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Jesus, let me pray. Amen. Amen. All right. We are in Luke chapter number nine. Look down there, the Bible is at verse 21. It says, And He straightly charged them and commanded them to tell no man that thing, saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain and be raised the third day. And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantage if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be a castaway? And the title of this sermon this morning is The Principle of Trade-offs. The Principle of Trade-offs. Now let me start off by saying that anything worth having requires a substantial amount of trade-offs, okay? Now you say, Well, what is a trade-off? Well, a trade-off is the exchange of one thing for another of more or less equal value. Now we're talking about good trade-offs as well as bad trade-offs. Now what is a good trade-off? It's when we decide to basically sacrifice temporal pleasures for something greater. It's when we decide to sacrifice something that's good for something that is greater, knowing full well that it's not necessarily a sacrifice. It's what? It's an investment. They were willing to let something go to get something that's a lot better. Now anyone who has succeeded in their profession or in their field of work, okay, can tell you that success came intentionally as they made calculated decisions to make certain trade-offs, okay? They were willing to give something up in order to obtain something better. And let me say this is that success in life does not come by osmosis, okay? Success in life does not come on accident or by default. Now are there times in our personal lives where we succeed because per adventure we're in the right place at the right time and for some reason per chance we were just blessed by God? Obviously there are times like that but you know what? That is not the norm and typically success especially according to the Bible requires certain decisions, requires specific trade-offs, requires for us to basically prepare ourselves to be in the right place. Now this is true when it comes to getting promoted at your job, doesn't it? In order for you to get promoted at your job to succeed at your job that requires specific trade-offs. It requires for you to give up large amount of hours or to learn something that no one else wants to learn. It requires for you to inconvenience yourself in order to move up in the ladder, make that trade-off and become successful at your job. This is true when it comes to saving to buy a house for example. It requires what? Trade-off of not buying certain things, right? Not purchasing certain luxuries that we would want immediately knowing full well that we're saving for something better in the future. This is true when it comes to living on one income, amen? Where you have instead of having two people working, the husband and wife, we follow the biblical order where the man brings home the bacon, okay, and then the woman stays home and guess what? That's a blessing. God blesses a home that has things in order but you know what that requires? A specific trade-off. It requires for you the man to say, you know what, we're gonna have to do without some things. You know, we're gonna probably have to downgrade or downgrade on some things that we have, not go out as much in order for me to fulfill my biblical role of providing for the family. But you know what? That is a substantial trade-off that brings back many dividends, that brings God's blessing upon a home. It's true when it comes to raising godly children, okay? Trade-offs are important to raise godly children, why? Because instead of hiring a babysitter or instead of putting your kids in the public school and have someone else do your responsibility, take care of your responsibility, you do it, you get that trade-off but guess what? The results are a lot better. You know, instead of sending your kids to the public school, the fool system or yet the Christian fool system because it's just the same exact thing, you know, you're teaching your kids. Because here's the thing, any kid who makes it out of the public school system and is saved and they learn biblical principles, they make it in spite of the public school, okay? I went to a public school, I know what it's like and I can say personally that the public school is wicked, it's vile, it's corrupt and I wouldn't send my dog to a public school. I wouldn't send my dog to a Christian school. Why? And that is not the biblical order to raise a family, to raise children. You know, make that trade-off and raise your kids, you teach your kids and you reap the benefits of that later on in the future. This is true when it comes to exercise, right? You know, you got no more Twinkies, no more Snickers, you know, you have to make certain sacrifices if you want the results that you're trying to obtain. This is true when it comes to growing in your knowledge of the word of God. You know, in order for you to grow in your knowledge of the word of God, it takes time for you to spend in the Bible countless hours meditating, memorizing, reading, turning off the television, turning off YouTube, getting off of social media and getting into your Bible, reading it in order for you to get the treasures of the word of God to gain the wisdom that God has set for you. But you know what? That requires sacrifice of your time, that requires inconvenience on your part but you know what? The result is that you will become successful in your Bible reading, you'll become knowledgeable of the Bible. This is true when it comes to soul-winning, okay? Why? Because it's inconvenient to go out on a Saturday or on a Sunday afternoon or throughout the week to take time out of your day to go talk to some person you've never met before, tell them that they're sinners and that they're on their way to hell, risk them basically cussing you out or being rude to you in order to basically potentially reach that person for Christ, to see that person get saved. We went soul-winning yesterday and you know what? Marcos ran into some rude people and I told him, I was like, you know, I've been doing this for 11 years and I'm still not used to when people are rude to me. You know, when you just kind of feel like stupid walking away when they're like, no, and then you just close it, you're like, oh, okay, I guess, you know, you just kind of walk away and you're like, man, I feel dumb, you know? But you know what? That's the risk we're willing to take. Why? Because we know that potentially the next door, which two doors after that, a lady got saved. That's the risk. That's the trade-off we should make. Some people say, well, I don't want to go soul-winning because I'm just afraid of people like getting on me or slamming the door on my face. I fear rejection. But you know what? That is a great trade-off to potentially win someone to Christ and to change someone's eternal destiny. That is a great trade-off. The bad trade-off is that you're not willing to do that. You trade in not being dishonored, not being reproached and getting nothing when you get to heaven, not being rewarded for the things that you did on this earth. And so this is a principle we see a lot. And when it comes to succeeding in life in general, it requires trade-offs. You know, you don't just get, nothing worth having comes easily. It's hard because if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Things that are worth having, things that are worth doing, things that are worth reaping takes sacrifice, hard work, and a substantial sacrificial trade-off. But you know what? The result of it is that you will reap the benefits of it. You know, there's many examples we can give, but at the end of the day, every single person, you know, is either going to pay the price now and play later, or are you going to play now and pay later? That's how it always works. And unfortunately, in our society, in our society, we have this microwave mentality where we want everything now, this drive-through, microwave, instant coffee mentality, okay? I've gotten into, I'm a coffee drinker, I don't know if you know that, all right? And you know, I'm used to putting the coffee in the pot and just, you know, getting it instantly, man. But I've gotten into pour-over. Who knows anything about pour-overs? Does anybody know anything about pour-overs? Half of the church just woke up, okay? All the comments are going to be filled with, you shouldn't drink coffee, it's bad. Hey, God made coffee, right? And God made tea as well. So I don't drink tea, sorry. But so I'm into this pour-over, and man, you know what? It's a good cup of coffee when you do a pour-over style. But you know what? It takes time. I'm like, when is this thing going to get done? You have to pour it, then it has to blossom. You guys know what I'm talking about? And you got to wait for it to blossom, and you pour it some more, and you just got to wait. But you know, the result of that is a good cup of coffee. My cup runneth over once you're done with that pour-over coffee. Because anything worth having takes time. You know, living or having a successful Christian life takes a lifetime. So when you first get saved, don't expect everything to have all your ducks in order. You know, be complete, just have everything right spot on where it needs to be. It takes a lifetime to grow into something that God wants you to be. It takes a lifetime to learn doctrine. It takes a lifetime to fight sin and learn the Bible and do everything that's pleasing unto the Lord. It takes a lifetime. You're not going to be able to build that house in one day. How do you build a house? One brick at a time. