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you you you you Well, good morning everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church take your song books and turn to song 324 Song 324 in your song books will sing draw me near And if you would stand we'll sing song 324 I am thine O Lord. I have heard thy voice and it told thy love to me But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee Draw me nearer Nearer blessed Lord to the cross where thou hast died Draw me nearer Nearer near blessed Lord to thy precious bleeding side Consecrate me now to thy service Lord by the power of grace divine Let my soul look up with a steadfast Hope and my will be lost in thine draw me Nearer blessed Lord to the cross where thou hast died Draw me nearer Nearer near blessed Lord to thy precious bleeding side Oh the pure delight of a single hour that before thy throne I spent When I kneel in prayer and with thee my God my communis friend with friend Nearer blessed Lord to the cross where thou hast died Draw me nearer Nearer near blessed Lord to thy precious bleeding side There are depths of love that I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea There are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with thee Draw me nearer Nearer blessed Lord to the cross where thou hast died Draw me nearer Nearer near blessed Lord to thy precious bleeding side And let's pray heavenly father Lord again We just want to thank you God for another Sunday That we get to meet in your house and to hear your word preached I pray Lord now that you again you would be honored and Uplifted and glorified out of everything that's said and done. We love you for it's in Jesus name. We ask all but Amen I may be seated and Take your mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual psalm books the blue folders there in your seats Blue the mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual psalm books turn to page number one Page number one and we will sing Psalm 11 In the Lord put I my trust how say ye to my soul Flee as a bird to your mountain Below the wicked bend their pole They make ready their arrow upon the stream that they may privately shoot at the Bright and hard if the foundations be destroyed What can the righteous do? The Lord is in his holy temple The Lord's throne is in half his eyes behold his eye Let's try the children of man The Lord trite the righteous But the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hey It's so hey Upon the wicked He shall rain snares fire and brimstone and horrible tempest this shall be The portion of their come for the righteous Lord Loveth righteousness his countenance Doth behold Doth behold the upright in the Lord, but I might trust You Amen so welcome Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday morning I know we've been getting some snow and everything so I know some are probably still a little snowed in And so just being prayer for them obviously I know there's some that want to be here But then the just the conditions and everything aren't letting that be the case But just being prayer for those being prayer for those that aren't feeling well I know that there are some still in it still dealing with sicknesses and all of that so just being prayer there As far as our service time today everything should be normal The roads do seem to be fine here in Fairmont so That being said our service time will be normal today. We'll have our afternoon service at 4 p.m. We're gonna have our soul winning time at 1 p.m. So we're gonna meet up to go out soul winning after lunch a little before 1 o'clock So if you want to go out soul winning today meet up here at the church building a little before 1 o'clock And then today we're gonna try something The ladies are gonna try something as far as doing the prayer meeting so the ladies prayer meeting is gonna be held After we go out after we are all sent out going soul winning. We're gonna try to see how that goes Obviously the big difference would be is the fact that there's gonna be more kids around So we'll see how it works out today and If it works out well, I think that might work out for a lot more a lot more ladies may be able to come to that Instead of trying to do a separate day either Friday or Saturday and and then on January 26 Which is this coming Friday? We're gonna have the men's prayer meeting and so that'll be on Friday at 6 p.m. And We do have An upcoming events soul winning marathon in Kingwood So that's gonna be on the 10th February 10th and brother Richie and I are kind of working together on putting that together As of right now, I think we're gonna meet up at the Hardee's there in Kingwood and then Afterwards there's a Monroe's which is like a kind of hometown Restaurant there that we're gonna try to meet up after that but we have Brother Richie's been kind of searching out the apartments and stuff like that. So we We won't have a problem find places to knock. So we're just trying to find the best place to knock, of course But if you can make it out to that, that'd be great Obviously barring we don't have a blizzard because Kingwood and that whole area in Preston County Preston County Gets a lot of snow. So So, yeah, well obviously checking the weather if if for some reason a blizzard hits or something like that We'll just do it. We'll just pick another day after that. So so we're going to do it. It's just a matter of Hopefully that weekend is good. That Saturday is good and everything So I just be in prayer there for that and then the regional soul winning times just be on the church group there when it comes to these regional times, especially with the weather and just Inclement weather and all that stuff that stuff can get moved around changed around As far as that goes but tentatively speaking got Monday Tuesday Wednesday Saturday on there so and Then on the back of your bulletin Our chapter memory for the month is Genesis chapter 1 and then our memory verse for the week is John 16 33 Which is these things have I spoken of you that in me might have peace in the world? You shall have tribulation but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world So John 16 33 is a memory verse for the week and we are Getting closer to the end of January. So hopefully many of you are trying to read through the New Testament in a month. And so Yeah, so we're gonna have prizes for that at the end there So again, if you started late, or even if you need a couple more days, we're not gonna be That cutthroat with it, you know, you didn't get done by the 31st and no prize for you know, you know, obviously You know if you have to go into February a little bit there We'll still count that and everything. So we're gonna have some prizes some pricing gift cards stuff like that If you get that done and that's on an honor honor base system. So obviously I'm not at your house I'm not with you as you're reading it. So You tell me you did it I'm gonna believe you so but and in birthdays We don't have the all the good ones yet until next week, right so So coming up at the end here we definitely have we have definitely have a bunch so And then pregnancy is being prayer for Alyssa and a stage and tabby on the pregnancy list there And just pray everything goes well there and I know well Alyssa I'm pretty sure her due dates like right now, right? Isn't it like the 21st or something wasn't it 21st or something? I can't remember. I know it wasn't What's that? Really oh Okay Yeah, it was in the 20s though, but maybe it's more like 26 or something anyway, so So Being prayer for her and and and obviously for the other ladies on there too because February when's your due date? Tabby? 0.9. Oh, that's right So That'll I have for announcements that I can think of The offering boxes in the back there if you want to give a tithe or an offering but baby rooms for the mothers and babies only Who's reading this morning Wade By the way, so you're gonna be reading Yeah acts 14, that's what I said, so so brother ways gonna be reading acts 14 after brother Dave does one more song You All right, take your song books and turn to song 355 Song 355 in your song books will sing what a friend we have in Jesus And we'll sing song 355 Oh A friend we have in Jesus all our sins and griefs to bear What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer Oh What peace we often? Forfed Oh What needless pain we bear? Oh Because we do not care Everything to God in prayer Have we trials and temptations Is there trouble anywhere We should never be discouraged Take it to the Lord in prayer Can we find a friend so faithful All our sorrows share Jesus knows our every week Yes Take it to the Lord in prayer Are we weakened heavy laden Cumbered with a load of care Precious Savior still our refuge Take it to the Lord in prayer Do Thy friends despise forsake Thee take it to the Lord in prayer And his arms he'll take and she'll be Will find a solace there All right, take your Bibles and turn to the book of Acts chapter number 14 Acts chapter number 14 in your Bibles and we'll have brother Wade come and read that for us Acts 14 And it came to pass in I Konyam that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews and so spake that a great multitude both in of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil affected against the brethren long time Therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord Which gave testimony unto the word of his grace and grace and signs and