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

Okay, we're in 1 Thessalonians chapter number 3 this morning. Look down at your Bibles in verse number 1. It says, Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and sent to Mothias our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith, that no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and ye know. The title of my sermon this morning is Bad Things to Expect When You Become a Christian. Bad things to expect when you become a Christian. Here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul is addressing the church at Thessalonica. Of course, it's a church that he planted, he started, and the reality is that this church is filled with a lot of brand new converts, a lot of new Christians, and the Apostle Paul is simply trying to warn them and just remind them that they're going to suffer a lot of persecution, they're going to go through a lot of trials and difficulties, and it's something that he would constantly reiterate to them, right? He obviously says here in verse number 4 that he already told them beforehand that they should suffer tribulation. And so this is obviously a common message that the Apostle Paul would bring to the churches and would bring to new Christians, and the reason why is because of the fact that, well, you know, we suffer tribulation all the time. And this is obviously an important message to the church at Thessalonica because of the fact that, you know, if people don't expect for bad things to happen in life or in the Christian life more specifically, it can kind of blindside them, right? It can kind of catch them off guard, they can become easily offended, and then they fall away, they get involved in the world, in sin, they stop serving God. And so this is what the message we see here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Now the reason I want to preach this is because of the fact, you know, there's a myth today in Christianity, mainly promoted by the health and wealth gospel, that claims that once you become a Christian, everything's just a bed of roses. Everything's just going to be hunky-dory, everything's going to be great, and, you know, you're not going to suffer, you know, God's going to bless your finances and your health, and everything's going to go well. And it creates this illusion that becoming a Christian equals zero problems. Zero conflicts, zero difficulties, everything's going to be just fine and dandy, you're never going to have any hardships, but, you know, even apart from the false prophets of this world that promote that type of message, listen to this, new converts can often be unprepared for the trials that are ahead and can really develop this unrealistic expectation of the Christian life. Okay? Where they think that, you know, oh, I'm serving God, I'm reading the Bible, I'm winning souls to Christ, I'm doing all things right in the sight of the Lord, therefore nothing bad should come my way, right? But that's unrealistic, it's not biblical, it's not true, and the reason I want to preach this also is because of the fact that our church is now filled with a lot of brand new converts, which, thank God for that, amen, a lot of new people, a lot of new converts, a lot of new people that are involved, are getting involved in our church and that just got saved, they got baptized, and so this message is important for them, but it's also important for the seasoned Christian because we can often forget the fact that just because we serve God, just because we read the Bible, just because we believe right doesn't mean nothing bad's going to happen to us, okay? And the Bible tells us, you know, when talking about the seeds that are planted, it says that when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by, they are offended. So there's certain Christians that, you know, they hit the ground running, right? They get saved, they get baptized, they're in church, they're serving God, everything's going great, they're reading their Bibles, but all of a sudden, hardships come. All of a sudden, difficulties come, or even persecution arises because of the word, and the Bible says that they immediately, by and by means immediately, they're offended. What does that mean? It means that they get out of church, it means they get out of the Bible, it means they just stopped serving God because they couldn't handle that type of hardship and trial. They have a difficult time really essentially digesting the difficulties of this life, okay? But I'm here to remind you that we should suffer tribulation as part of the Christian life my friends, and I'm here to remind you to build up some thick skin, you need to make sure that you are strong in the Lord and the power of His might to recognize that trials and tribulations in your marriage, trials and tribulations with child rearing, trials and tribulations at your job, trials and tribulations with your family, trials and tribulations with just your finances and your health, they're going to happen no matter how hard you serve God. No matter how obedient you are to the faith, listen to this, bad things are still going to happen to you and you can't do anything about it because that's just life my friends. So here are some bad things that you should expect when you become a Christian. Now before I get into those particular bad things, let me just give a disclaimer because I don't want to be viewed as this like doom and gloom preacher, although I have no problem with that, okay? Let me just give this disclaimer that obviously the Christian life is filled with a lot of blessings, okay? It's filled with blessings, obviously first and foremost salvation, right? The fact that we're saved and we can never lose our salvation for any reason. We have God as our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us until the day of redemption the Bible says, we have the Word of God. There's so many blessings that we have access to and the reality is that the blessings will always, always, always outweigh the trials, no matter how many trials you face, no matter how many difficulties you suffer, how many tribulations you've experienced, I guarantee you if you sit down and write down all the blessings that you have in the Christian life, they far outweigh the difficulties by a long shot. In fact, the trials pale in comparison to the blessings that we have now and the blessings that we're going to receive later on in the future. Jesus said you don't have to turn there, Matthew 19 verse 29 says, and everyone that has forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands from my name sake shall receive in hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life. Proverbs 10 22 says the blessing of the Lord it maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow to it. The Bible also says in Romans chapter 8 verse 18 for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. The apostle Paul said that our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory the Bible tells us. He's basically saying it doesn't matter how hard it gets, you know, what God blesses us with is far better, it's far greater and you know the apostle Paul suffered a lot of tribulation. I mean he was forsaken of all people which are in Asia, he was stoned three times, he was shipwrecked, he was out in the sea alone, he suffered hunger and persecution and reviling and yet he said this is my light affliction. He's not talking about like stubbing his toe or something like that or you know the fact that he couldn't pay the bills I mean he's suffering some pretty great tribulation yet he labels it as being a light affliction in other words he lightly esteems that tribulation as being something that's very difficult. Now another disclaimer that I want to give is the fact that when I say bad things to expect when you become a Christian I'm not speaking of Christianity in a negative light obviously because of the fact that bad things that happen to Christians will always work out to our benefit, right? You know the famous verse Romans 8 28, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose. So as long as you keep loving God, you keep serving God in the Christian life, it doesn't matter how difficult it gets, God can take those ingredients of difficulties and trials and essentially make something really good out of your life because of it. You can look back 10 years, 5, 10, 20 years from now at that trial and even smile at it and even laugh at it because of the fact that God worked it out together for good. So he tells them in the church of