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you do anything? A little here and a little there, here a little, there a little. But it takes time and it takes sacrifice. Look down at your Bibles. This is a principle that we see in the Bible. Look at Luke 9 24. It says, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. Now you read something like this and it's like, man, this is like a dichotomy like almost like contradicts itself. So if, if I want to save my life, that means I got to lose it. But if I choose to save it, then I'm going to lose it. Or if I choose to lose, I'm going to save it. And the reason it sounds like a dichotomy is simply because the Bible tells us that no man ever yet hated his flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it. No man hates his own self. No man is willing to forgo certain temporal gratification for long-term success. Just naturally, that's how, that's just how we think. But look at verse 23, he says, and he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. So what is he saying there? What he's stating, obviously the cross is the instrument that was used to put our savior to death. This is an instrument of capital punishment to put someone to death. And this took place obviously before he was, he was crucified, but what he's saying there is like, hey, just as Christ gave himself temporally, right? Just as he was willing to die for us and he went to the cross, despising the shame, right? For the joy that was set before him, that's the same attitude we should have, is that we bear our cross and that means in verse 23 to deny yourself, specific temporal gratification, understanding that there's a joy that is set before us and look, you can apply this to any area in your life and I guarantee you you'll have success because anything that you want immediately is never good. Fast food, Dr. Rita, right? Never good. If you want a good meal, it takes time to cook and to make it well and to make it healthy. Anything you want immediately is never well. A man who wants to get married but decides to fornicate instead of getting married and waiting, guess what? It doesn't end off well. He'll either get an STD, he'll have a bastard child, he'll have a reproach that will last for the rest of his life, whereas the person who's willing to wait and do it correctly, do it right, not consummate until they are married, then guess what? That person reaps the benefit. That person gets to live the rest of his life with a clear conscience that he did it right. So here he's telling us to take up that cross daily to follow him, deny our personal gratification, to please God knowing full well that we will receive something greater in the long run. Not this microwave drive-through mentality. And the gist of the sermon today is this, hey, what is it something that you want immediately? Is it something you can wait for? Is there something that you want to succeed in that you can possibly trade something for? If you're not willing to make any trade-offs, you're not going to have anything. Because anything worth having requires sacrifice, it requires a substantial trade-off. Now go with me if you would to Matthew chapter number 10. Because Jesus Christ mentions this specific phrase many times in the Gospels and they're all in context of different things. But this morning we're going to look at some bad trade-offs in the Bible, all right? Look at Matthew chapter 10 verse 32. Matthew chapter 10 verse 32 says, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. By the way, that's not referring to like he'll deny you salvation. A lot of false teachers and cults like to teach that, that if you deny Christ that he will also deny you. What that's referring to is actually the rewards that you get, okay? And that's not the sermon for today but I just wanted to mention that. Look at verse 34. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth, I came not to send peace but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. So we see here that sometimes we have to sacrifice even the relationships that we have, don't we? You know, because of our beliefs, because of the direction we've chosen to take. Oh, you're going down in the wrong direction. Actually it's the direction of the Bible. And if you call that the wrong direction then you're going in the wrong direction, okay? You know, but there's times when we have these very close relationships, whether it's with family or maybe it's with friends who we would consider to be family and they don't agree with us on our position on certain things. You know what? At the end of the day, we need to make the trade off to say, hey, I'm going to choose Jesus over my family. I'm going to choose Jesus over my friends. I'm going to choose Jesus over fame and fortune, over the acclamates of whoever's in the world. I choose Jesus. I choose what Jesus says. Now the, what we would hope is that our family would just join us, amen? That they would come to the knowledge of the truths of this word. You know, people say, oh, you're in a cult. Well, look, if I'm proving to you from the Bible what the Bible says and it jives with the Bible, you could compare scripture with scripture and see that it's true, then it's not cultish. Cultish is when you take one verse and build an entire doctrine that doesn't align with anything else in the Bible. We have doctrines that we can clearly prove from the Bible, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, scripture with scripture, and if you deny that, then you're just denying the Bible. But at that point, you know, he said, I come to draw a line, bring a sword, not a piece. Okay? But a sword. Why? Because doctrine divides. People will say, you know, I can't be with you anymore. I can't talk to you anymore. You believe weird. You believe that God hates people and this whole subject about the sodomites. You know, at the end of the day, if they reject what you're saying from his word, guess what? You need to side with Christ. You need to side with Jesus. You need to side with the word of God, you know, and you say, yeah, but this is, they're all I have. Well, you know what? Once you give that up, God will give you so much the more. That is the trade off that we need to make. Now that's not the point here that I'm trying to make, but that's what that scripture is referring to. Go to Genesis chapter 25. The first trade off, bad trade off that we see is with Esau, who's the most famous one in regards to this principle. Why? Because Esau sold his privileges for pottage. He sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. It must have been some, it better have been some good soup. Look at Genesis 25. It should have been caldo or let's give it some other one, pozole, orfa. Who likes fa here? Yeah. Winter's coming. Drink fa. Eat fa. Okay. If you guys don't know what that is, it's Vietnamese soup, noodles, meat, and the like. Okay. Fo dak biet. You go to the restaurant and say it. Fo dak biet. Okay. All right. Genesis 25, 29. And Jacob sawed pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, of course, these are brothers, feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage, for I am faint, therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, swear to me this day, and he sware unto him, and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he did eat and drink, and rose up and went his way, thus Esau despised his birthright. Now Esau was the older son. He was the firstborn. So therefore, he came with certain rights, okay, because he was the firstborn. He was willing to give up those privileges for a