wonders to be done by their hands but the multitude of the city was divided in part held with the Jews and part with the Apostles and When there was an assault made both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews with their rulers To use them in spitefully and to stone them they were aware of it and fled unto Lystra and Derby cities of Laconia and unto the region that lieth round about and there they preached the gospel and There said a certain man at Lystra Impenent in his feet being a cripple from his mother's womb who never had walked the same heard Paul speak Who stabbed vastly beholding him in perceiving that he had faith to be healed said with a loud voice? Stand upright on my feet and he leaped and walked and when the people saw what Paul had done They lifted up their voices saying in the speech of Laconia The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men and they called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercurius Because he was the chief speaker When then the then the priest of Jupiter which was before the city Brought oxen and garlands unto the gates and would have done sacrifice with the people Which when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of They rent their clothes and ran in among the people crying out and saying sirs. Why do you these things? We also are men of like passions with you and preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God Which made heaven and earth and the sea and all things that are there in? Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways? Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven And fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness and with these sayings Scarce restrained they the people that they had not Done sacrifice unto them and there came further certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people and having stone Paul drew him Out of the city supposing he had been dead Howbeit as the disciples stood around about him He rose up and came into the city and the next day he departed with Barnabas and to to Derby and when they had preached The gospel to that city and had taught many they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch Confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must Through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God and when they had ordained them elders in every city every church and had prayed With fasting they commended them to Lord on whom they believed and after they had passed through Sidia they came to Pamphylia and when they had preached the word in Perga They went down into Atalia and then sailed to Antioch from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled and When they were come and had gathered the church together they rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles and There they abode long time with the disciples Let us pray dear Lord, uh, thank you for let us hear your word be with pastor as we hear you message today Jesus and I pray I'm in Amen so you're there in Acts chapter 14 and I want you to go down to verse 21 and What it says here in verse 21 It says and when they had preached the gospel to that city and it taught many they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch Confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that that we must through much tribulation Enter into the kingdom of God and so the sermon I'm actually gonna be preaching today is Entitled no easy way out. No easy way out and I'm gonna be getting into the idea that That in this life as Christians, there's really no easy way out of this life. Okay now salvation is easy You know believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house, you know He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but his wrath abideth on them or the wrath of God abideth on them And so salvation is very easy. It's just believe you're saved. You have eternal life. It's a gift, right? but this life is not easy, okay when it comes to just this physical life that we're in and basically, what I want to what I want to show you is that Whether you live for God or you don't live for God it's not going to be easy okay, so In short here's my here's the conclusion of the matter live for God because it's not gonna be easy the way you go about it okay, and so there's no easy way out of this life as a Christian and so In this passage specifically he's exhorting the brethren those that are disciples those that are following the Lord He's exhorting them to continue in the faith. He's not saying for them to get saved or anything like that He's just saying continue in the faith because if you if you've received the Lord Jesus so walk in him right that the Bible talks about being rooted and grounded in the faith and obviously continuing in the faith is something we should do and Obviously what he's stating here is that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God Because if you continue in the faith, if you're if you're a disciple of the Lord, you're going to suffer Tribulation and in this life, you're basically just there's gonna be an Necessity of tribulation that's going to happen. You're going to suffer tribulation now If you say well, you know that's saying, you know, that's not saying necessarily contingent on continuing in the faith Well, what I'm going to show you is that whether whether you live for God or not, you're going to suffer tribulation Okay. Now the question is is who you suffering tribulation from and for what reason? Okay, so But our memory verse in John 16 and verse 33, I want you to think about this. What did Jesus say? So John 16 verse 33 our memory verse At the very beginning of the chapter Jesus says that he spoke these things that they should not be offended right? He's basically preparing them Because there's going to be tribulation. There's going to be persecutions and notice what he ends the chapter with in verse 33 It says these things I have spoken unto you that in me You might have peace in the world. Ye shall have tribulation be of good cheer. I have overcome the world So we know that obviously the Bible teaches Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution And we know that if you're if you're living godly if you're keeping the commandments and you're doing what you should be doing You're following the Lord you're going to suffer tribulation you're going to suffer persecution and that if you're going to continue in the faith You must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God It's not saying that you have to endure tribulation in order to go to heaven That's not what that passage is saying at all. He's just stating a fact that you're gonna have to go through tribulation You're gonna have to go through afflictions in order to continue in the faith in order to keep going And I want you to go to Philippians chapter 1 Philippians chapter 1 Philippians chapter 1 so the Christian life is not going to be easy as Far as following the Lord continuing the faith being rooted and grounded Being fruitful living godly all that is gonna have the consequence of tribulations persecutions afflictions they're just gonna abound when you're doing that and One can look at that and say well, I just don't want to do that I just don't want to have to suffer all those tribulations and afflictions and everything else But what I'm gonna show you is that you you're gonna suffer tribulation and persecutions and you're gonna suffer trouble Whichever route you take okay, and it's so I want to show you that that say hey, there's no easy way out of this There's no there's no like easy road to take okay, and It may sound like an 80 song, you know, no easy way out, you know I'm a rocky fan, you know, and I'm pretty sure when he fought the Russian that's the song he was listening to but you know what the concept still good though meaning this is that the idea is that there's no easy way out and I think if you realize that and just come to terms with the fact that this life is not going to be easy Anyway you go Okay So choose the right way. I mean if you're gonna if you're gonna be hard either way I mean why not go the right way? So that's the idea that I want to get across here go to Philippians chapter 1 and verse 27 Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 says only let your conversation be as it become at the gospel Christ That whether I come and see you or else be absent I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel And in nothing terrified by your adversaries which is to them an evident token of perdition But to you of salvation and that of God So we're obviously talking about preaching the gospel and with preaching the gospel you're gonna have adversaries But then it goes on to say in verse 29 here for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ Not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake now obviously You know when it's saying like given in behalf of is basically like that's what he wants for you That's what he desires for you. That's what you're called to do is what to believe on him right for salvation But also after you believe he's calling you to suffer for his sake he's calling you to follow in his footsteps And listen if they hated if they hated you know Jesus They're going to hate you if they called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more should they call the servants of the house? right, so If he suffered if he suffered persecution, I mean ultimately