we need you said what do we do that very Baptist Church we need Christians We need you need a pastor and Lord willing I'm doing it And I'll do my best to continue to do it and get better at it. You need a pastor who's gonna preach the word Who's gonna not hold back and we need Christians who are searching the scriptures daily Searching the scriptures daily whether those things were so so that you don't have we don't have Christians look We don't have Christmas day. Well, why do you dress like that? Cuz pastor says wrong answer Your family asks you Christmas Why do you guys do why do your family do this? And why do you do that? And why do you not vaccinate and why do you go there? And why do you you know you if you don't know? You know this vaccine coming out right now You have all sorts of worldly people that well, why don't you vaccinate your kids? Well, you better have a Bible answer and if you don't know then you better read and study the Bible Bible says to have an answer for every man that asketh you the reason of the hope that is in you with me Chris and fear and Look, my job is to stand up here and help you go further faster and help you learn the Word of God But you need to take some responsibility For your Christian life and get some oil and get the Word of God and put some oil in that lamp and burn And never burn out Search the scriptures of daily the Bible says Whether those things were so go to second Corinthians, we'll finish up right here second Corinthians chapter 4 Acts Romans first Corinthians second Corinthians. So what are you talking about? Here's what I'm talking about daily Bible reading I'm not trying to pick on you. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but I'm talking to you right now I'm taught you say who you're talking to. I'm talking to you if you're sitting under the voice of the the sound of my voice and You do not and I don't need you to raise your hand I don't need you to confess this to anybody but I'm telling you right now if you do not Have a discipline of daily Bible reading meaning you don't have a habit. You don't have a manner You don't have a form of getting up every day opening your kingdom Bible reading it every day If you don't have that I'm talking to you. I don't know how else to be clear. I don't know how clear to me I'm talking to you I'm not trying to hurt your feelings. I'm trying to keep you in the fight You Can't make it in the Christian life You can make it for three years burning on your own Might make it for seven years burning on your own But you can't burn bright and not burn out If you're not being filled by the Word of God There's two types of Christians in this world Those who read their Bibles and those who don't And we want you to read your Bible. That's why every year for the last ten years. We've had this church Reading challenge January is Bible month and we challenge you to read the Bible you say why why do you challenge you to read the Bible you? Know nine chapters a day in the month of January. That's a lot of chapters. That's a lot of day You know here's what I'm hoping if we can get you if we can motivate you if you I'm feeling kind of guilty okay number One that's the Holy Spirit number two if I can guilt you if I can guilt you into reading the Bible Hey, I'll get I'll guilt you in to read the Bible. I'm a problem with that Hey, I'd pay you to read the Bible Yeah, I feel like guilty well. That's you know. It's usually you feel guilty where you're not doing something right Nine chapters a day. Why do you do it? Here's my hope if you can read nine chapters of the Bible every day in the month of January it'll develop a habit or develop a momentum going in February 1st You know reading three or four chapters a day Doesn't seem that hard You know that we had I don't know what the number I should have checked Well, I think 90 or something not 90 80 90 people read nine chapters a day in the month of January last year You know that if you read the entire New Testament in the month of January Then you could read the entire Bible the rest of the Old Testament over the next 11 months by reading three to four chapters a day Three or four chapters a day. We're talking about at ten minutes Ten minutes of Bible reading We could have a church. We've got about 175 people here this morning obviously Covid has affected some of our attendance. We have a church of about 180 200 people in it We could literally have a church where half of our church about a hundred people read the Bible cover to cover the the entire year every year I Mean imagine what would happen the average pastor only reads the Bible cover to cover in seminary Which is why they preach the way they do You could read the Bible to cover cover cover every year I Said where do I start glad you asked nine chapters a day? Nine chapters a day You know, I don't have time for that you have time for whatever you make a priority You you make time for whatever priorities you want I Doubt I doubt you say I'm real busy. I doubt you're so busy But I have an AI pass. Let me tell you something. You wonder how busy I am. I have an eight in the last three weeks I just haven't had time I just I mean I try to make time to sit down and eat. I just I'm so busy. No, I'm you make a priority. I Haven't slept in 42 days. Okay, Elijah. I Just I don't have time I mean I try to go slate on but I'm just so busy No, you're not look look we make time for the things that are important And you need to make Bible reading important. You need to make it a priority Let me give you some real quickly just some steps for Bible reading Step for daily Bible reading number one choose a place Choose a location decide right now. This is where I will read the Bible. I'll read the Bible, you know at my Dinner table. I will read the Bible, you know and during my lunch break and this place at this, you know I've choose a place and don't long lap. Don't let that place be you're bad. Okay You know Don't let it be the super comfy chair. Maybe you know the the hard wooden chair But I choose a place number two use a plan Look yet. I have a plan for charting your way through the Bible We're talking about these things and you don't need to use ours. You can make your own you can google it There's all sorts of