stinking bowl of soup. Now go with if you would to Hebrews chapter 12. Now why was he willing to give that up? Because he was faint. He was tired. He was hungry. You know, why didn't he just go to mom or dad and say, hey, just can you cook me up some good food? I'm not willing to sell my birthright. Jacob is trying to connive me into getting like, you know, getting my birthright. I don't want to give that up. I'll wait another hour for you to make some more soup. Look at Hebrews chapter 12 verse 15. It says, looking diligently lest any man fail the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright, for you know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. So the Bible specifically calls Esau a profane person. What does the word profane mean? It means unholy. Okay. Now go to 1 Peter chapter two, if you would. So he's profane. Why? Because he sold his birthright, his privileges for something so small and insignificant, he made a bad trade off. Okay. Well, the Bible tells us spiritually speaking in the New Testament, but as many as received him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even unto them that believe on his name. So we are the children of God and guess what? As children of God, we come with specific privileges. We come with certain rights that have been endowed to us by our creator. We have rights that have been given to us from the word of God that we know, hey, this is my right. These are my privileges. This is what God said I can do. Okay. Look what the Bible says in 1 Peter two, nine, but ye are a chosen generation speaking to all Christians, a royal priesthood and holy nation. Remember that profane Esau, this is a holy nation of peculiar people. Why? That ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. So what is the right that we have? What is the privilege we have to show forth the praises of his glory? How do we do that? By soul winning. So what is the right that we as Christians have to go and preach the gospel to every creature? He said, well, what if the laws change and they start telling you can't preach the gospel? I'm not selling my birthright. You know, these Christians and pastors out there can go out and sell their birthright for a bowl of pottage so they will get persecuted, a bowl of non-persecution. But you know what? I'm not selling that. We're going to go ahead and keep our birthright and keep doing what God said we have the right to do. Why? Because this is our birthright to go and preach the gospel to every creature and see people saved. What we have today is Christians are too scared. They get a little bit of persecution. Someone cusses them out. And what do they do? Then we get that bowl of pottage. I'll sell my birthright for a bowl of pottage. They start condemning those who are actually preaching the gospel and say, why aren't you guys under authority, Romans chapter 13? Where are they getting their definition of Romans chapter 13? From the NIV? From the ESV and the HIV, STD, HIJK, LMNOP and all these other ones that teach you to be subject to the government even when it comes to selling your birthright. Our birthright is to preach the gospel. Our birthright is to preach the entire counsel of God. We are not only given this right by our constitution, but the higher powers, which is the word of God, which trumps the constitution, tells us that we have this right. We're not going to sell that birthright if it were Baptist Church. So many Christians have decided to make that trade-off. Or how about this? They decided to do the trade-off of giving tracts rather than preaching the gospel. Why? Because, well, you know, if I give a tract, you know, if I preach the gospel, I run the risk of getting, you know, reproached or getting yelled at, or maybe they'll sick their dog on me. You know, look, don't worry about those things, you know? The Bible tells us that when we're reproached, we still get a reward, amen? So even if we don't get to win them to Christ, the Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 5, the Leaping is our reward in heaven. Leap for joy, the Bible says. You know, you should dance a little bit when you get reproached. Don't look weird doing it, but that, I mean, that's what the Bible tells us, to leap. Leaping is a form of dancing, okay? Now, don't go, like, go do, like, samba or something or, you know, salsa or whatever. But I'm saying, you know, that we understand that that was a good trade-off. Like, man, I took some reproach, I took some cussing, I took this and that, but I was willing to trade that in to get a reward. That was worth it. Whereas people get, they'd rather not do this, they just put a trap, they put a door hanger. Or they don't just, they just don't go at all. Lifestyle evangelism, you know? Well your lifestyle evangelism has all kinds of false doctrine anyways. So you're not gonna win anybody to Christ through your lifestyle evangelism. Lifestyle evangelism doesn't get anybody saved. And I'm not saying, you know, the Bible says, let your light so shine before man that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. But you know what? That's not the gospel. The gospel is when you open your mouth boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel. It's using our mouths to give them the gospel to teach all nations, you know, and showing them what's the right way to heaven. That's a trade-off we should be willing, not be willing to make, okay? To sell our birthright as Christians to preach the word of God just to go along to get along, okay? So freedom to preach the word of God. How about this? Freedom to preach the word of God when it comes to the Sodomites. When it comes to this controversial, quote, unquote, subjects, you know? A lot of people have sold their birthright. Churches have sold their birthright to preach against the Sodomites. Why? So some faggot doesn't come into your church and persecute you? What are you scared? Do you think they're gonna hit you with their purse? Come on. You know, we need to be some pakidermos. Where's brother Eddie? So thick skin. He taught us that that's what I mean, thick skin. We need to get some thick skin, not be snowflakes. And look, if that happens, that's a good trade-off. That is a great, see, we need to evaluate the properties of that which we're gonna receive. Once you understand that the value of what you're gonna receive is greater than the sacrifice, anybody with any brains in their head would be willing to make that sacrifice. But when you're only focusing on, oh man, what if they come, what if they do this and all these things, who cares? You wanna save your life, you're gonna lose it. But if you're willing to lose your life, preach the word of God, you're gonna save it. And God typically preserves those who are actually willing to just say, you know what, I'm willing to hazard my life for the gospel's sake. I don't care for my life, whatever happens, I'm willing to lose everything. You know what God says? I'll preserve that person. Because at least he has the guts, at least he has the stones, at least he has the gall to actually do what I told him to do. That's a good trade-off. Now the Bible, some people are even willing to give up just the word of God in general for a bowl of pottage. What does that mean? You know, they're willing to give up actual Bible reading where the Holy Spirit's teaching you and they'll trade it in for a bowl of commentaries. For a bowl of devotions written by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. You know, that's a bad trade-off. That's a really bad, especially Charles Haddon Spurgeon. That's a really bad trade-off. You got gypped. You got gypped. Why? Because he's a Calvinist. And Calvinists are not saved. Sorry to break it to you. You know, they're not saved. So that's not a worthy trade-off. But what are Christians and pastors doing all over the country? They're trading in their King James, beloved King James Bible, inspired, preserved, inerrant, indestructible Bible for some stupid devotion or commentary written by some unsaved guy from hundreds of years who's in hell today. That's not worth it. You know, commentaries are garbage. They're not worth it. You know, don't make that trade-off. Look, you have the greatest commentator living within you. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed until the day of redemption. There's many Christians out there who are grieving the Holy Spirit by not asking him for assistance to read the Bible. No, no, thank you. I'd rather just go with this book right here. What do they do? They quench the Spirit. They grieve the Holy Spirit of God. I mean, how bad do you think the Holy Spirit feels when that Christian gets up and doesn't ask for power, doesn't ask, Lord, open down mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Just completely ignore the Holy Spirit and go to their commentary or online, you know, whatever to see what so-and-so has to say about it. That's wicked. You know, we all have to grieve. We all have to quench the Holy Spirit of God. You know, he can show us all things. Yea, even the deep things of God, the Bible says, you know, that's not a trade-off you should be willing to make. And that's not a trade-off that we as Faithful Word Baptist Church will ever promote. You know, I'll say, look, you want a commentary, I have 66 commentaries right here. They're all good. It's good. You don't have to worry that, you don't have to sift through the sewage, you know, just to get your bone with some meat on it. You know, this is all meat right here. This is the lamb flowing with milk and honey. You'll never go wrong with just sticking to the Bible. That's not a trade-off that we should be willing to make. And unfortunately, many pastors, even in their older age, they've read the Bible scores at times and what happens is they felt they've learned everything. So therefore, they need to go to these extra biblical revelations, you know, these commentaries in order to learn more Bible. That's not the way it works. I mean, someone used to tell me, if all you know is the Bible, then you don't know the Bible, you know. If you know anything but the Bible, then you don't know the Bible. That's what he should have said because at the end of the day, this is what we need right here is the true word of God, okay? And by the way, in our church, it's the King James Bible, Authorized Version 1611. That's what we believe. That's what we hold to. That's what we always will hold to, okay? The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 1, 4, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these, he might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But see, here's the thing. Here's the trade-off though. If you decide to do it the right way, you have to spend time reading it. You got to read it cover to cover. You got to come across passages that you might not understand right away, okay? But what do you do? You keep reading. You know, you give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. You know, this is what it's good. This is the trade-off. It takes a lifetime to learn it. But at least at the end of that lifetime, you know that you will not get false doctrine when you read this. You see, you can go the easy route, you know, and go to a commentator online but potentially risk learning some false doctrine or take a lifetime to study the Bible and learn the right doctrine. Guarantee, 100% guarantee that you will learn the right doctrine, okay? That's a good trade-off. Don't sell your birthright. You know, what is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession? The Holy Spirit. Amen. That's our birthright. You know, don't ignore the birthright of the Holy Spirit that's residing within you. Utilize that which God has given to you. Utilize the privilege that you have to learn the Bible on your own. Amen. Okay? So that's a good trade-off. Matthew 10, 32, verse 39 says, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Go to Romans chapter number 8, if you would. Romans chapter number 8. Look, Esau, that was a bad trade-off, man. You know, was it chilly? What kind of soup was it that you're just willing to just give up everything for that? That was a bad example. We as Christians be wise. You know, think things through before you make a decision like that. Okay? We have the birthright of having the true God as our Heavenly Father. But you know, a lot of Christians are actually even trading that in. Okay? How? Because they're getting into this so-called ecumenicism. Okay? And obviously, anybody who doesn't believe that Jesus Christ is God and that He's the Son of God and they don't believe the Trinity, they're not saved. Generally speaking, what I'm referring to is the fact that Christianity as a whole, they're trading in their birthright by trying to accept all religions. Okay? Or how about this? People who are once saved, always saved, starting to say, well, you know, this guy who believes in repent of your sins, he's just a little off. I still think he's saved, he's just a little off. You know, if he's propagating that doctrine. If he's defending it arduously, then guess what? He's not saved. You know, if someone is off on that, then look, you bring them the Bible and you show them that they're off, and they changed, and guess what, yeah, they're off. But if they say, no, you have to repent of your sin, then guess what? He's not off. He's a false prophet. He's a false teacher. Don't make that trade. Look at Romans 8, 15 says, for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, and ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father, the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children and heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be they we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. And as you see, the Bible tells us, and the verse is fleeing me right now, in Philippians chapter 1, it talks about how it is God's will for us not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. That's part of our birthright. But a lot of Christians, they don't want to suffer. They're afraid to suffer, they're afraid of persecution, they're afraid of the reproach. You should accept that willingly. Why? Because there's a great reward for that. There's a great return. Now go to Judges chapter 16. So that was the first one. Don't sell your birthright for a bowl of pottage. Don't be like Esau. Such a bad trade off. But the second one we see here is Samson. Now Samson was one of the strongest men of the Bible because he was the one who had the Spirit of God come upon him. Now I don't believe Samson looked like the way the Hollywood represents him to be. All big and buff, no neck, and just like ten pack, just oiled up and just looking all cut. I don't think he looked like that. Because I don't think that's where his strength came from. His strength came from the fact that he was filled with the Spirit of God. So he was probably kind of scrawny. And maybe he was skinny, maybe he didn't look very strong, but when the Spirit of God came upon him, he did great exploits. That's where people were able to see and tell that he was filled with the Spirit of God. But guess what? He made a bad trade off. So Samson was a judge of Israel. And another term for judge that we see in the book of Judges is that he was a deliverer. He would come and deliver, they operated like generals who would deliver the children of Israel from the clutches of their enemies. And that's what Samson was chosen to do. So he had this great privilege and honor to be this deliverer. What did he do? He traded being a deliverer for being with Delilah. Who's Delilah? That woman who ended up just turning him in? Instead of doing something great for God, he traded it for some harlot who backstabbed them in the long run. Look at Judges 16, verse 16, and it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death, that he told her all his heart and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me. That's what I tell people when they say, why don't you shave your beard? I say, I can't. If I be shaven, I shall be weak and be as other men. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. And I shall become weak and be like any other man. Now, what are they talking about here? So by the way, Samson's not very smart. And look, Samson reminds me of your typical teenager who, when they fall in love, is like, parent, good luck trying to talk Samson to that boy or to that girl, because they're just like. I mean, she's literally trying to trick him multiple times. And he sees that and he still goes back to her. It's like, what's wrong with you? But you know what? Teenagers do that all the time. Or it's like they fall in love with some girl and you're just like, dude, she's bad. And they're just like, I love her. She's the one. Yeah, she's the one that's gonna mess you up. She's the one that's gonna backstab you. She's the one that's gonna ruin your life. And Samson can't see it. He's just like, keeps going back to Delilah, keeps going back to her, keeps going back to her. And finally, he tells her, he goes, okay, look, if I be shaven, then I shall be weak as other men. And that was basically what he was saying. So basically, if they shave his head because he took an Azarite vow, then his power would go from him because he disobeys God. Look at verse 18. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the Lord of the Philistines saying, come up this once for he had showed me all his heart. Then the Lord of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money in their hand and she made him sleep upon her knees and she called for a man and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head and she began to afflict him and his strength went from him. And she said, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as other times before and shake myself and he wished not that the Lord was departed from him. Man, that's scary right there. He's like, I'll just do it like the way I did it the last time. He didn't even know that God had departed from him. He no longer has the power of God in his life. Verse 21, but the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house. Now go to Luke chapter nine. So a sad story here, bad trade off, Samson. He could have gone down in history as being the successful deliverer of Israel who was buried with his fathers. He was the man whom the spirit of God came upon doing great exploits. But what happens? He finishes his life. By the way, he ends up committing suicide and he kills Philistines. He kills more Philistines in that event than he did in his whole lifetime. So God allowed almost him to basically do a comeback, but not very well. Because he still uses a byword in the proverb to this day of what not to do. The kind of trade off you should not make. And what was the trade off that he made? A girl for doing something great for God. Now look, I want both. Amen. And I got both. Praise God. I'm married. I got myself a wife. I got two children to prove it. And you know what? I get to serve God. But you know what? That came with some substantial trade offs. Some sacrifices that needed to be made. Not some immediate gratification where you screw up your life by fornicating. By doing something wrong and doing something wicked. That's not a good trade off. Look at Luke chapter 9 verse 21. And he straightly charged them and commanded them to tell no man this thing. Saying the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders. And chief priests and scribes and be slain and be raised the third day. And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself. And take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantage if he gain the whole world and lose himself? And look what it says. Or be a castaway. You can lose yourself or you can become a castaway. Now where is the other portion in the Bible that we read that phrase castaway? We read it in 1 Corinthians 9 where Paul said this. I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. What this by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. And what do we see with Samson? He was busy rescuing everyone else. But guess what? He didn't bring himself under subjection. He didn't keep under his body. He allowed himself to get involved in this immoral relationship. And what happened? He became a castaway. What does that mean? God can no longer use him. The spirit of God went from him. And there's a lot of Christians who make that tradeoff. Teenagers, don't make that tradeoff. Don't get involved and start fornicating with some harlot or some whoremonger just because he's cute. Look, if you're looking for a cute guy, get a puppy. You know, you ought to look for a man who is walking with God, who reads the Bible, who loves the Lord, who loves souls, who's all in for the Lord. Why? Because you know that if he loves the Bible and he loves the word of God, he's going to love you. He's going to value you. Oh yeah, but then we have to go to church all the time. Yeah, that's a good thing. Because you know what happens when you go to church? He learns how to be a husband and to treat you better. And you learn how to be a better wife and to treat him better. And guess what? You live happily ever after. Amen. Hey, I'm happy. You know, as a married person, I'm happy. That's not to say that we don't have bumps in the road. We're humans and there's problems and there are things that come up. But as a whole, our marriage is happy. Okay. We are happy. I feel like we have a successful marriage. And you know what? We're going to keep doing what he's always done so we can always get the same results. Okay. And here's the thing is, he became a castaway. He's no longer usable. And look, there's guys in our church and ladies in our church. Maybe you want to be used by God. Maybe you want to do a great exploit for God. Well, make sure you make the right trade-offs and avoid the wrong trade-offs. I just, you know, she's just X, Y, and Z. Yeah, but does she fit X, Y, and Z? Of the Bible, you know. Yeah, but you know, I just, you know, I can't contain myself. Didn't marry. See, here's the thing. You can either play now or pay later or you can pay now and play later. Okay. He said, well, I can't contain. And then look, there's people who can't contain. They get married and then they're discontent with their marriage. It's like, well, then it's just not spiritual. Well, that's what you get because you could not contain. So you get someone who's a babe in Christ and now you expect this person to act like a 10-year-old or a person who's been in the Lord for 10 years. That's not a good expectation. That's not a realistic expectation. If you marry someone who's new in the Lord, guess what? They're going to behave like a babe in Christ. It's not bad. It's just reality. But guess what? Now you have to pay, right, to help your wife or to help, you know, whoever along and help them to grow to understand doctrine so they can mature in the Lord. That's what you have to pay for. That's the trade-off. Now, myself, my wife, she got married or she got married. She got saved. She got married to me. She got saved when she was like, how old, 17? How old? What did she say? She's too little. What, 15? I should know this. She got saved when she was 15 years old. So she's been saved for a long time. I got saved when I was 21. She's a pastor's daughter. So they come fully equipped. They play the piano. They've been in church their whole lives. They know about the King James Bible. They got a good foundation. So guess what? I have to pay greatly to get me a woman like that. And guess what? I paid greatly for that. But you know what? I'm reaping the benefits today. Because my wife was not post-trip. She didn't believe in the reprobate doctrine. But you know, she had a good foundation. So when we got married and I said, all right, look, this is what the Bible says. She accepted it. Okay? And now we get to be a part of this church. We get to have a great church family. Life is good. There's ups and downs. There's bumps in the road. But you know what? At the end of the day, the result of the tradeoff was great. You know? And look, that's not to say that if you marry someone who's new in the Lord, you cannot have that. Just understand, we're going to pay some way. You can't expect never to pay. I was like, well, I just want to get married and everything should just be, my duck's in order. She hates sodomites just as much as I do. She's a post-trip pre-wrath. You know, she goes soul winning. She's just like beautiful and she'll never get fat and all these things. It's an unrealistic expectation. You're not willing to pay. You know? You need to pay. That's how you get something of value is by paying. Okay? And Samson was not willing to do that. It was a bad tradeoff. Go to Matthew chapter five. So what did he get in return for that immediate gratification? He got his eyes plucked out. Not a good thing. I mean, that's probably very painful. And then he's mocked. They're mixed sport of him. Look at Matthew chapter five, verse 27 says, this is interesting, it says, He have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shall not commit adultery. But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, committed adultery with her already in his heart. Verse 29, And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. So what is he saying here? Hey, you correct the problem or someone's going to correct the problem for you. You fixed that, fixed your lust issue. You pluck out your own eye, or guess what? Someone's going to end up plucking out both of your eyes. And it says there, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. This does not mean if you don't repent of your sin, then you're going to go to hell. What is this referring to? Go to Proverbs chapter number seven, Proverbs chapter number seven, because we're comparing scripture with scripture here. So it