he was put to death but I mean We can't expect any less than what they did to the master of the house. So We're being called To suffer for his sake that you if you're going to continue in the faith Then you're gonna have to you're gonna be entering into the kingdom with much tribulation going through this life if you're going to live godly you're going to suffer persecutions and Jesus said in this world you shall have tribulation, but in him you can have peace right the idea there is that There's gonna be an obvious choice to make here, okay, this is gonna be one of those It's kind of like when you talk to people about salvation and be like, which would you rather do? Would you rather pay for your own sins in hell and be there for eternity and be an eternal torment or accept this free gift? that's already been paid for and all you have to do is accept that and believe on Christ for it and then you'll have eternal life and never and never have any pain for all eternity and You'll rule and reign with Christ forever. It's kind of like a no-brainer, right? It's like which one do I choose right? But the same thing would apply here and I think this one may not be as obvious as Far as which route you should go in life, you know after you get saved which route should you go and I think the route of Not following the Lord seems to be more enticing seems to be easier seems to be less You know less hard, I guess but Actually what I want to show you is that it's not now What you have to understand too is that what's besides not going through, you know, what I'm going to show you the When you when you go the path of not following the Lord There's going to be consequences and it's going to be hard take that out of the equation. What's a good reason for Following the Lord. Well go to 2nd Peter chapter 1 2nd Peter chapter 1 Because what I believe it's stating here is that obviously Except a man be born again. It cannot see the kingdom of God and obviously believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is how you get born again who sort of believe that Jesus is the Christ born of God and You've overcome Obviously you're going to enter into the kingdom of God But what you want to have is an abundant entrance into that kingdom Okay, you don't want to just go in like the thief on the cross that just got saved right before you died You're gonna want that abundant entrance and so there is a great reward For living for the Lord and going that route and first 2nd Peter chapter 1 and verse 5 It says beside this giving all diligence add to your faith. So notice that you already have faith We have this like precious faith, right? It says it earlier in the chapter Add to your faith virtue in the virtue knowledge and the knowledge temperance and temperance patience and the patience godliness and the godliness Brotherly kindness and brotherly kindness charity for if these things be in you and abound they make you That you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off and hath forgotten that he is purged from his old sins Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if you do these things you shall never fall now This isn't talking about falling from salvation. This is talking about actually what the last chapter states, which is that you don't fall from your own steadfastness This is talking about You know, obviously you're walking in the Lord. You're not stumbling in the darkness You're not falling from your own steadfastness in the faith Now it says this is the key here in verse 11 for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you Abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ now this passage doesn't really mess Mention tribulation persecution is just stating the fact that hey if you do all these things if you have all these things Then you're gonna have this abundant entrance But what you have to understand is that when you do all those things you're going to have tribulations you're going to have persecutions You're gonna have you're gonna have adversaries. And so this isn't gonna be an easy walk through the park Type of life to live for the Lord to have virtue and to have all these different qualities There's going to be consequences for that I mean Cain killed Abel for the purpose that his his deeds were evil and his brothers righteous And that's why Cain killed Abel, you know, people can like say well, you know, this is why no the Bible literally says why and That there are people Anna stop talking or you're gonna be in big trouble So there's there's there's a big reason why we want to go this route as far as following the Lord and I know that seems Cliche follow the Lord, you know, that's the right route, you know, that's the best route but Physically speaking in our minds, you know what an easier life sounds like Just stepping back and not getting into the things of God right because you know that anybody that's been in the fight or that's been soul winning or Been trying to live for the Lord They know that there are adversaries that there are people that are will be against you and that You know The devil is gonna be coming after you too and that there's gonna be things that are gonna try to come at you to take You down and you know that it's not easy Right that that life is not easy It's worth it but it's not easy and I think the the mindset is I Want to go I want to have an easy life so therefore I'm not gonna go the route of You know, basically living for the Lord and going down that path because I know it's gonna be hard But what you have to understand is that the other path is hard, too So and I think if you realize that and you realize that both ways are hard Then it should be a no-brainer which way you should go now go to Proverbs chapter 13 in verse 15 Now if you're if you're if to live godly means you're gonna suffer persecutions. What's the opposite of living godly? living ungodly Right, listen just keeping the commandments and living righteously means you're gonna suffer persecutions Going out soul winning, you know, the Bible says you have adversaries and not to be afraid of your adversaries, but you're going to have adversaries Preaching the word Preaching the truth people are gonna hate that and people are gonna come after you And But I what I want you to see here and I think this is probably just the easiest way that in this simple verse right here And in Proverbs 13 15, notice what it says good understanding giveth favor, but the way of transgressors is hard Facts, I mean listen anybody that's been involved in some kind of like deep sin as far as like, let's say let's say drugs, right? Like getting into drugs is hard on you It's hard on your body. It's hard on your mind. And it's one of the hardest things probably to get out of is drug addiction and You know what? You can see it in people's faces when people are on let's say math or and listen I'm speaking that's close to home when it comes to West Virginia is You know Methamphetamines heroin these different types of drugs, you know what it may seem easy you get the high you get whatever But you know what? It's hard because it destroys your body It destroys your mind and in it in a lot of cases people they don't get out of it. They just die and They live a short life Now that's an extreme example dealing with drugs But you know what this comes back to just being you know living in sin doing all that there are consequences for that. I Mean one one example this would be fornication go to 1st Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 18 1st Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 18 That is hard on you listen physically speaking now obviously there's a spiritual level to that right and I mean we get into that But let's just talk about the physical hardships of sin and what it does to you Do I do I need to get on food because then I'll start really stepping on my own toes, right? you think about like eating poorly and how that affects your body and Yeah, it tastes good And it's it's something that you're like, oh, this is great right now and then it destroys your body Right and then you have consequences for that afterwards But in 1st Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 18 It says flee fornication every sin that a man doeth is without the body But he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body So look at that. It's you're sinning against your own body. It says What know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you? Which you have of God and you are not your own for you are bought with a price Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are gods So this is that's another sermon for another day, but grieving the Holy Spirit of God Which is you know the whereby you're sealed on the day of redemption that in the New Testament your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and so therefore When you sin you're grieving that Holy Spirit but fornication specifically is sin against your own body and we there's actually a lot of diseases and different things like that that come from that act that It's just physical things that and and a lot of those Listen up young ones a lot of those diseases that come with fornication are incurable you Like you can't cure them you have it for life and You know I can't but it's like most of them Most of them are just like incurable diseases that you're gonna have to deal with the rest of your life Now they may not be debilitating or whatever, but I mean