Thessalonica, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation even as it came to pass and you know and the tribulation that they're suffering is actually more specifically it's persecution, they're receiving a lot of persecution. Now turn with me if you would to Numbers chapter 11, Numbers chapter 11. Go to Numbers chapter 11, the title of the sermon is bad things to expect when you become a Christian. Number one, what's the first thing you should expect when you become a Christian? I have a couple here this morning. Number one is expect the newness to wear off. Expect the newness of the Christian life to just wear off or the newness of being in our church. Maybe you've already been a Christian for a long time and then you came to our church and you're just like gun ho, man soul winning, King James only, preach or post-trib, you know replacement theology, sorry I slipped back into my old man, you know replacement theology, at least I didn't say Zionism, amen. You know all these things and then you know the months go by and the years go by and at first you know your first sermon on the post-trib pre-wrath is just like yes! First sermon on replacement theology, yes! First sermon on reprobate doctrine, yes! And then like six months go by and then another six months go by and it's just like yeah I kind of already heard this, I already know this you know. What is that? It's the newness wearing off. Like oh first words, Baptist church, yes! And then a year from now, two years from now, three years from now it's just like yeah that's where I go, yeah. Why because the newness always wears off. It's called the honeymoon and the honeymoon doesn't last forever. You know after a while the Christian life isn't as exciting as it used to be but I got something to tell you folks, you know that's one bad thing that happens when you become a Christian and it's a bad thing because we would like the honeymoon to just remain forever. We just like to constantly be excited but you know what this is reality and this is life and you know what the Christian life requires character and discipline to keep doing what you know you're supposed to be doing in spite of the fact that you're no longer excited about it. And here's the thing, excitement is an emotion that comes and goes, right? Excitement is an emotion that you're not always going to have, maybe one week you will, maybe one week you won't. The point is is that you're not, you don't determine your decisions based upon your excitement level. It's just like well I'm not excited anymore so I'm not going to go to that church anymore. I'm not excited anymore so I'm not going to read my Bible. I'm not excited anymore about soul and so I'm not going to do it. No the person of character and discipline will do it in spite of how they feel, right? Now what are some reasons, well let's read Numbers chapter 11. Because in Numbers chapter 11 the children of Israel have been delivered out of Egypt and they're excited about that, right? They're just like God just performed all these miracles to get them out of Egypt. He plagued Egypt with ten plagues that were very visible, noticeable, I mean it was heard all around the world. I mean how thankful do you think they felt to know that the God of heaven was willing to go through these great lengths to deliver them from this wicked nation, right? And he delivered them by a strong hand and then also when they're in the wilderness he's feeding them with manna from heaven. I mean this is a miraculous thing. They don't have to cook. They don't have to do any of that. I mean or they have to cook the meal or whatever but they don't have to like plant. They don't have to reap necessarily. They just wait for the manna to fall from the sky. This angel's bread as the Bible also describes it and they pick it up and they eat it. And it's just like what a miracle, you know, to just wake up every morning and the manna's on the floor. You just go up, you know, just blow off the dirt there and just eat it and it's just like and you're sustained for years on end. We would say, amen. You know, don't have to go to the grocery store, don't have to go to the meat market. You just have your manna prepared for you on a daily basis. What a great thing. Well, after a while, guess what? The newness wore off. And you would think to yourself, how can that wear off? To see that miracle every single day of your life, manna coming from heaven, how can that be? Because human nature is human nature and human nature gets bored even with the miraculous sometimes. Right? Look at verse four of Numbers 11, it says, and the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting and the children of Israel also wept against it and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? Now, you know, we kind of relate to them, right, because, you know, we're not vegetarians or vegans here, you know, like, where's the meat, you know, but, you know, if God's given me bread, I'm going to be I'm going to be satisfied with the bread, right. But he's like, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. So they started thinking about all these things that they used to have. Okay, what are they thinking about? They're thinking about Egypt, they're thinking about their old life. And it's funny because, you know, sometimes people when they're in this particular spiritual condition, they never highlight all the bad stuff that happened to them. They always talk about the good old days. You know, they don't talk about how they woke up in a pool of vomit back in those days, how heartbroken and devastated and emotionally unstable they were prior to Christ. They always want to talk about the melons, the garlics and the leeks. Okay, so they're talking about they're complaining here. They're not satisfied with the manna. Verse six says, but now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all besides this manna before our eyes. It's called exaggeration. There's nothing at all besides this manna. Don't say there's nothing at all because you have manna. And it's a miracle that God's just given it to you for just years on end. He's feeding you. He's providing for you. What's the problem? I'll tell you the problem. The newness wore off. You know, I'm sure the first day they're just like, whoa, you know, if they had a phone, they're like, you know, taking, putting it on their Instagram reels, Instagram stories. Did you see the manna? I got up early enough to see it fall off. And then, you know, after a couple months, after maybe even a couple years, then they just got used to it, right? It's like, wow, we have a, we have a church now in Los Angeles. This is great. We have a church now in Orange County. We have a church in California, Southern California. And then a couple of years, it's just like, yeah, you know, and then you start thinking about the old life, the way it used to be, what you used to do on Sundays, what you used to do during the midweek service, whereas before you would give your right arm to have a church near you. So why does the newness wear off? Let me give you a couple reasons. Go to Galatians chapter four, Galatians chapter four. So the children of Israel, they're, they're bored with the miracles. They're bored with the manna and they start complaining because the newness has basically worn off. Now what are some reasons why the newness wears off? Well, number one is because of the fact that people just grow tired. You know, there's such thing as growing weary and well-doing. And when people grow weary and well-doing, they're tired. They're just kind of, you know, not really excited anymore. People grow apathetic towards the things of God. But the Bible tells us in Isaiah chapter 40, you're in Galatians chapter four, Galatians, Isaiah 40 verse 28 says, he giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might, he increase its strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. But listen to this, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as Eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. You see, the desire of every Christian should be that we run this race with patience, right? But it's unrealistic to think that we can just sprint our way to the very end. So we got to jog and eventually we're going to get tired, but when we get tired, the answer should never be, well, let me just take a break from church. The answer should never be, let me take a break from the Bible. The answer should never be, let me take a break from Christianity. The answer should be, let me wait upon the Lord so he can renew my strength to labor once again, to work for