says, if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. Look, if you pluck out one eye, guess what? You still have one left. Whereas Samson, guess what? You got both eyes plucked out. Look at Proverbs seven, verse 25. By the way, Proverbs two, I believe it's two, five, six, and seven, all highlight the harlot, the whore, the strange woman, okay? Look at Proverbs 7 25 says, let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths, for she hath cast down many wounded. Like who? Like Samson. Yea, many strong men. Like who? Like Samson, have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. Look at Proverbs chapter number two, Proverbs chapter number two. So it says that she's cast down, what's the name of this person? Well we could just name her Delilah. She cast down Samson, he was pretty strong, right? And then in Matthew chapter five, you know, he talks about being cast into hell, why is he saying that? And why is he saying in Proverbs chapter seven, her house is the way to hell. Look at Proverbs chapter two, verse 16. To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words, which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her again, excuse me, none that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. Go to Proverbs chapter number five. Look what it says in Proverbs chapter number five, verse 21. It says, for the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. His own iniquity shall take the wicked himself, and he shall behold him with the cords of his sin. He shall die without instruction, and in the greatness of his folly, he shall go astray. This is in reference to a man who committed adultery. So why is it saying that her house is the way to hell? Because anybody who does this sin of adultery, anyone who does this, guess what, they never come back from it. That reproach shall never be wiped away. Just as an unsaved person, if they die without Christ, they go to hell, they never come back. They're never gonna come back. Sorry, Catholics, you can't pray people out of hell. It's not gonna happen, right? Well, likewise, the person who commits adultery, their reproach shall never be wiped away. It will stay with them forever, just like Samson. I mean, here we are, thousands of years later, still talking about his folly, still using him as a byword and a proverb. Why? Because he wasn't willing to pluck out his own eye, therefore someone else plucked out both of his eyes for him. That's not a good trade-off, okay? Look, young people, you know what I love about our church is that we've had like 50 billion weddings since we started. I'm exaggerating, but we've had like seven weddings since we started the church, amen? And the vast majority of them are young people. That's good, that's a blessing. I prefer that over people who are just fornicating and they're not in church. You know what, if you can't contain yourself, get married, get into church and learn how to be a wife, learn how to be a husband, learn how to be a mother, learn how to be a father, learn how to have success in your Christian life in that regards. That's a good trade-off, not the first one. Go to Luke chapter 17. So what's the first bad trade-off we saw? Esau selling his birthright, you know. What's the second trade-off that we saw? Samson selling the fact that he could have been a deliverer for God, but instead he chose to have Delilah. This backstabbing woman who ended up doing him wrong in the long run, shamed him at the end and now he's a bi-worded proverb. Let me just throw this in here, just for good measure. If you're involved in fornication in our church, okay, if you're in our church and you're involved in fornication, here are your options. By the way, fornication is when two people who are not married are sleeping together. If you're involved in fornication in our church, here are your options. You could either stop fornicating, that's a good option. Two, get married, that's a better option. Or three, you can leave and never come back until you do either of those. I thought you loved me. Yeah, I am, I do love you, that's what I'm telling you. If I didn't, I wouldn't tell you. I'd be a horrible leader if I never said anything to you, just allowed you to be in fornication and you run the risk of God killing you. I don't want God to kill you, I want God's blessing to be on your life, therefore those are your options to better receive the blessings of God. He said, well hold on a second, how does getting out of church or kicking me out of church of the blessing of God, because then Satan can destroy your flesh and that would cause you to repent and come back to church. Sometimes those are the blessings in disguise, when God gets a hold of us through a tragic means. Something tragic happens, God allows it so we can repent and get right. So that's your option. If you're involved in fornication, come talk to me after the service, right? And then look, I'm not gonna be like, what, I can't believe you're involved in fornication, you fornicator. I'll just say, hey look, here are your three options, and look, within the last couple of months, I've had many people come to me and tell me that, and guess what happens? They get married and they get it right, and they live happily ever after in the Lord, amen? Don't be like Samson. Number three, we see, here's the next example of a bad trade-off, Lot's wife. He traded a second chance for Sodom and Gomorrah. You notice I'm putting the same letters together? I hope you guys notice that, I worked hard on that, right? God is giving Lot a second chance, him and his family. They made a really bad mistake to live in San Francisco. In the midst of all these sodomites and perverts that reprobates, and God says, I'm gonna give you a second chance. I'm gonna destroy this city and I'm gonna let you escape. That's a good option. God forbid if I ever went down that road and I got so far away from God and God gave me a second chance, I'd be like, I'm taking it, let's go. But what happened? Well, let's look at Luke 17 first, verse 26, and as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat and they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot. They did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built it. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. And that day, he which shall be upon the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away. And he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Verse 32, remember Lot's wife, period. I mean, Jesus is saying this and he's like, can you picture, he's like, remember Lot's wife. It's like, that's all you have to say. Verse 33, and that's all he says in relation to the story, then he picks up. Verse 33, whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you that in the night there shall be two men in one bed, the one shall be taken and the other shall be left. So God was giving Lot a second chance to amend his ways, but Lot's wife was not willing to leave Sodom. I mean, they're taking off, they're leaving, and what is she, she just wants to take one last look at that wicked city. You know, and I honestly, I don't know why she would want to do something like that. Maybe her heart was in Sodom still. Her heart was left in San Francisco. Her heart was left in Sodom. You know what, she became a pillar of salt because of it, okay? And so how do we apply that principle today? Well, excuse me, Lot's wife, we don't know her name, we just know her as Lot's wife, is obviously the wife of Lot. But you know, the way we can apply it is that there are wives sometimes that hold back their husbands from serving God, okay? And you know what? That's a trade-off they're willing to make because they don't want to serve God as much as their husband. Or they don't want to go in as much as their husband, but you know what, to those wives out there who are in that position, I tell you this, remember Lot's wife. You better remember Lot's wife. Because God gave him a second chance, and guess what? She tore her house down with her own hands, and what happened after that? Incest, they became a byword and a proverb. Obviously Lot was a bad leader, but you know what? If his wife would have been there, that probably wouldn't have taken place with his two daughters that they committed incest with their father, you know? But you know what, she had to look back. And sometimes this is what happens, is a husband gets saved, a wife gets saved, and then the husband is just like on fire for God. They're just going forward, they're reading their Bibles, they're soul winning, their love is increasing, their hatred is increasing, they're just being filled with the Spirit, so maybe the wife is not on board as much, okay? And vice versa, so this works both ways, but we're using the wife right now because we're talking about Lot's wife, amen? And what happens is the guy, the man is aspiring to do something great for God. He wants to be a great husband, he wants to be a great dad, he wants to just do something significant for God, but you know what, the wife doesn't like the new IFB. She doesn't like the new IFB life. She can't take the new IFB life. And what happens, she wants to go back to Sodom, that wicked, vile, disgusting, perverted, piece of junk city called Sodom. And spiritually speaking, it could be anything, right? It's just the old lifestyle, the worldly lifestyle, or complacency, or apathy, or whatever it may be. That's where the wife wants to go back to, and the husband's like, no, we got a second chance. We have a second chance to correct things, we can actually raise our kids right, do things right. We can work, and you can stay home, and be the keeper of the house, and I'll bring home the bake, and we can do things right. And what happens, Lot's wife just wants to keep looking back. I say to you, remember Lot's wife. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Okay. Look, everyone grows at their own pace, and that's understandable, but we're still on the same track, amen? Amen. Amen. If you're growing at different paces, which everyone does, just stay on the same track. Stay in the same race. Don't get out of the race, okay? Now, that's true for husbands. That's true for wives. The Bible says in Proverbs 14, verse 1, every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. Why? Because she's supposed to be the keeper of the house. But if they're not fulfilling their role, guess what happens? They're actually tearing it down, okay, blaspheming the word of God. So that's a bad trade-off. You know, ladies, the good trade-off is this, hubby, or whatever you call it, honey, or gordo, or you know, fail, or whatever you call it, hey, wherever you go, I'm going to. Your God is my God, your people, my people, wherever you shall dwell, I shall be, I'm all in. That's how it should be. Well, I got my own agenda. Well, look how that worked out for Eve. Remember Lot's wife. That would be a bad trade-off. A good trade-off is what? It's to submit to your husband, submit to his goals, submit to what he wants, and guess what? You reap the benefits later on. I mean, do you believe God or not? Or you think you're like the exception to the rule, okay? I don't want to risk being the exception to the rule. I'd rather just do what God says, okay, and say, well, you know, I just, but you know, he doesn't know how to make good decisions. Then you know what? Why don't you praise him a little bit? Why don't you respect him and reverence him and stop putting him down? Let me, let me just share a little secret with the wives real quick, okay, about guys. We have big egos. I'm sure you already knew that, okay? Picture a balloon, okay? It's just like inflated very easily, but you know what? It's also deflated very easily as well. So when you criticize your husband and you get on him and you get out of your role and start criticizing him for not fulfilling his role, guess what? It deflates and therefore he becomes insecure. I'm not saying it's right. I'm just saying that's the nature of the beast, but you know what? When a woman who references her husband, respects him, thinks the world of him, you know, that actually creates the confidence necessary to leave the home, okay? I know this is alien and foreign in this stupid, feministic society that we live in. And I know that's been innocuous. I know people have been injected with that, with that stupid ideology of these feminazis, but this isn't feminazi Baptist church. It's a male-oriented Bible, it's a male-oriented church. This is what we believe and it's God's order. And look, you ask anybody who's been around the block and who knows this principle, they'll tell you that it's true. They'll say, it always works. When I just fulfill my role as a wife and I reverence my husband and I respect him, I know my role and my place, guess what? My husband just becomes that much better of a Christian because of it. And he loves you more because of it. Why? Because it's becoming better. Lean not into that known understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. That's both for God, but guess what? It's for your husband too, amen? Respect your husband, reverence your husband, follow his decision. When he makes bad decisions, well, you know what? Then that's your fault and vice versa, right? I mean, my father-in-law used to tell us that all the time, he's like, well, she's not the will of God. Well, she is now. She is now, okay? Don't make this bad trade-off and look, the good trade-off is the one that you think is bad. Well, if I give him all the power, he's just going to abuse. No, he's not. You know, if he's not a rapper, baby, he's not, okay? Now this is also true just in spiritually speaking because we see in Luke 21, excuse me, we see in this chapter that he's referencing end times, someone who's looking back. So what's the principle that we can apply to that? Through great tribulation, when persecution is coming, Christians don't go off and hide, don't look back to Sodom, you know, make sure you try to lose your life so you could save it. How do you lose your life? By denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following him. And what does it mean to follow him? To become a fisher of men, to preach the gospel, okay? I'm running out of time. Go to Matthew chapter 16. There's not enough 60 minutes in an hour. The example we're going to look at next is Achan, okay? Now Achan, what tradeoff did he make? He traded a bounty for a Babylonian garment, okay? Achan is, we find him in the story of Joshua. What did Achan do? God said, hey, when you overtake these cities, the first city you take over, don't take up the accursed thing. The accursed thing was referring to the spoils that they were going to find in that city. He says, don't take it, that's for the Lord. Don't touch it, it's the accursed thing. Now look at Matthew 16 verse 24. Then said Jesus to his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. So what is he saying? I'm going to reward you. Just wait. I'm going to reward you. Now go to Joshua chapter 7, Joshua chapter 7, Joshua chapter number 7. We're going to briefly look at the story, look at verse 19 of Joshua chapter 7. It says in Joshua verse 19, and Joshua said unto Achan, my son give I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him and tell me now what thou has done, hiding not from me. So at this point, what's going on? So they go to Jericho, okay, they overcome Jericho. Achan goes into one of the tents and he finds all this spoil, and he looks left, he looks right but he forgot to look up. And he takes it, he puts it into his own tent and he buries it, so it's not even something he can enjoy. He buries it under the dirt. They go to fight against Ai, and Ai wasn't even a big city, and what happens? They get whooped. When he died, it was a great loss, and Joshua was like, what's going on? So Joshua does exactly what you're supposed to do when there's a tragedy. He says, look, did I do anything wrong? And he says, and God tells him, get up, because there's an accursed thing in Israel. He's basically telling him, look, someone took up the accursed thing and that's why you guys lost. My blessing is gone from Israel right now. So Joshua gets up and he starts asking around, finding out, trying to figure out who's the one who took up the accursed thing. We don't know exactly how he found out, but something maybe the Lord endowed him with wisdom or discernment to know that it was probably Achan, and that's where we pick up here. Look at verse 20. And Achan answered Joshua and said, indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils of goodly Babylonish garment and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them, and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran into the tent, and behold, it was hid in his tent and the silver under it. And they took them out of the midst of the tent and brought them unto Joshua and unto all the children of Israel and laid them out before the Lord. And Joshua and all Israel with them took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver in the garment and the wedge of gold, and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his sheep and his tent and all that he had, and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. Not a good trade-off. What did he trade? The life of