it's still stuff you got to deal with Okay so warning there that yeah There's the there's the spiritual aspect of that that God tells you not to do that and that there's gonna be Consequences spiritually speaking in this life now, obviously your soul was saved and you're going to heaven But what I'm saying is that obviously God will chase in you and there's different things that can happen to you But just on the physical level of what that can do to your body. That's hard on you that life is hard on people and people listen there are things that you can get from fornication that will kill you and People can die or you know and at early age because of that type of lifestyle and so Not to mention the emotional You know damage that that does all those different things that that can do to you the way of transgressors is hard So to think that the easy way out is just a well I'm just gonna live up live it up And listen, you know This is the accusation that a lot of people give us because we believe that once they've always saved you can't lose your salvation So they say well, why don't you just go out and do whatever you want to do because I'm not an idiot How about that one, you know Because I don't want to destroy my body It's like well you're saved you're going to heaven why don't you just like suck down a Big Mac every day It's like well, I don't want to die of a heart attack Maybe you know, maybe that's why I'm not going to hell for it. But you know, I don't want I don't want that to be my life So There's a lot there, you know people have those kind of arguments, but we understand that the way of transgressors is hard We understand that there's sins that we commit that hurt our own body in this light and that You know, there's gonna be punishment for that that's on our own body. That's self-inflicted Right. I mean take away the the chastisement of Lord. I believe there's Self-inflicted things that happen to you because of what you do in this life now Go to Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 5 Hebrews chapter 12 and my whole point is is that there's no easy way out of this life Christian You think well I can just I can just step away from the things of God and the life will be easy Sorry, it's not Life is hard deal with it. I Mean it's just you have to know that life is hard no matter which way you go. The question is You know, I mean, you know, which route are you gonna choose in that in that Avenue one looks easy I think that's the I think that's what it comes down to is one looks like it's easy The other one looks like it's hard But the thing is they're both hard and what ends up happening is the one that looks harder is actually easier Because you know what? Jesus says Unto those that are weary and heavy laden He says to take his yoke upon him, which is work It says my yoke is easy and my burden is light and I'll give you rest unto your souls see it looks hard It looks like hey, that's not that's a hard route to go right there. We know a person cute Persecutions abide but here's the difference you have the Savior on your side You're you're abiding in Christ if God be forced who could be against us in those persecutions You have great victory and we're more than conquerors in this world through Christ So it looks hard. It looks like yeah, that's not the route I want to go right imagine it. Imagine it. You're at a place where two ways met, right and one looks like You know kind of like a haunted like trail ride or something like that, right that the trees look mangled You know, there's an owl over there hooting. There's like the full moon, you know, and then over here. It's just like birds are chirping There's like sunlight coming out just beaming out there and you're just like You're like which path should I take well, I think in our minds that scary route is the one where it's like Persecutions adversaries, you know the world hating us all that that that's what that kind of looks like, right? But yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death You know the Bible says I will I will fear no evil But thou are with me, you know, the idea there is that I'm walking through there. I'm not gonna fear. I'm actually in great. Peace Because I have the Lord with me This other path that looks good looks easy looks delightful doesn't have the Lord with you though And that path is actually the one that's gonna deceive you that's the one that you think looks good but it's it's like you can only see so far past on that path right your Perception can only go so far and what you don't realize is once you start going down that path There's like a cliff right after it Just like whoa, you know, it looks good right there until you fall off the cliff And at the end of that dark path at the end of that like scary path You know at the end of that it's great reward And all you have I say all you have to do but what you have to do is obviously trust the Lord that he's gonna Get you through that path And that's where you're gonna have you're gonna have great peace you're gonna have joy and listen I don't know about you the Bible even says even through persecutions that we should be happy and leap for joy Why because our reward is great in heaven and that this life is but a vapor What is your life? It is even a vapor that appear for a little time and advantage at the way And when you understand that it's like well, what is this life? You know what a little persecution right now? Whatever great reward for all eternity and That's what the difference is. Is that pleasure for a season and then you're gonna have a cost that you don't want to bear or Hard times for a short season and then this reward that will never go away So Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5 it says And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children My son despised not the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him From whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourges of every son whom he receiveth If you endure chastening God dealeth with you as with sons and what son is he whom the father chasteneth not But if you be without without chastisement where of all our partakers then are you bastards and not sons? What you have to understand is that we're all chasing the Lord just at different levels Okay, because none of us are perfect, you know when it says all our partakers Why because if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves in truths not in us that's why because none of us can say that we're holistically without sin and Therefore we're all gonna receive chastisement to a certain extent. The question is is how Hard is that chastisement and what you have to understand Christian that once you believe on Christ You are a child of God and nothing can change that and once you're a child of God you can live for the Lord and suffer persecutions in this life by the world or you can Not follow the Lord and you're gonna get you're gonna get that trouble from the Lord You're gonna get in trouble with the Lord and he's gonna have to chase in you in this life Now, you know revelation I go to revelation chapter 3 The letter to the seven churches and what I want to show you here is that it does liken the Lord chastening to tribulation and when it says that we Through much tribulation China in the kingdom of God what you understand is that Tribulation just means trouble now most of the time when the Bible uses the term tribulation. It's talking about the world. It's talking about the world Basically persecuting us for the name of Christ, right? But you know what the Bible talks about being buffeted for your faults, too, right? You know that you can be you could be put to trouble for your own faults in this world It's not even the Lord. It's just you did something stupid, right? Right if you mouse someone off and they punch you in the face you kind of did that to yourself, right? Not saying it was right for the person to punch you in the face, but I mean It was kind of self-inflicted So you can't be like Lord. I'm suffering persecution for your for your sake It's like no there's tribulation persecutions for the you know, when you're suffering it for in his name, right? that's where you're gonna be rewarded and But there are times where you're gonna suffer troubles maybe and it hasn't it's not about suffering it for the Lord It's not because you know, you're being persecuted for the cause of Christ But there are you know, what I want to show you here is that tribulation You'd also be talking about what the Lord is doing to you during chastisement I mean listen, I would say this that it when I spank my children. I'm sure they would say that It's troubling them right? I mean it's it's not like great they don't enjoy that Right. I mean that that's the kind of the whole point of shit chastening is that it's not enjoyable Right is that it's a punishment so that they get right Now in Revelation 3 and verse 19 after he's written to all seven churches It says in verse 19 as many as I love I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent So he's talking to save people so he's talking to save churches save save people And he's basically saying if I've reviewed you it's because I love you and I want you to repent right? it's basically I'm chasing you and I want you to repent. I want you to change and and it depends on the church right because each church had kind of different problems or some churches didn't have any