the Lord once again. People grow tired. That's a normal thing. But when you're tired, you rest, you don't quit, okay? But what's another reason why people or why the newness wears off? Here's a major reason. You just stop growing. That's one of the big reasons why the newness wears off. You stop growing in your faith, my friends. You see, the reason people grow bored of the Christian life is because they're doing the same thing the same way and they're not learning anything new. They're not challenging themselves in the Christian life with more Bible reading, scripture memorization, soul winning, whatever it may be. They're not growing in their Christian life anymore and therefore the newness wears off. But the Bible tells us that with all diligence, we should add to our faith virtue to virtue knowledge, et cetera, saying that constantly we need to grow. And you know what? If you're not growing, you will grow bored of the Christian life, in fact. And I'll tell you from personal experience, even as a pastor, I mean, this is my full time job. My job is to study the Bible. My job is to preach the word of God. My job is to be a pastor, to be the shepherd. It's very easy for a pastor to just grow bored of the Christian life because this is all I do. And in order to avoid that, I have to constantly grow in my faith and add to my faith. I can never say to myself, well, I've already arrived. I know how to win souls. I know how to preach. I've already read the Bible. I've read the Bible in different languages. I've already, you know, and just kind of say, well, I've already capped off. I'm just going to keep doing it this way. It doesn't work that way, my friends. You need to continue challenging yourself in the Christian life. And if you're a person of great character and great knowledge and great aptitude, then you know what? Find something very difficult to do in the Christian life and learn it. Right? You're like, well, I've already read the Bible. You know, I know the word of God. I know how to go sowing. Okay. Why don't you learn an instrument then? Get yourself involved. You know, fill in one of these seats here, amen? Challenge yourself to, you know, become talented in a specific instrument. That way you have another area to serve the Lord in. The newness will not wear off if that's what you do, because now it's just like, well, every Sunday I got to make sure I'm ready to play. I'm ready to play this music and to learn this instrument. I need to be able to do it. And the newness remains there. You're still excited about the Christian life because you're continuously growing. If you've already read the Bible once, okay, read it twice this year. If you've already read it two, three times in one year, you've already challenged yourself. Okay. Read it in Spanish. Read it in your native tongue, right? Read it or learn a new language and read the Bible in that language. Well, that's too hard. Well, I'm sorry, I wouldn't want you to do anything hard now, would I? You know, let's not have you do anything difficult in the Christian life now. We shouldn't do that, right? No, the fact is, is that if it's difficult, if it's hard, it's worth doing. But here's another reason why the newness wears off. It's not just because people get tired. It's not just because people stop growing, but people also stop spiritually reproducing. And listen to me, often what takes place is that people become apathetic towards the Christian life because they don't see the joy in reproducing themselves in another Christian. In other words, getting someone saved or discipling those who are already saved, investing in other people in the church, other Christians in the church. That affects people. Okay. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2, you don't have to turn to verse number 9, the Apostle Paul speaking here says, Wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Listen to this, Therefore I endure all things, referring to trials, tribulations, difficulties for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. A great motivation for the Apostle Paul to suffer tribulation, to pass and to not allow the newness to wear off, so to speak, is that he would endure because he knew that people were watching him. He was discipling others and teaching others how to suffer rightfully. What's another reason why the newness wears off? And I think this is probably the biggest reason. People get offended. People get offended. You say, at what? At me! At the preaching of God's word, they get offended at another brother or sister in Christ. They get offended and then it's just like, oh I thought this was like a loving church and it's just like, well it is a loving church, that's why we're telling you the truth. You see, don't mix the message, don't allow the world to dictate or to define what the message of God's word should do to you. Too many times Christians allow the world to impose definitions on what the Bible should do, what preaching should do. It's just like, well you know, if that church really loves you, they wouldn't say things like that. No, if the church really loves you, if the pastor really loves you, he's going to tell you the truth. It doesn't matter how much it hurts. And he's going to use the word of God to prove it. Look at Galatians chapter 4 verse 14. It says, In my temptation, which was in my flesh, he despised not, nor rejected, but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. So what is the Apostle Paul talking about? He's writing this letter to the churches of Galatia, which he helped start. He won a lot of the people there, to the Lord, and these people were very loyal to the Apostle Paul. They're loyal to him, they loved him, they received him as an angel of God and he exaggerates a bit and says, even as Christ Jesus, like they admired him, they followed him, there's a great relationship that they had in the very beginning, right? Look at verse 15. Where is then the blessedness he spake of? He's like, where's that behavior now? For I bear you record that if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them to me. People often say that maybe it's because the Apostle Paul had problems with his eyes, historians will say that, we don't know 100% sure, but obviously this verse would imply that to a certain extent. And he's saying, look, if it was possible, you have so much love for me, you're willing to just depart from your own eyes to give to me if I need it. You guys love me, we had a great relationship, look at verse 16, am I therefore become your enemy? Listen to this, because I tell you the truth? So what was that determining factor that caused a wedge between the Apostle Paul and his converts? The truth. The truth. And you know what, obviously it shouldn't surprise us because the truth divides my friend. The truth rubs us all the wrong way. Every single one of us, myself included, it rubs us the wrong way. So what do we do when the truth rubs us the wrong way? We go in the direction of the truth so it doesn't create friction in our lives. Because when it rubs us the wrong way, it only shows us that we're facing the wrong direction. And we're not going to say the truth is wrong. The Word of God offends us when preaching offends us, when the truth just kind of hits home and we don't like it, it's an indicator to us that we're not in alignment with the truth. And therefore, to avoid and minimize friction, we're to change our ways to God's ways. And go in the direction of God's Word so it doesn't create friction. And you know the Bible tells us, listen to this, great peace, listen to this, great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them. That's a powerful verse. You know why it's a powerful verse? Because what the Bible is implying is that if you do get offended, you don't have a love for the Word of God. Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them. So if we're offended, it only shows that we don't have great love for the law of the Lord. And here's the thing folks, as your pastor I love you, as your pastor I pray for you, as your pastor I want what's spiritually best for you. But you know, me being your pastor and me being your friend, me being a spiritual mentor so to speak, it's not going to impede me from telling you the truth when you got to hear it though. And you know sometimes I have a very uncomfortable job to get up here and have to call out a specific sin in the church or a specific trend in the church, a specific attitude in the church. I have that responsibility and sometimes it's uncomfortable. You say why? Because then I got to go down there and talk to you after the service, you know what I mean? And you're like, you know I was talking about you. And sometimes people are like, were you talking about me? It's like, I mean, yeah, like what do you want me to say, you know, don't make it awkward. Don't ask me that. But better to go into a church like that than a church that just tells you everything you want to hear and you never grow spiritually and you think you're growing. You have this illusion that you're actually growing, but you're not being challenged, your sin is not being called out and therefore it doesn't produce godliness and righteousness in your life, which in turn does not produce God's blessing in your life either. And so, you know, people get offended and that's why the newness wears off because you know when you first come it's just like call out every sin under the sun, call out every trend out in the world, but then when I actually get to your sin, your character flaw, your area where you fall short in, then it's just like, oh the pastor's just being mean. Oh the pastor's just, that's just too much, that's not very loving and then the newness wears off. So before it was like, pastor, he was like the best, but then I start calling out your sin and he's just like, well he's alright, pastor Anderson's way better, it's like, you're my favorite and then I offend you and it's just like, well you know, there's others I like to listen to more, you know, why? Because you're offended, but don't get offended, just learn from the preaching of God's word and look folks, the Christian life is filled with offenses because the Bible is like a rock of offense unto us, you understand? Because it rubs us the wrong way, it calls us out on our sin, it's the perfect law of liberty that we look to and we see our flaws and our sinful nature and God expects us to change, right? And so these are some of the reasons why the newness wears off and this is the bad thing that you've got to expect in the Christian life. Don't expect that just because you come to our church and you know, there's biblical preaching that you're not going to hear something that you don't want to hear, you're not going to feel ashamed or embarrassed, but folks, you know, discomfort is necessary in order to grow, right? And don't take it out on me either, don't take it out on the messenger, don't get mad at me, don't get mad, well it's not what you say, it's just how you say it, you know? But folks, let's just be honest, it's what I'm saying, okay? And I can say it in different ways, but the message is still clear and it's still true about sin, it's still true about disobedience and rebellion and so, you know, sometimes I got to say it a certain way to get the attention or else you're not going to think I'm taking it serious, okay? Go to 2 Peter chapter 2 if you would, 2 Peter chapter 2, we're talking about bad things to expect when you become a Christian. What's the first bad thing that takes place? The newness wears off. New Christians, new converts, you're excited now, but let me say this, the newness will wear off. Hey, Christian who you've been saved for quite some time, but you've been to our church and now it's a new church to you, guess what? The newness will wear off, you'll get bored of John singing, you'll get bored of Marcos' singing, you get bored of Paul's, you start becoming critical, like, oh man, do we have to sing that song again? Oh, he's going to forget that line again. Same orchestra members, oh, we're doing this again. Oh, why can't Eric do this, why can't he play this way, why can't he do that? Before it was just like, I would just love to be in a church where they just do this stuff. But now the manna doesn't seem that tasty anymore. It's like, oh, does he have to preach on sodomites again? Before you couldn't wait to hear a sermon on sodomites. I was like, oh man, do you have to talk about this again? Before you could not wait to hear a sermon like that, you were one of the biggest ameners. And now the newness has worn off. Renew yourself, challenge yourself, you know, even when it comes to powerlifting and weightlifting or whatever and lifting weights, your muscles can get used to the same weight, so you have to like, in order to tear the fibers and grow bigger muscle, you have to go up in weight, right? So the same thing in the Christian life, if I'm just constantly giving you the same weight, you're not really going to grow. That's why I've got to come and just drop a load of video games are wicked to get you uncomfortable, amen? And I'm just telling you, you don't want to miss tonight's sermon, I'm just telling you. What's another bad thing to expect when you become a Christian? Well, let me say this, you won't enjoy sin the way you used to. How's that bad? That's bad because of your old nature, because your old nature has a propensity to sin. It has the temptation to sin. And you know what, before salvation, you can just sin and you're just kind of like, whatever about it doesn't really bother you. Now you have a new nature, the new man. And the Bible tells us that the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, the Spirit against the flesh. These are contrary the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. What does that mean? You can't enjoy sin the way you used to, because you have a new nature that's fighting against that. The Bible tells us, look at 2 Peter chapter 2. Now obviously this is a good thing from a spiritual standpoint, but it's a bad thing if you're just disobedient. It's a bad thing if you're not trying to work on it because it's like, well, I still want to go out and drink and party, I still want to go out and do the things that I used to do. But I'm just going to tell you right now, you're never going to enjoy it ever again. And you know what, you can play video games after tonight. You could probably go and play video games and World of Warcraft and Minecraft and Witchcraft or whatever. You can play all these video games, but I guarantee you after tonight's sermon, you're not going to be able to enjoy it the way you used to. Because my face is just going to be imprinted in your mind. Look at 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 6 says, it says, in turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensemble unto those that after should live ungodly and delivered just Lot. Now it doesn't say like he just delivered Lot, because he delivered Lot and his daughters. When it says just Lot, it's referring to the fact that Lot was a just person, a righteous person, not because of his works, but because he obviously was living in Sodom and Gomorrah. It's because of the fact that he was saved. So when you get saved, when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're righteous in the eyes of God. And a synonym for righteous is just. So this is emphasizing the fact that Lot, even though his works were bad, because he's living in San Francisco, you know, he's still just and righteous in the eyes of God. He says in delivered just Lot, listen to this, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. What does vex mean? It means he's troubled. So Lot, you know, the reason he moved to Sodom and Gomorrah is not because he liked Sodomites, because he's a righteous person. He's a safe person. Why did he like it? Because it looked nice. The well-plained waters reminded him of Egypt and, you know, the landscape or whatever. And so he moved there with the intent of enjoying that type of scenery, because that's what he was used to. But guess what? It came with the price, which is called vexing his righteous soul from day to day, because his righteous soul would not allow him to enjoy that. You know what that is with every Christian. If you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within you. You're not gonna be able to enjoy sin the way you used to. Now I will say this, you know, some Christians will just push through that conviction, and they'll push through that conviction, and they'll ignore the grievance of the Holy Spirit. They'll ignore quenching the Holy Spirit, and they'll just keep doing it and keep doing it. And then after a while, they become desensitized to that sin, right? Become hardened to that sin, at which point God will just chastise you, okay? But in general, once you get saved, you get in church, you know, there's certain things you just won't enjoy doing anymore, you understand? There's certain people you can't really be around anymore, certain conversations you can't really stomach anymore, certain things you can't watch anymore, certain things you can't listen to anymore. Why? Because you'd be grieving the Holy Spirit, and you can't really enjoy sin the way you used to. He says in verse number eight, for that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. So what's another bad thing that happens that you should expect when you become a Christian? You're not gonna be able to enjoy that sin that you're typically involved in on a daily, weekly basis. It's not gonna happen. Or if you do try to enjoy it, you know, it'll be in your mouth afterwards as gravel. You'll enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season, but then afterwards thy mouth shall be filled with gravel. You won't enjoy the way you used to. You have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within you. You know, the Holy Spirit, the Bible says that we can quench him, the Bible says that we can grieve him, and you'll be bothered by that sin, okay? Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number two, Ecclesiastes chapter number two. He said, well, what's the answer then? If I'm bothered by my sin, you know, what can I do? Can I go to like a lesser sin that I can probably enjoy? Can I get diet sin? You know, what can I do to really enjoy? Well, here's the answer. You live a righteous life, okay? You like, well, I'm so used to participating in this activity or being with these people. This is why, you know, the Bible teaches us the principle of replacement. You know, you have certain friends that you can't really be around because they're not a good influence on you. They encourage you in sinful matters. Well, that means you've got to get new friends. You say, well, where are these new friends? Well, I'm looking at every single one of them right now. You can come to church and befriend some of the people in our church. Like, yeah, but they're all geeks and nerds and stuff. So what? At least they will, which I don't think you guys are all geeks and nerds, okay? That's what they said though. No, I'm just kidding. You know, but you know, at least they'll befriend you. At least you can have a good time, a fun time in a righteous manner and a wholesome way where you're not committing iniquity and sin. And you know, you're going to bed at night with that weight of sin on your shoulder. At least you go to bed at night knowing that you had fun, knowing that you had a good time with a clear conscience. I mean, the worst thing you'll do here is just, you know, have too much apple cider or something, you know, or stay up too late or something like that. We get a little wild here, you know. Bad things to expect when you become a Christian, you're in Ecclesiastes chapter 2, let me say this is that you will suffer, listen to this, you will suffer the same trials that the unsaved suffer on this earth. You're going to suffer the same way that unsaved people do. Don't think that just because you become a Christian that you're somehow exempt from the difficulties that you used to suffer with, exempt from the trials of this world. You're still in this world. You're still going to suffer the consequences of your actions, of your sin, or listen to this, you might just suffer for no reason whatsoever. Why? Because bad things happen to good people all the time. And it's not because they're disobedient, it's not because they're rebellious, it's just because that's life. It's just like, oh man, I'm going through this hard time, my health, my finances, you know, is God punishing me? Well after you've taken inventory, you see that you're living a life that's pleasing unto Him, it's probably just life. Just life. Life happens. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 14. It says here in Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 14, the wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness, and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, as it happeneth to a fool, so it happeneth even to me, and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity. You know, there's certain difficulties that are going to come your way in spite of the fact that you're wise. No matter how much you prepare for this life, some things are just going to catch you off guard no matter what. And new Christians, listen to this, if you're not careful, you can have this expectation that once you become a Christian, you're never going to suffer these things, you will suffer these things. And a lot of these things are going to motivate you to just get out of God's will, get out of church, get out of serving God. And you think to yourself, I've accumulated all this wisdom, I've accumulated all this Bible knowledge, all this church attendance, all this soul winning, all this obedience, and as it happeneth to a fool, it happened to me. And you can grow bitter and think to yourself, well what's the point of serving God if I'm accumulating all this righteousness, and yet I'm still suffering in this life. Let me just say this is that that's life. And you need to be prepared to suffer for just doing nothing at all sometimes. I'm not being heartless, I'm just being realistic that this is just life sometimes. Look at chapter 7, chapter 7, and verse 15, it says, All things have I seen in the days of my vanity. There is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. Now that sounds pretty hard, right? It's like you see a good person, a godly person, a righteous person, they die early. But you see other wicked people in Hollywood, you know, you see pedophiles and serial killers just living out their days and you're like, what's going on? Why is that? Well because sometimes that's just life. And you need to be prepared that when you begin to suffer, not for any particular thing that you've done, you don't just become bitter towards God, you don't become bitter towards the Bible, you don't become bitter towards church, you need to mature and grow up and say, well, this is life sometimes, and this is no reason for me to get out of church, no reason for me to stop reading the Bible, no reason for me to stop sowing. This is just a way of life sometimes. Look at chapter 9, chapter 9, and verse number 11, it says, I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor your riches to men of understanding, nor your favor to men of skill, nor your riches but time and chance happeneth to them all. You know, some people, I know a lot of people don't like it when people say good luck, but sometimes there is good luck. Time and chance happeneth to them all, because it says there that the race is not to the swift. You know what this reminds me of? It's like when I'm on Instagram and I see some guy who weighs like, you know, a buck twenty-five, like one hundred and twenty-five pounds, and he's dead lifting like four hundred and fifty pounds or something. And here I am, I'm not going to tell you my weight, you know, and here I am like training and eating protein and just going through this grueling training, and then it's just like I can't even do four fifty. You know why? Because sometimes the race is not to the swift. Sometimes it's just time and chance. There's some skinny dudes out there that just have like natural strength, you know, they got the strength in their back, the posterior chain or whatever, it's just really strong and they're just able to do it just, you know, I don't know, it just sucks, you know, I'm just really sad about that. But you know, this is life, okay, you know, and then you say, well do you like that video? I'm like, no way, man, I'm not going to like it, I'm not going to promote that guy, you know. I'm going to be a hater for a couple seconds, you know. I'm just joking. But what I'm saying is that, you know, sometimes you prepare, you save, you train, you do all these things and then people who don't do those things, they end up arriving at the destination that you desire, without any of that, because that's just life sometimes. Or how about a person who just spends their life just living healthy, they don't drink, they don't smoke, they don't run with them that do, they eat, you know, wholesome foods or whatever, and then they fall sick. And then you got some other guy who's an alcoholic, he's a smoker, and then he's just living like a regular life. Now obviously that's not the general consensus, that doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes it does. I mean, I have a family member who is a hardcore alcoholic, has been drinking and smoking since they were in their teens, they're in their 50s and 60s, and they're still alive and kicking as though, like, they've never done that before. And it's just like, what in the world? But