his life and the life of his family for some stupid Babylonish garment. That's a bad trade-off. And here's the sad thing, okay, because here's the good trade-off that he should have done, is that God had told them, Hey, don't touch of the accursed thing, okay? He tells them that, but guess what happens in chapter 8? He says, Okay, go ahead and take the spoils. What happens in chapter 11? Go ahead, take of all the spoils. He should have just waited one more verse, one more chapter. And he could have gotten exactly what he wanted because he was not willing to wait one single chapter. It cost him his life and the life of his family. Bad trade-off. Now, go to Hebrews chapter number 11. I'm going to read to you from 2 Timothy 2, 5, it says, And if a man also strived for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strived lawfully. You see, in order for us to get rewarded by God, we have to do things the right way. Do it the way he wants us to do it, okay? The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11, 24, it says, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. That is a good trade-off. You see, he was like, You know what, I'll just suffer reproach right now because there's Christ's greater riches waiting for me. That's the kind of attitude we need to have. Why? Because he's coming and he's bringing his reward with him. But if we choose to get rewarded unjustly here on this earth, guess what? It's going to cost us a lot. You know, if you start getting a job that takes you out of church, it takes you out of church, guess what? It's going to take you and your family out of church. It's going to take you out of the will of God. It's going to take you into a place that's not good. You know, don't make that trade-off. That's a bad trade-off. Go without if you have to. Get another job if you have to. But don't just wait one more chapter. God's going to reward you. And just know this, one way that you can endure the Christian life, which really doesn't need to be endured, is recognize that life happens in seasons. I'm not just talking about like the fall and winter and summer. I'm talking about just successes and failures come in seasons. Times of plenty and times of want, these are all seasons. There'll be times when you're broke. And guess what? When you're broke, just adjust your budget. Don't go out to eat. Don't do whatever. Because guess what? Right around the corner is going to come a time of abundance as well. So don't live for the time of abundance and don't get discouraged for the time of want. Just live through them and make adjustments to them. You know, when there's a time of want, I got to get out of church. I need to get a new job. I need, you know, I got, I want to buy a boat or whatever, you know. No, just adjust whatever you got to do. Stay in church, stay in your Bible, stay doing what you're supposed to do. Don't get out, okay? And in time of abundance, don't forget God. Live how you're supposed to live at all times and just recognize that life comes in seasons. Financial success comes in seasons. There's an ebb and flow to everything. We just need to know how to ride the wave when it comes, okay? Now I'm going to skip a lot here just to finish here, finish up. Go to John chapter 12. Here's the last point. I'm done. My old pastor used to say, you know, Achan was Achan after he made that bad decision. And he sure was. Here's the last example of a bad trade-off, Demas, okay? If you've read the Bible at least once or twice, you know who Demas is, okay? And we don't know too much about Demas, we don't even know the bad about Demas. But look what John 12 verse 24 says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. That's the trade-off. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it into life eternal. If a man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now go to 2 Timothy chapter number 4. So what did Demas do? He created honor for dishonor. Because at the end of the day, when we read the Bible and we read stories about men who did great exploits, you know what God is doing? He's honoring those men because he mentions them and the great things they did, their obedience unto the Lord, their faith that they had, and God begins to honor them. So they will forever be honored, you know? These words are forever settled in heaven. This book is eternal. They will be forever honored. Look at 2 Timothy 4, 10 says, For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica, Cretans to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. That's all you hear about it. He said, Demas, he forsook me. Why? Because he loved this present world. That's a dishonorable statement. He's dishonoring Demas by saying that, and guess what? Everyone will know that for the rest of eternity. Oh, you're Demas? Yeah. Oh, yeah, Demas, I've heard of you. You know why? Because of a bad trade-off that he made 2,000 years ago. I don't know what it was in the world that he loved, but the Bible does say, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, that any man love the world. The love of the Father is not in him. And whatever it was that attracted them, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, those things got to Demas, and guess what? He chose those things, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, over serving God, and guess what happened? He gained dishonor instead of honor. And the Bible tells us in Matthew chapter number four, go to Matthew chapter four. You know, it's great to serve God, okay? And don't ever think that serving God is boring, it's lame, it's a waste of my time. It's never a waste of time. It's the greatest life you could ever live. And obviously, we serve God by serving your husband, by serving your wife, by serving your children, by being a good employee, but there's also service for God within the house of God. It's called soul winning, okay? It's called living a holy life. It's called doing that which is right in the sight of the Lord. This is a service unto the Lord. And look at Matthew chapter four verse 18 says, And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net in the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him. Going on from thence, he saw of the two brethren, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, and a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them, and they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. That's a good trade-off. They basically left everything. They left their nets and said, all right, we're just going to serve the Lord, you know? And by the way, later on, you see that when they backslid, they went back to fishing, right? But what did they catch when they went back fishing? Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Nada. Okay? Why is that? Because when you think you can just go back to doing the things that you used to do, I'm not talking about working in the world or anything, I'm talking about just doing things that are ungodly, unprofitable things that don't please the Lord. Guess what? You get nothing out of it. That's a bad trade-off. But when you're willing to trade temporal pleasures, when you're willing to deny yourself of immediate gratification in order to serve God, you will always receive something in the long run because of it. Why? Because like I said, my reward is coming with me. I'm going to reward you for these things. So what's the sermon today? The sermon is basically this, hey, make some good trade-offs. Is that my phone? It's not my phone. It's one of your guys' phones. Make some good trade-offs. Don't make bad trade-offs. And what you need to do today is basically evaluate some of the decisions that you've either been making, you're making, or you're going to make and say, all right, is this a good trade-off here? Okay? If it's not, then I need to trash it and make a substantial, sacrificial trade-off knowing that I'm going to receive something better in the long run. Amen? Spire heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the examples in the Bible. Thank you for the by-words and the proverbs, but also thank you for those who made a good trade-off such as Moses, such as Peter and Andrew and many of the disciples that can give us an example, Lord. And these are men of like passions. And Lord, thank you so much for your example and thank you for allowing us to see that they did receive the benefits because that just testifies to the fact that we will receive the rewards and the benefits as well. And I pray, God, that you'd give us wisdom, give us discernment to make the right type of trade-offs today. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.