problems, but Go to Revelation chapter 2 in verse 21 One of the churches that probably sticks out in your mind as far as big problems was Thyatira, right? Especially with the woman Jezebel and specifically dealing with her notice what it says in verse 21 and I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not okay So what is stating here is that she was going she was doing a lot of you know bad stuff Obviously committing fornication specifically, you know and actually getting into adultery, right? And she didn't repent of it being like she was given time to get that right she didn't get it right Notice what it says after this is behold I will cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her so basically her and everybody that she's doing this with I'm gonna cast her into a bed and With her into great tribulation except they repent of their deeds And I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know That I am he which searches the reigns and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works Meaning this is that he's like if you're involved in this except unless you Basically, she's gonna be put into this the bed of great tribulation and unless these other people that are involved in it repent of their deeds It's like they're gonna go in there, too And what does that talk about trouble? Well, let me just show you that that word means trouble Let me just show you another place dealing with how Tribulation can mean trouble and it's not necessarily talking about The great tribulation, right? So when we're talking about great tribulation here, we're not talking about the great tribulation We're not talking about you know that period of time where the Antichrist is setting up You know the image and all that Okay Just as much as when it says we through much tribulation entered and became God just because it says that doesn't mean that we're talking About like this is only talking to those that are gonna be in that time That's not what it's saying. Okay, that's that's the goes to everybody now Go to a second Thessalonians chapter 1. Thanks second Thessalonians chapter 1 So What I want to get across is that When it states that we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God That's true either way you go about it Whether you're being persecuted and Troubled by the world because of your stance for Christ or whether you're being troubled by the Lord Because you're being chased by the Lord in this life for your sins So either way you go about it Yeah, it's hard to live as a Christian. I mean that way is hard, but it's all the way of transgressors is also hard So in verse 3 here, so 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 3 It says we are bound to thank God always for you brethren as it is me because that that your faith faith grows Exceedingly and the charity of every one of you all toward each other abounded so that we ourselves glory in you and the churches of God for your patience and faith and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure It's obviously this church is dealing with persecutions and tribulations It says which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom God for which you also suffer Seeing it is a righteous thing with God. So it's gonna tell you why that's a token okay, and a token basically there's two sides to every coin and What it's getting to here is that it says that seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you Okay, so what he's saying here is that they're troubling you but the Lord's gonna trouble them right That's the idea that he's getting across and it even says in verse 7 and to you who are troubled rest with us, right? So basically he's gonna recompense tribulation to them that trouble you and those that are troubled You're gonna rest with us because the Lord's gonna come and he's gonna obviously set a recompense on the world, right? So what he's saying is that you're going through tribulations and persecutions and he's gonna recompense tribulations for the tribulations that he put on you Right and especially with you think about Babylon it says give unto her double Right everything that she's dealt out give unto her double. So What you can see here is that Tribulation and troubled are the same thing and in this case, you know, sometimes when you'll see tribulation He's gonna recompense tribulation Obviously that's wrath, right? He's gonna pour out his wrath upon them But it's just basically the idea that when you think about the end times The first portion of that seven seven year period is the world troubling Christians The next half when the Lord comes is the Lord troubling the unsaved right It's like the wrath of the devil's on us, right? He came down and he's wroth with the woman in her seed What there's wrath on us from the devil Right, but guess what God's wrath is gonna be upon them after that So what you have to stand is that in this life, you know If you are in fornication or if you're in, you know different types of sins, there's going to be There's gonna be recompense in this life for that and it's gonna be hard There's gonna be chastening and you know what know this there is a sin that well there's sins that will cause you to be sick There are sins that will cause you to to die prematurely There is a sin unto death You know that all unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death but there is a sin unto death I do not say that he shall pray for it meaning like pray for those that sin not unto death But if someone sends a sin which is unto death, it says I don't don't pray for that Right if someone kills someone in cold cold-blooded murder. I'm not praying that God is gonna save them from death That makes sense. Like they should be put to death Whether they're saved or not Right, there's justice in this physical in the physical world that we live in. Okay so But also know this is that Go to Luke chapter 12 Know this is that there is a difference between the believer that's Living this way of transgressors that's living this this this sinful life There's a difference between a believer doing that and an unbeliever doing it Listen God's not chastening Those that are unbelievers Okay That I mean it just states that right, you know If you don't receive chastisement, then are you bastards and not something meaning your fatherless meaning that you're you're not born of God Right, you're not a child of God If you're a child of God you're being chastened So know this is that in verse so Luke chapter 12 verse 47 says and that servant which knew not Which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes So those that have knowledge, I mean and obviously this could be a case of This could be a case of unbelievers in both cases, right? You think about when the Lord comes or you just think about like hell in general as far as the punishment Obviously those that were ignorant about it are gonna have less of a punishment than those that knew about it But how about this those that are saved that? That or that know the truth You know in this life, I believe are gonna be beaten with more stripes in this life than those that aren't saved And I think that's why a lot of times as Christians we look at me like this person's over here doing all this stuff and They're not being punished and and they're you know, they have everything in the world It just seems like everything's going for them. It's like yeah, but they're gonna die and go to hell They're not a child of God He's not gonna chase in someone that is not his son So there is a difference that it says but he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with with few stripes For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom men have committed much of him They will ask the more and basically the fact of the matter is is that we're expected You know there's more as expected of us, right It's kind of like when you have children and like your children may say well, you know, someone's those children, you know Their kids don't they don't do this or they don't do that or you know, they're allowed to do this. It's like yeah Well, I'm not their parent You're my child I'm your parent and this is the way the things are gonna be and so Yeah, there's gonna be a difference on how God deals with his children compared to those that aren't and You know, it's just the way it is. So knowing that You're saved. You can't do anything about it. Okay, no one would want to and it's like people are just like oh, you know You can't you can't lose your salvation, but you can give it back Well, then that person doesn't know what in the world they're not saying They're literally a madman You know if someone's just like yeah. No, I want to go to hell now You know, I know that I had eternal life but I I want to I want to burn in hell forever It's like well you're dealing with a madman at that point right they've lost their mind So You know when people say that it's just like are you really thinking about what you're saying when you say that I want you to think about an example Of someone that wanted to take the easy route or wanted to get away from what God wanted them to do and that's Jonah Go to Jonah chapter 1, Jonah chapter 1 Did it work out well for Jonah? You know that when you look at this story, I mean it's a cool story but who wants to be Jonah in this story Jonah 1 in verse 1 it says Micah or Obadiah and Jonah Micah Jonah Verse 1 it says Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai saying Arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it for their weakness has come up before me So this is the clear command God's telling him to go preach to Nineveh And you can get into the fact of why he didn't want to go because he knew that God was merciful That's how the book ends. He knew that God was merciful and he didn't want God to be merciful to Nineveh Okay, that's just straight-up why he didn't want to go but it doesn't really matter why you don't do it He just didn't do it right and the thing is is that what does it say here in verse 3? it says but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa and he found a ship going to Tarshish and So he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the sea So that the ship was like to be broken Okay, so he's basically free fleeing from the presence of the Lord now We know that's futile right because what did David say? If I send up to heaven behold thou art there if I make my bed in hell behold thou art there You can't free flee from the presence of the Lord So it's insanity to think that anyway that I can just go run away And I can get away from the Lord and get away from what I should be doing It's it's insanity to think that because the Lord is gonna be wherever you're at anyway but Does this sound like this is an easier route As far as let me ask you a question when you if you're going into something that's gonna be hard like let's say this storm Would you want the Lord to be with you or? Away from you at this point the Lord. He's not really abiding in the Lord is he? he's trying to flee from the presence of the Lord and We know that he's swallowed by by the fish it says and obviously this is a whale But you know We didn't have we don't have modern scientists to tell us that a whale isn't a fish right so Obviously back back then you know a fish is a whale which is a big fish, right? But in verse 17 it says now the Lord hath prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the Fish three days and three nights, so I want you to think about this now This is kind of like a cute story that we tell our children As far as like you know Jonah's swallowed by by a whale Anna move over to the other seat now We tell them this story right and you kind of think about like this cartoonish type of like you know Like Pinocchio getting swallowed up by the whale and just kind of like you're just sitting in there and chilling out Lighten a torch and just roaming around looking at the inside of this This whale right you're like, oh there's it's you know, there's it's like whatever that thing is in fact your throat I don't know what's called You know and you're just kind of looking at this thing it's like there's this teeth I'm on it's basically it'd be like you're on its tongue or something like that, you know But you think about the story you think it think it's cool except for the fact that you're not on its tongue You're not in his mouth. You're in its stomach with a bunch of stomach acid and you're down there in the dark Like in this I mean at this point you think you're probably gonna die, but you're not dead yet, right? So it's horrifying right being you get swallowed up by this whale and you don't know if you're gonna drown I mean the description now obviously this is prophetic as far as Jesus soul going to hell But this is also talking about Jonah being in the whale's belly, right? So think about this when it says in Jonah 2 1 it says then Jonah prayed unto the Lord has got out of the fish's Belly and said I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord and he heard me out of the belly of hell cried I and thou heard is my voice But thou hast cast me into the deep into the midst of the seas and the floods Compass me about and all the night billows and I waves passed over me Then I said I am cast out of thy sight yet I will look again toward thy holy temple the waters compass me about even to the soul The the depth closed me round about the weeds were wrapped about my head I went down to the bottoms of the mountains and the earth with her bars was about me forever Yet thou hast brought up my life from corruption. Oh Lord my God now some of this is obviously dealing with Jesus, right? I mean Jonah didn't actually go down to the bottoms of the mountains and he wasn't there forever Jesus obviously Paid for an eternity of hell in the bottom of the mountains where's hell's at right, but when it's talking about the fact that you know the there there's Basically these waters come and seeing him about the weeds were wrapped about his head Obviously you can think about how that would picture Christ, you know with the crown of thorns like different things like that But the idea here is that this was Jonah This was the easy route Right, this is the easy route I'm not gonna go preach the Nineveh I'm gonna flee from the presence of the Lord This was this is the easy route. How does that does that look easy to you? Does that look like the route you want to take? Getting swallowed by a whale Because you know what that when you go down the path that looks easy, you know what the Lord's gonna do He's gonna make that path Miserable to get you back on the right path So that path looks easy But in the end if you're going against the Lord, you're gonna be chasing by the Lord you're gonna be troubled by the Lord and because he loves you once you get you back on the right track and then You know the fish it says in verse 10 It says in the Lord spake unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land now I want you to think about this too. Okay. I know we look at this as a cute story But the whale didn't just come up to the sea open its mouth open put its tongue out like kind of like a little platform For him to walk out and he's just like, oh, you know, I made it and I'm at where I need to be Threw him up. Okay, not even that it spit him out like like just through I mean, I don't know what else came out with that But I mean imagine like he's in there for three days. He's in three nights and ages like Just like right onto the shore. I Mean and imagine, you know on the shore, you know, you're on a sandy shore You're covered in vomit and you're just rolling around in that. Oh, let me wash myself off with some seawater, you know so Horrible the type of thing right so all the kids are like that's a different depiction of the story than I've heard Just reality right? I mean they were in a storm. It's dark. I mean you imagine it's dark. It's boisterous He gets thrown into it. Now the sea does calm then this big whale comes up swallows him He's in there for three days and three nights not knowing if he's gonna die or live or what's gonna happen to him And then he's just like up chucked onto the shore So at that point he kind of comes to the senses be like yeah, no, I should probably do what the Lord tells me to do Now I want you to think about this that could have all been averted That whole thing could have been averted. It could have been like Yes, Lord, I'll go And you know what? I believe the Lord probably would have paid for his fair He would have had a nice trip it'd have been an easy ride there got there guess what happened They all ended up leaving what he said and they all repented him sackcloth and that sackcloth sackcloth and ashes They didn't they weren't trying to kill him It's not like he didn't even have to go through persecution with what he was doing there See a lot of times what we think looks really hard and what we think is gonna be like this big persecution ends up being a great victory and And we've actually just Built it up in our minds and a lot of cases be like all this gonna be horrible Hey, you know, we're gonna be persecuted all this stuff's gonna happen and it's a big nothing burger How many times have you worried about something for a whole day about like how this is gonna be horrible Everything's gonna happen and then nothing happens Who wish who wishes they could go back in that beginning of that day and just didn't worry about it the whole day Once you realize that it was nothing So in a lot of cases we look down that path it looks bad and it's actually not You know that owl that looked ominous was actually like the owl on Little Bear You know Who here knows Little Bear? No one my kids You know, it's like cartoon owl anyway so the idea here is that We want to make the right path no This is that going down the path of not following the Lord going down the path of living for the world It's not going to be easy like you think and I think if you realize that Like well, why wouldn't I take the good way, right? I mean if this one just has misery and punishment at the end of it, but it looks good What does that matter if you realize it's not what if you what does it matter if you realize that's not actually the easy way Go to Hebrew chapter 11 Hebrew chapter 11 Hebrew chapter 11 verse 24 And obviously I'm preaching this to all of us because all of us could Get to the point especially when you're when you're a laboring church when you're a church that does the work and and all of that Sometimes in your mind you're like man especially when you see like people just having a good time and people just having fun and doing whatever they want to do and they're not tied down to like This what what I you know, what we what they would look at is just extra work. We're putting on ourselves, right? We're all working full-time jobs. We're all like doing all these other