folks, that's just life sometimes though. Be prepared for that so that when it happens to you, you don't become disillusioned with the Christian life. And think, well, my obedience to God is in vain. My obedience and my work that I put in to accumulate God's blessing and His righteousness is all in vain because look at this person. No, that's just life sometimes. He says in verse 12, for men also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. Sometimes you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and evil comes to you. That's just the way it is. These are the bad things that you need to expect when you become a Christian. Go to Hebrew chapter 10, if you would, Hebrew chapter 10, Hebrew chapter number 10. Now this is pretty self-explanatory, but here's another bad thing that happens when you become a Christian. And again, it's bad for your old sin nature, not bad for your new nature, excuse me, is that you won't get away with sin anymore. Before, you get away with sin because you didn't have a new nature, God wasn't your heavenly Father, you didn't know the word of God, but now if you're a Christian and you want to get involved in sin, you can't get away with it anymore because the Bible tells us, be sure your sin will find you out. Look at Hebrew chapter 10 verse 25, or verse 26, it says, for if we sin willfully, after that we receive the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. Now let me just deviate from the subject here at hand, let me explain what's going on here in this passage because a lot of people try to use this passage to say that you can lose your salvation. If you're in willful sin, there remaineth no more sacrifices for sins. They're basically saying that Jesus Christ can't sacrifice himself again for your sins, so therefore you're going to go to hell, you're going to lose your salvation, blah, blah, blah. But this is not what this text is saying at all. And in fact, in context of chapter 10, he's referring to actual animal sacrifices, which was something that was done, an ordinance that was done in the Old Testament. And in the Old Testament, if you committed daily sins, you would do daily sacrifices to atone for those daily sins. Whereas now, that doesn't exist because we're in the New Testament, Jesus Christ himself, who's the lamb of God who should take away the sins of the world, has sacrificed himself once and for all. So to say, well, Jesus is going to have to sacrifice himself again for your sins is to have just an ignorant understanding of the sacrifice of Jesus, because when Jesus Christ was crucified, he was sacrificed for us, he paid for sins, past, present and future. And just to let you know, I don't know if you know this, all of our sins were in Jesus' future, right? Because he was here 2000 years ago. So even your past sins are in the future for him. I don't know if that made sense, okay? I think I said that correctly. What this is saying is that, hey, we're not in the Old Testament anymore, so you can't just offer up a sacrifice to atone for your daily sin. If you're just in rebellion against God, you're disobeying God, what's going to happen is God's going to chastise you. He says in verse 28, he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. There he's saying, look, people who committed capital crimes in the Old Testament, there were also sins, they were given the death penalty. Verse 29 says, of how much sore punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under the foot of the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified in an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompensate the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people. So what is the Bible telling us here? Yeah, you know, if you want to continue in sin and continue in rebellion and disobedience, you're not going to lose your salvation, you don't have to offer another sacrifice for that sin, however, God will punish you because you can't get away with sin anymore. And later on he says, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. You know, a lot of people are just like, God is so loving, and you know, he just loves me, and yes, amen to that, but guess what, he also is willing to punish you though. Even to the point where he's even willing to take your life, if it requires it. Like what? You know how many examples in the Bible we have of God just killing his own people? Is there just disobedient? It's just God's like, you know what, you're just not listening, you know, and just thousands, just kills thousands for committing fornication, just destroys them, it's just like, I mean, he was willing to just kill all of Israel. He was so upset with Israel, like a million people plus, okay, this entire nation, that he told Moses, he came to Moses with this great idea. He's like, why don't I just like destroy all them, and then I'll just start a new nation with you. What do you think about that? Now, if I was Moses, I would have been like, let's do it. I would have been like, hey, Lord thou knowest all things. You know, but Moses is obviously more compassionate than me, and he's just like, he pleaded on their behalf, and he didn't destroy them, but think about this, God was willing to just wipe out that whole nation because of their sin. So don't think that we are exempt from God's punishment, God can chastise you as well, he can chastise me, he can punish us because of the fact that we can't get away with sin anymore, okay. Go to Hebrew chapter 12, and then we'll go to 1 Peter chapter 4, Hebrew chapter 12, look at verse number 6, you say, well, you keep seeing this word chastise, chastise, what is that? Chastise means just in modern terms, spanking, because God's our heavenly Father, you know, as a father, as a mother, spanks their children when they disobey in order to teach them how to do right, in like manner, God does, excuse me, God does the same thing. And let me just say this, obviously, God's spankings are far worse than any spanking that we can get from any human being, because he can hit you where it hurts. Look at verse 6, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. What is it saying? You know, if you're in sin, you're just involved in rebellion and disobedience, but God's just not punishing you at all. The Bible says that you are a bastard, okay, now don't think, oh, that's like a cuss word or something. Bastards just means that you are an illegitimate spiritual child of God. You're not legitimately saved is what it's saying, okay, because if you're saved, God will be chastising you for those sins. Now this is not, you know, a passage that we would use to say, all right, now let's look at who's not getting chastised here, you know, because the Bible says this, this is not for us to go observe everyone's life to make sure that they're being chastised if they're involved in sin or something like that. This is something that we should take personally, amen. And so you can't get away with sin anymore, sorry, bad things that you should expect in the Christian life. You can't just get involved in sin and enjoy it anymore. It's not going to happen. Go to 1 Peter chapter four, 1 Peter chapter four, talking about bad things to expect when you become a Christian. Number five, expect to be hated, mocked, criticized and lied about. You better expect it. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I thought when I became a Christian, everyone's going to love me. Yeah, if you join some church that like, you know, doesn't preach the Bible, doesn't expect you to serve God. Yeah, if you become like this politician, Christian, you know what I mean, like people are going to like you because politicians speak out of both sides of their mouth. They tell everyone what they want to hear, but we tell the world what they need to hear and what God wants us to say. And so when we do that, not everyone's pleased with that message. And you know what it does? It rubs people the wrong way. And some people don't like you. Other people actually hate you. Some people will mock you, they'll make fun of you. Some people will criticize you. Other people, they can't stand what you believe, so they'll lie about you. Now here's the thing is that sometimes this comes from like the enemies of God, but other times it comes from your own family. Sometimes it's your own family that can do this to you. So new Christians, you need to expect this. When you become a Christian, you need to expect the fact that it potentially might involve your family despising you. That happens sometimes. Now there's people in our church that they got their entire family in church and thank God for that. You know what I mean? Like they're able to win their family to Christ, their brother, sister, mother, father, sons, whatever. And you know, they don't really know necessarily what that's like to receive persecution from their family per se, their immediate family. But that doesn't mean that this doesn't apply because of the fact that the Bible tells us yay, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, listen to this, shall suffer persecution. So listen, this is very important, okay? If you're not receiving some form of persecution throughout your Christian life, what does that tell you? Because the verse says, yay, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You're like, well, no, no, no, I'm godly. I'm just like nice godly though. I'm just like loving godly is what it is. So that verse doesn't apply to me. No, it doesn't work that way. If you live godly in Christ Jesus, you will suffer persecution in some form or another by your husband, by your wife, by your mother, your father, somebody is going to hate on you for being a Christian. That's just a fact. Look at 1 Peter 4 verse 1, hey, by your in-laws. That's not hard sometimes, but you know, sometimes that's like the easiest one, it's just like man, that was before Christ, you know? That was BC. 1 Peter 4.1, for as much then as Christ had suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live in the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness, lust, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries wherein they think it's strange they run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. You know, when you become a Christian, your priorities change, don't they? Like now Sundays are for the Lord. Now your mornings are for your Bible reading. Now Friday evenings are not for partying, it's for going to sleep because you don't want to be out there partying. Now Sunday afternoons are for sowing. Now Sunday nights are for Sunday night church. Now you've kind of determined, my life is going to revolve around the Lord and what the Lord wants for my life, and so my priorities have to change, my activities have to change. And so sometimes your friends and family will think it's strange that you run out with them anymore. Like, how come you don't come over anymore to barbecue? You know, it's just like, well, because you have beer there all the time, and I don't want my kids to be exposed to that garbage. Like how come you don't hang out and do all these things anymore? It's just like, because my priorities have changed. And they think it's strange that you would change. You know, sometimes the change is dramatic, right? Some people, they get saved, and they just get on fire for God, they cut their hair, they change the way they dress, they just change their life. And then the family is just like, why are you acting so strange? It's like, well, I'm a Christian now. It's like, oh, you know, and then they'll try to throw your sins in your face. Well, you used to do this, and what about your girlfriend? What about your boyfriend? What about this? What about that? And then, you know, they'll begin to mock you because you're trying to do this turnaround because now, you know, you're saved, you're a believer of the Lord, you believe the Bible, you go to church now. Oh, you're a church boy now? You know, what about, you're not going to be playing video games anymore, huh? And you should be like, well, not after tonight. I still got a couple of hours to get a couple, you know, levels in or something. They'll mock you, they'll hate you, but you'll be mocked at your friends or your family, but you'll be hated of, of the people of this world though. And the Bible promises us that because the Bible is super offensive to this world, super offensive. It's not offensive to us because we love the Bible. But to this world who embraces sodomy and pedophilia and adultery and fornication, once they hear what we have to say, what the Bible says about those things, they hate you. Begin to mock you and hate you and they'll lie about you. You know, they'll come up with all types of lies. You know, for example, you know, I preached a sermon last week about sodomy, like common questions about homosexuality. And literally that week someone came out with a video that said that I was a homosexual. Like, oh, he's a homosexual for preaching that or something. What is that? It's called a lie because they obviously hate the truth. So you know, you're going to have your words twisted. People are going to rail on you. They're going to lie about you. They're going to mock you. They're going to criticize you. Your family might even turn on you. These are some bad things to expect when you become a Christian. And I'm telling you now so it doesn't catch you off guard when it happens. You say, well, how can I avoid that? Or just don't live a godly life. Just be as watered down and as lame of a Christian as you possibly can be. Don't read the Bible. Don't live a godly life. Go to church every once in a while, you know, to ease your conscience. Don't walk in the spirit. And you know what? You won't have any problems with this world. But you know what? If you are a teenager going to a public school, you're probably going to be hated on. People are probably going to criticize you. Hey, if you're a young lady who goes to a public school and you start changing the way you dress, you take off the pants and you put on a skirt, you know, girls are probably going to mock you in school for that. They're going to think you're a weirdo. They're going to think you're a little house on the prairie. You know, dudes, if you, you know, cut off that mop off your head, get rid of the mullet, you know, you get, you're welcome. You get rid of the mullet, you get rid of the, and you start changing the way you behave. You take off the weird earring with the cross that dangles like two inches below your earlobe. You stop acting effeminate. You know what? That's going to bother the effeminate dudes of this world. They're going to think you're weird. They're going to think you're strange. But you know what? The Bible says that we are a peculiar people, my friends, because we're Christians. We're believers. We don't want to be like them. And the truth is they want to be like us. They want what we have, which is peace, joy, righteousness, purity, things that they can never have. But you will be mocked. It says, look at verse 12, beloved, thinking not strange, concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you. Let me just say this. That's like base level too, because then once you start, once you're actually open about what you believe, oh man, then that's when the real demons start coming out and coming after you, you know, and that's when, you know, the threats come. That's when the bombings come. That's when, you know, all types of craziness happens at that point. But you know what? This is why the newness hasn't worn off for me. The newness, if you don't want the newness to wear off, for sure, if you want to make sure the newness never wears off, just live a godly life so you just constantly persecuted and you just keep things exciting, amen? Go with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and we're done. Talk about bad things to expect in the Christian life. Expect to be hated, mocked, criticized, lied about. And don't grow faint of heart when that happens. When your family turns against you, when your BBF no longer contacts you or whatever, when, you know, you're no longer invited to the carne asada because they know that you're a Christian or whatever, when people turn away from you, this is just how it is. You know what? The more people do that, the more we can identify with Jesus Christ because the whole world turned on him. The whole world turned on him. And you say, well, I just think that if you're a Christian, everyone's going to love you. Well, Christian means that we're Christ-like and they crucify Jesus. So what are you talking about? Yeah, but if you're a Christian, people are going to love you, they're going to think you're just like the best. No, they didn't do that to Jesus. One minute they're like singing his praises, the next minute they're like crucify him. They wanted him dead, they killed him. So we stopped, we got to stop listening to these preachers out there that try to portray Jesus Christ and Christians as being, you know, obviously we're peacemakers, but hold on a second. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war, that's what the Bible says. And you know what? Jesus Christ came lowly and humbly and the world still rejected him. Well, in like manner, we come peaceably. We come to preach the gospel. We're here to preach the word of God. But even in spite of that, people still want war with us. Why? Because that's just the way life is. This is what you need to expect when it happens. Now, we're not in the state of our country, at least not yet, where we're going to resist unto blood, which means that like, you know, our lives are on the line or we're physically harmed. But it might get to that in the next couple of years. Are you ready for that? When you're persecuted to the point where you're physically harmed for your faith, are you going to be those that say, well, you know, I believe the Bible, but I think they're misinterpreting that verse though, you know. Are you going to be the one to stand for the word of God and say, no, I believe it all. I don't care how offensive it is. If you want to take my life, then so be it. I'm not going to deny the Bible. I believe it 100%. I'm not ashamed of it. And so bad things to expect when you become a Christian. Lastly is this, is that you can still suffer eternal loss. Thankfully, when we're saved, we can't lose our salvation for any reason. And people will often make this claim, oh, so you just you can just live however you want. And you're saying that basically once you're saved, you can just live however you want and nothing will ever happen to you. Well, I just showed you the fact that we will still suffer chastisement, right? But not only that, you can suffer eternal loss. In other words, yeah, if you want to be if you're saved and you don't want to go to church, you don't want to serve God, you actually have the liberty to live that way if you want. God has given you that option if that's what you want. But don't come complaining when you're in the judgment seat of Christ when you get no rewards because the Bible says, occupy till I come. Look at the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 11. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ, referring to the fact that no one can be saved apart from Christ. That's the only legitimate foundation is Jesus. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Now obviously right now we're looking through a glass darkly. But the way I would envision what this is, is that at the judgment seat of Christ, not to determine whether we're saved or not, because that's already determined once we get saved. At the judgment seat of Christ is when Jesus Christ distributes rewards to us for the works that we've done here on this earth. And according to this passage, there's some type of supernatural fire where our works are somehow tossed into this fire to see of what sort it is. In other words, if you serve God, you won souls to Christ, you know, what's being tossed in there is like gold, silver, and precious stones. It's not going to melt, it's not going to do away with, it's a legitimate reward, it's legitimate work. It's like the hours you put in is like, okay, you're getting paid for this right here. This is good stuff right here. Souls you want to the Lord, you know, you led your family, oh look at that, you made your husband a sandwich when he asked you, oh you reverence your husband, oh you love your wife as Christ loved the church legitimately, oh man, you know, whatever, you serve God because we can serve God in any capacity, oh you did these things, okay, you get rewarded for this. But then there are others who are like going to bring like wood, hay, and stubble, they're like, I know this doesn't look like gold, silver, and precious stones, but I promise you it is, you know. But then they throw it in the fire, you know what happens, it just burns up. Look at verse 14, it says, if any man's work shall abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. All that work you put into soul winning, all that work you put into discipling others and loving others and living righteously and all these things, it's just like God's like, okay, here's your reward for just being faithful in that area. You shall receive a reward. Oh, hold on a second, verse 15, if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. So that shows us there that even if you don't work, you're still saved, yet so as by fire. However, you will suffer loss though. Let me say this, that'll probably be the most embarrassing moment of a lot of Christians' lives is the judgment seat of Christ. Because they have the liberty to just not do anything if they want or to serve Christ, and if they choose not to serve God, they choose to just fulfill the desires of the flesh and of their mind to live for this world. They love the world. They love the flesh. They love the things that the devil has to offer to them in this world, and they're just kind of living a carnal life. Well, you know, this is the only place you're going to enjoy that. Because when you get to heaven, somehow, you know, this angel is going to be like, here's your bag of works. Make sure you throw that into the fire, okay? Good luck. And you kind of look in there and you're like, oh man, I don't really see anything in here. There's only like wood hand stubble. And then you see people just getting the rewards. You're just like getting crowned by the Lord Jesus Christ. Be thou over ten cities, you know? Be thou over five cities. Be thou over one city. They're getting rewarded. I mean, it's like a huge celebration. Christians are there just like, man, I'm so thankful that I didn't quit. I'm so thankful that I just stayed in church. I'm so thankful that I won souls to Christ. I'm so thankful that I just remained faithful in the Christian life because now I get to reap the benefits of it. Jesus Christ himself is honoring me for the work that I did. I mean, the God, your God, my God, our Savior will honor those who do that. And then it's just like, yeah, and then here you come and you're like, yeah, you're next in line. And you're like, all right, throw it in. And it's like, you're just like, I think I got the wrong bag. And you know what? You know what Jesus might say to you? At least you're saved. Step aside. I mean, think about that. I don't know if it's going to be exactly like that. It might. But, you know, the passages seem to indicate something like that. And you know what? I want to be the one that has bags. You know, when your mom comes home from the grocery store and then you don't want to take one bag at a time so you just get them all. And then your fingers stay like that for a while. That's how I want to be at the judgment seat of Christ. It's just like you just grab all your works and you're just like, you just take them over. You do the farmer walk, you know, and you just bring them and then you get rewarded. And then it's just like easy living after like it's just paradise thereafter. You get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. But you know what? A bad thing that you can expect when you become a Christian is that if you choose not to serve God, well, you got a pretty embarrassing judgment seat for you. That's a motivator for us to just stay in it. Don't quit. Keep winning souls. Keep serving your husband. Keep loving your wife. Keep raising your children. Keep raising them in the nurturing and admonition of the Lord. There's people out there who raise their children but not in the nurturing and admonition of the Lord. There's children out there who raise their children well but not in the nurturing and admonition of the Lord. Be faithful. If not, you have a bad thing to expect at the judgment seat of Christ. What's the sermon today? I'm just trying to warn seasoned Christians, remind seasoned Christians about the bad things to expect. But I'm also telling the new Christians, the new converts, don't let this thing catch you off guard. These things will happen to you and you need to be prepared for them. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. So thankful for the warnings thereof. Lord, please help us as your people to remain faithful, Lord, and not to allow these things to blindside us and to catch us off guard. Lord, help us to expect these things not in the sense of paranoia but just realize that when they happen, we should not think it's strange, the fiery trials that shall come upon us one day, Lord. And I pray, Lord, that you'd prepare us for that as we walk with you, as we read the Bible, as we pray. Help us, Lord, to continue to stay faithful to you, steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord. We love you. We thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.