things. Let me tell you something look You say I just kind of read whatever I just got over the Bible not read and I'll read through the Bible No, you won't let me tell you something. I'm not done. Look. I'm just telling you the truth You are not gonna read through the book of Leviticus unless you do it our purpose You're not gonna read through Zephaniah You're not gonna read through Ezekiel There's just certain books the Bible you're not gonna read through them unless you purposely set out to read them You're not gonna read the Bible cover to cover unless you purposely set out to do it So you need a plan you need a chart you need a way to be able to track and say yes I've read that. Yes. I've gone there. Yes. I've done that. Yes. I finished. Yes. I read nine chapters a day Yes, I read the Old Testament. Yes. I am reading the Bible. Is that what what's the point to keep yourself fueled? Choose a place use a plan make an appointment you got to make an appointment with God Make an appointment with God. I Mean if you had an appointment with God If God sent you an email and said I want to meet you in this place this time Be there. I mean wouldn't you make that a priority? Let me tell you something. God wants to meet with you every day God wants to meet with you through his word The Holy Spirit wants to teach you his word Make an appointment You know, I recommend and what we do in our home My wife and I is first thing the morning when we get up we make coffee We sit on our tape at the dining room table. We read the Bible We read the Bible together. We're not really reading the Bible together. I'm reading the Bible. She's reading the Bible We're having a cup of coffee, but that's just our appointment That's our appointment now Obviously sometimes things get in the way and that doesn't happen and we make it up later on their day But in general in general You know, that's our Bible reading time I said some of you guys text me, you know in the morning. I don't get back to you till later I turn that thing off and I have an appointment with God Make an appointment now. Look I encourage you to make it first thing in the morning. Maybe that doesn't work for you Maybe you've got different shifts and different things or whatever But here's what I'm telling you make an appointment choose a place get a plan make an appointment get in a habit Read the Bible and we'll see you in 10 years We'll see you in 20 years We'll see you in 30 years. I Want to encourage you to take the nine chapters a day challenge? to develop the habit of daily Bible reading To become one of these all-star more noble than those in Thessalonica Christians Who actually takes the time to read their Bible? Second Corinthians chapter 4 look verse 16 notice what the Bible says Notice what Paul said Paul went through a lot of heartache Paul went through a lot of heartache Trials tribulations and Paul did a lot of work for God Paul did things that required a lot of energy a lot of fuel Notice what he says second things 416 for which cause we faint not What does it mean to faint not? To not wither away to not burn out to not burn up to not quit. I Mean Paul's about to give us his his secret for not quitting The guy who got to the end of his life Probably being the most effective soul winner evangelist a church planner missionary that has ever lived The guy that gets to the end of his life and says I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course I've kept the faith You know, I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand He says there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness Which the Lord the righteous God he said he's gonna give it to me that guy is about to tell us how he stayed in It here's what he says for which cause we faint not But though the outward man perish Look your flesh doesn't get tired. We understand that I'm tired right now Your flesh and tired. We're gonna have things we're gonna have events. We're gonna have well conferences We're not this we're gonna have that you're gonna have things going on in your life He says though our outward man perish we understand your flesh will get tired your your things will get difficult things will get hard You will be burdened you will be stressed you will be stressed out Here's what Paul says, but though the outward man perish he says yet the inward man is renewed day by day He says, you know what I do, you know pulses, you know what I do every day So I don't faint So I don't quit So I don't burn out he says the outward man perish he's like we have persecutions and trials we have you know People fighting us and people attacking us. He says though the outward man perish He says but you know what I do every day. I make sure that the inward man is renewed day by day every day renewed You say what's a synonym for the word renewed refueled? I Just put some more oil in that Bowl And I keep that light burning. I Keep that light shining That's what you need. That's what I need and just know this just know this If I quit three years from now Seven years from now if you quit Whatever the reason well, I was being honest. Okay, whatever the reason I will submit to you this No one quits on God without first quitting on daily Bible reading So read your Bible read your Bible Get renewed for which cost we faint not but though they are outward man perish Yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Let's bow our heads and I'm going to pray. I'm like father Well, thank you for your word. Thank you for the Bible Thank you for the study in the Bible We know that we're supposed to shine bright shine as lights The Lord help us also not to burn out Not to burn up Not to faint Help us to be renewed day by day what I pray that you would help us to have a church filled with Christians Who get up every day and read the Bible? Just have a habit nothing flashy Not for the praise of man not for the to be seen of men Just open up their Bible every day and have an appointment with God Have a time with God get revealed Get renewed in their inner man We love you What I pray you'd help us to have a great nine chapters a day challenge this year that many of our church people would take The challenge get committed stick with it The matchless name of Christ we pray. Amen