different things and then on top of that Let's go out. You know, let's go to church three times a week. Let's go soul winning. Let's do these marathons Let's do all these different things, right? Like honest people, you know looking at like man, you're trying to do a whole bunch stuff, right? Whereas they fill that with other things that are just kind of fun, you know Like boating which no one's doing right now, obviously ice skating, I guess But you know, there's a lot of other things you could be doing Then church or soul winning or reading your Bible or different things like that And on the surface, it looks easier. It looks more fun But Hebrews chapter 11 verse 24 Let's look at Moses for a second verse 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 See, this is the choice that you have to make in this life as far as as a Christian, you know, you're safe Okay, this isn't a matter of salvation This is a matter of which path you go once you get saved Do you take the path of enjoying sin for for a season or do you go down the road of hey? If I live godly, I'm gonna suffer persecution And obviously which one looks more enticing I mean listen if sin wasn't enticing no one would do it and We as Christians when we get saved we still have the flesh and our flesh and in our flesh dwell No good thing Therefore our flesh still desires all that same Same simple stuff, but no, this is that it's for a season. It's just like that donut anybody I'm not preaching against you being a donut. But here's the thing, you know That that has no nutritional value, right? I Know it I still eat it because it's delicious. Okay Right, I appreciate that. Amen Especially in February when those brownie batter donuts come out I mean listen, this is why I go to the gym. This is why I work out so that I can eat that brownie batter donut Anyway This isn't a sermon on gluttony, but you know what food it does give a great illustration of how something is Like this instantaneous pleasure, but then that pleasure is gone Right think about eating a Reese's Cup probably one of the best things that was ever made when it comes to candy bars, right? If you want to call it a candy bar, I don't really care what you call it But Reese's Cups are like the best thing ever And you eat that thing and it tastes amazing But as soon as you eat it It's gone And all you have is fat left over Like you're just like oh now now I feel it It's like I can actually feel myself getting fatter when I eat it, but it tastes so good But that's kind of like sin right is the idea that in the moment. It's pleasurable in the moment It's great. I mean or else no one would do it But in the end it only leads to things that aren't good. It only leads to corruption and So as Christians you have to make the choice. Hey, am I gonna suffer affliction? With people God am I gonna live godly? Knowing that there's a great reward because no so it says in verse 26 a steaming the reproach of Christ Greater riches than the treasures in Egypt where he had respect unto the recompense of the reward So it's not like he's just like I you know, like like Moses is a masochist where he's just like I like getting hurt I like being beat up That's not what we are as Christians. We're not looking at this like I like pain Okay. No, we like what comes after that We like what we earn after that pain, right? It's kind of like when you go to the gym you work out it hurts, you know It it's painful and all that but you know why we do it because we get stronger in the end Because there's a there's an end result to that pain, right and So and through that pain you may rejoice because you know what that's gonna bring So the same thing goes with the Christian life and the idea that we Choose the suffer affliction because we know that there's a great recompense a reward for that go to second Corinthians chapter 4 second Corinthians chapter 4 Second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 17 the harder thing and again, it's it's one of those things that this takes a lot of faith to understand that right because Pleasure now is a lot easier to take than pain now, right? pleasure now equals corruption later and pain later, right but affliction now equals reward and pleasure later and The difference is that this one's eternal Okay, the pleasure over here and the reward over here is eternal. This is just temporary. It's for an instant Okay in verse 17. It says for our light affliction and So second Corinthians chapter 4 in verse 17 for our light affliction, which is but for a moment worketh for us a Far more exceeding in the eternal weight of glory While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen But the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal remember that path. I was telling you about That path of affliction and persecutions it that's just temporary but it's what comes after that path It's once you get through that path. What's what's waiting on the other end compared to over here where it looks pleasurable. It looks nice It looks peaceful Easy, right? This one's got mountains in it I didn't add that part but that part, you know, like there's cliffs there's rocks, you know, there's all kinds of stuff over here It's like the smooth path But in the end That's just temporary at the end of that is You know regret loss Right when you have the the judgment seat of Christ, you're just gonna have loss when you go down that path You can turn there if you want but Romans 8 16 says the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God And if children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs, so we're heirs of God nonetheless The joint heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together this gets into that better Resurrection, but the idea is that we're all heirs with with God Because we're children of God But if you want to be joint heirs with Christ, right? That means you have to be like Christ That means you have to try to emulate him and follow him and and and be like he was follow his steps That is something that we try to strive to do and you're gonna have to be glorified You know like him now Going on from that it says in verse 18 for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared With the glory which shall be revealed in us now listen I have not seen nor ear heard Neither hath it entered in the heart of man what the Lord hath prepared for them that love him The idea there is that he's basically stating We can't compare it right. I mean that affliction right there. It cannot be even compared to the glory that's gonna come after that So when you're going through that, you know by faith that you're gonna be rewarded But know this is that you have no idea how you're gonna be rewarded meaning it's going to exceed your expectations Think about what God can give you and it will never come close to what he'll actually give you you know what when Paul talked about the man that he knew that was caught up into the third heaven into paradise It says that he saw things which were not lawful to speak I believe it gets into that idea that what he saw I don't think he could even put into words Obviously some things are put into words I mean we have revelation where he's at the throne of God and he's describing things but some of those things You're just like I can't wrap my mind around it And I think there's certain things that we won't even be able to comprehend until we see it We won't even be able to like and I believe the rewards that God gives us We can't even fathom what that's gonna be like It just know that it's gonna be like that though, right just know that hey whatever I suffer in this life What he gives me is gonna be unimaginably like greater It's not like you're just like well that was even it was an even trade You know, I suffered this persecution that was an even trade for what? No, it's gonna be way more Way more than it can't even be compared it says Now the last thing I want to state to you Let's say you're one of those people that just wants to take it easy. Okay Luke 12 go to Luke chapter 12 Luke chapter 12 I'm gonna just state this and listen I'm preaching at myself on this because part of me just you know, when you think about it, just like man I just want to take it easy. I just want to you know, have an easy life But what I want to get to here is that there is no easy life There is no easy life in the world that we live in we live in a cruel hard world right now That's just facts There's no easy way out The route But there is a better route, right? There's a there's each path you take is hard. The question is is which one is going to be the best route And I submit to you that actually the route that looks hardest is actually easier That's what Jesus says Says a yoke is easy And burden light I believe it Still work so can be hard But that's still a lot easier than the way of transgressors That's a lot easier than the punishment of the chastisement of the Lord. That's easier to being swallowed by a whale Right, there's there's things that yeah, that's gonna be hard, but this is harder And not only is that harder, but the end of that is just woodhand stubble hardship, you know, maybe even death Over here is the promise of a great recompense of reward It's no-brainer. It's a no-brainer which way you should go Take the route where the Lord's with you and He's gonna be with you give you peace give you rest during that time you can rejoice because you know what's coming what you're gonna be getting afterwards and Luke chapter 12 verse 16 it says and he spake a parable unto them saying the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully and He thought within himself saying what shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits and he said this will I do I will pull down my bones and build greater and There will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. So basically he basically got this abundance of You know harvest he got he's basically saying like I don't even need to work anymore Right. It's just kind of like I just need somewhere to put all this stuff And it says in verse 19 and I will say to my soul soul Thou has much goods laid up for many years Take thine ease eat drink and be merry now a lot of us. Listen. How does that that sounds great, doesn't it? Mean if we're all honest with each other, right You know I just have like, you know a barn full of goods and I can just like sit back eat drink and be married But what you have to understand is that you know what the Bible says give me neither poverty nor riches Because if I have poverty then I'll steal and I'll talks about taking the name Lord and vain But if I have riches then I'll forget the name of the Lord I got right the idea there is that in prosperity You know what you do? You don't end up leaning on the Lord. You don't depend on the Lord So actually what you don't want is this abundance of riches to where you can just take sit back and take your ease We all need a little bit of hardship to keep us dependent on God and Go to keep reading there because notice in this story though It goes even further than that because it says right here But God said unto him thou fool this night thy soul shall be required to thee then who shall those things be Which thou hast provided so he's basically like he got all that prepared. He's ready to take his ease and then he dies Because what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time that vanishes away Go to now you that say we will go into such a city and continue their year and buy and sell and get game For what is your life? I mean the idea is that you should say if the Lord will we shall do this or that But the idea there is that you don't know if you have tomorrow So to think that like you're gonna build up and then just take your ease Well, how long and will the Lord let that happen? Ecclesiastes says this in verse and Ecclesiastes 6 1 it says there is an evil which I have seen unto the Son and it is common among men common among men a Man to whom God had given riches wealth and honor so that he wanted nothing for his soul of all that he desires sound familiar Yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof but a stranger eateth it This is vanity and it is all and is an evil disease. I mean The thing that probably is stark that should stand out is that this is common And you know what it's saying here is that it it's not bad to have riches It's bad to have riches and not be rich toward God The trade Being rich in this world For being rich toward God. I mean like I said God can give you riches but if you're rich toward God at the same time praise the Lord and You know the Bible talks about Lay not up treasures in heaven I mean, I'm sorry not treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt but lay up treasures in heaven Where moth and rust doth not corrupt and it says where your treasure is there where your heart be also So what you have to understand is that there is no easy route You know, they're like that's depressing Well, I think that helps with the choice, doesn't it? If you say if I said to you there's a hard route Which is the Christian route and then there's the easy route, which is living for the world Which way you gonna choose? Or your flesh is all we're gonna choose the easy route. Your flesh is unstable as water. It's like water It's gonna take the path of least resistance But if you realize this that way is hard too Actually that way I believe is harder It looks easy, but it's actually harder. It's harder on your body. It's harder on your mind It's harder because the Lord's not with you in that and The Lord will actually be against you not only is he not with you, but he's against you Because the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his face is against them that do evil Listen Christian that applies to you physically speaking if you go out and just live a sinful life Like I said your soul and your spirit have eternal life and you're saved. Nothing can change that like physically speaking they that shall you know, it talks about So speaking and so do is they that shall be judged by the law of liberty in this life Our body is still under the law Our soul and our spirits not under the law. It's under grace. It's been saved. It's been purified, but your body still has Has that sin and it's still under the law So there is no easy way out Salvation there is an easy way out believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but in this life as far as physically speaking. There's no easy way out But there is a better way out Okay, meaning this is that I believe Wholeheartedly living for the Lord. I've had an easier life An easier life we were out soul winning Nazi long ago My brother Joseph and I and it was a horrible day. It's like rainy cold You know all this stuff, but this one one woman we were giving the gospel to She said that like I look like I was in my 20s, which you know what people may be just trying to blow smoke Who knows, you know? But she also thought that he looked younger than me. So, you know brother Joseph was with me So she may not have been all there No, but the thing is is that one thing that she said though She says I she's like I think that that is it I forget exactly how she said it, but she said I think that's what clean living will give you. I Think there is a lot of truth to that Listen, I don't drink. I don't smoke, you know, I'm not like not up here be like look at me You know, I don't drink I don't listen, but I don't I don't do any drugs You know, I work out I go to the gym. Like I try to take care of my body the best I can there is a testament to clean living and Not living in sin. Like I'm not an adulterer. I'm not committing fornication. I'm not you know Stealing and like doing all these different things, you know, I mean like I'm not doing these things to where Like I believe though Have I had persecutions have I had trials and tribulations? Yeah, sure I mean as a pastor that preaches the Bible you're gonna have that type of stuff right going out So winning all of you are gonna deal with persecutions and everything, right? You're gonna have adversaries, but I believe that my life has been a lot easier than if I just would have lived for the world. I Believe my body would be in a worse state. I'd be mentally in a worse state. I Mean who knows if I'd even be here? Who knows what sin can lead you to? And it's just a reminder that hey, there's no easy way out. So pick the right way Right. The right way is hard. So is the wrong way It looks easy And it may be downhill You know, it's kind of like the upward battle, you know pressing it toward the mark for the prize of the high calling God and Christ Jesus yet going uphill is harder But there's a prize waiting for you Going down is easy But you also end up down at the rock bottom in life so Choose the right path. They're both hard. They're both they're both gonna be a hard a hard life either way you go about it But in different ways, so let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father we thank you for today. Thank you for your word Thank you for these passages and Lord help us to live for you. Help us to continue in the faith and to endure Tribulations and trials and persecutions throughout our lives for you Lord and would help us to not be suffering Troubles or anything like that for our sins or anything like that Lord help it to be because it's for your cause and Lord I pray you would forgive us of any sins that we have committed against you Lord, we don't want to have chastisement But Lord we know that you love us and you want us to get it get us back on the right track in some cases But Lord just pray to be with us throughout the rest of the day. I pray to be able to go out soul-winning Praise you to lead us the people that are wanting to get saved and Lord We just pray that everything that we do would be glorifying to you in Jesus Christ name man Brother Dave will come sing one more song and they'll be dismissed All right, take your song books and turn to song 159 Song 159 in your song books will sing blessed be the name if you would stand we'll sing song 159 All praise to him who reigns above and majesty supreme Who gave his son for man to die that he might man redeem Blessed be the name blessed be the name blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be the name blessed be the name blessed be the name of the Lord His name above all names shall stand exalted more and more At God the father's own right hand where angel hosts adore Blessed be the name blessed be the name blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be the name blessed be the name blessed be the name of the Lord Re-teamers Savior friend of man once ruined by the fall Thou hast devised salvation's plan for thou hast died for all Blessed be the name blessed be the name blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be the name blessed be the name