0:03 Good morning. Can we pray again together? Will you pray with me, family? Heavenly Father, I come to you aresh. We come to you aresh today, asking for more of your Holy Spirit, more of your word. We're not living off of 0:22 yesterday's word. Lord, you have something that you want to speak to us. something in your word that was written down by men inspired by the Holy Spirit, inspired by you thousands of years ago, but is alive today, more alive than any 0:42 we see around us that seems alive. This old book is more fresh than the most recent book that's been written in the world. We believe it, Lord. And there's life in this book. fresh mana in this book that you want to 1:00 feed us with today. We ask that you we will have hearts to receive it. I pray Lord that we will have faith to believe that your word is living. It's active. It's powerful and sharp 1:17 and that your word will accomplish that for which you speak it. your written word in the in the Bible and the word you speak to our hearts this morning. Thank you, Lord. I lean on you completely as a branch in the vine, 1:33 asking you to sustain me. We lean on you as branches in the vine that we might have ears to hear what the spirit is saying. It's a completely different thing to hear what the spirit is saying compared to what some man is saying or what our 1:50 own minds are saying. So give us that spiritual ear to hear. And Lord, may we have hearts that we may we not just be listeners and hearers but doers of your word. We know the test is coming later today, tomorrow, the rest of this week, 2:09 in the weeks to come, the months to come, the years to come. If you give us time on this earth, that's when it will really matter. I pray Lord that for every one of us it won't be that we heard but that we obeyed. Make it so. 2:24 Pour out your spirit aresh on us Lord and every one of us fill our hearts. May each of one of us experience an immersion in your Holy Spirit even now that this time will be of eternal value. It won't just be sitting here and going 2:39 away with another message or another experience but an encounter with you the living God. Thank you, Father. I believe you will do that in Jesus name. Amen. Like us to please turn to Malachi chapter 1. Malachi is the last book of the Old 3:00 Testament. We're thinking this week and about this theme. Only God's work done God's way will remain. And there's people in the world who are 3:18 not doing God's work at all. And it's a good thing if you're involved in doing God's work. And I don't mean church ministry, just God's work. Raising your children, that's God's work. Going to work and providing for your family, that's God's work. 3:37 Um studying in school so that one day you can be provide for your own family, that's God's work. if you have faith, if you're seeking God's kingdom first. But God's work done God's way is the only thing that will remain. So it's not 3:54 enough just to say I'm doing God's work. I'm raising my family. I'm I'm being a good husband, a good wife. I'm coming I'm [snorts] committed to the church. God's work done God's way will remain. And we saw in Romans 11 thinking about in 1 Corinthians 3 first 4:13 of all that we face the choice in doing God's work to do it God's way between gold, silver and precious stones or wood, hay and straw. And only that which is gold, silver and precious stones will 4:31 remain. And that as we saw in Romans 11, the last verse there is that the work that will remain is the work that God initiates. Think about every day even today I came here Lord I don't want to come here because I was told yesterday that you 4:50 need to be here. Please be here by 10:15. Sure that's we come on time but I want to come here because you brought me here. Yes, I made plans for it, but I want this today to be a day that you do 5:07 something, you initiate something. I don't want to just wake up and be like, "Okay, go on with my day." And dear f friends and family, I I hope that every day of your life will be like that. You wake up in the morning and 5:21 say, "Lord, you initiate this day." We sing in that chorus, this is the day that the Lord has made. Not just the day like the sun and the earth going around it, the earth rotating on its axis. No, but this day, Lord, let it be something you have made. 5:40 And now I'm just going to walk in it. Ephesians 2 says, maybe we can look at that verse. I'll come back to Malachi 1. Ephesians chapter 2, we read in verse 6:02 10. We are his workmanship. We are his creation. We are his work. Your life today, it's God's work. It's not your work. It's God's work. We are his workmanship. And that word workmanship 6:21 not only means his work, but his way of doing it. This is again the the theme what we're thinking about. We are God's work done God's way. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which I'm going to do. 6:40 No. Now maybe before you came to Christ, you did bad works, sinful works. Okay, we're past that now. But now I'm doing good works. And you can say, Lord, I'm doing good works. I'm not doing all those evil things anymore. I'm doing good things. 6:56 He says, "No, that's not enough. For good works which God prepared, his works." You see the difference between evil works, my works, and God's works. That's it. God's work done God's way. He's doing 7:15 it, not me. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. Okay, that's good. But those are good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would just walk in them. I hope you'll meditate on that verse and 7:32 ask the Lord to bring that alive to you. And every day say, "Lord, I'm just here created in Christ Jesus for good works which you have created." Today, dear family, God has created good works for you. He did the creation and you just 7:49 walk in them. Now, if you come up with your own good works and say, "I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that. I'm going to be a better husband. I'm going to I'm going to bite my tongue and all that." And he says, "No, that wasn't the works I 8:00 planned. We are his workmanship. I'm just created for good works which God has created for me to simply walk in them." Let's go back to Malachi chapter 1. [snorts] from God, through God. And let's think a little bit about what does it mean to 8:19 live to God where everything we do. Everything about our life is for him, for God's interests and God's glory. That's what it means to be to God. In Malachi 1, you know, Malachi is in the last book of the Old Testament. He's a 8:36 prophet, the last prophet of the Old Testament until John the Baptist comes to prepare the way for Christ. And here in the last message as it were see Malachi just briefly. So we know a little bit about the condition of Israel 8:53 at that time before that the prophets drew people away from idol worship. Beal like Elijah says if God is God serve him don't serve Baal. um Isaiah, Jeremiah, you see, you read all those prophets all the way 9:11 um they were preaching. If you get until Hagi and Zachchariah, all the prophets before that were speaking to Israel before they went into captivity. And one of the characteristics, the consistent characteristic of Israel after David 9:31 from Solomon until the captivity in Babylon, one one thing that was consistently the case in Israel was idol worship. Solomon brought it in and then until the last king Zedekiah, there was idol worship. They didn't serve God 9:47 wholeheartedly. Yeah, sometimes they worshiped God. Most almost almost all the kings did, but they also worshiped idols. But then they went into captivity and they s they were there for 70 years in Babylon and then God brought them back. 10:01 Now after that, you don't really see idol worship anymore. In fact, now the Jews, they don't they don't worship idols. They worship Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, the way they understand it. So you don't see idol 10:15 worship anymore. But yet Malachi and so this is this is the prophet preaching to Israel saying okay I see that you've given up idol worship but I still have a problem and look at what he says here 10:32 um you're not going to the you're not standing in front of your idol Bal and Ashare and Molech and all the other idols but you're worshiping Jehovah but he's saying listen all verse 10 Malachi 1:10 Oh, that there were one among you 10:49 who would shut the gates so that you might not uselessly kindle fire on my altar. I am not pleased with you, says the Lord of Hosts, nor will I accept an offering from you. So now, it's not idol worship anymore. It's not evil works. It's useless works. 11:09 You see, God is saying, you're kindling fire on my altar, but it's useless. This is God's work done my way. It's not evil, but it's useless. It's going to get burned up anyway. And that's what we're thinking about. If I come up with 11:25 some good idea, I'm going to do this for God. He says, "I know you're burning it on my altar. You're not doing it evil works anymore. You're doing good works, but it's a useless work." He says, "I wish you hadn't even opened 11:37 the door to the church building. Should have stayed home." You think that God is saying that to some church today? says, "Man, I know you guys sacrificed and came and I'm not talking about here, but could be some church." He says, "I 11:52 know you guys chose to come here, but honestly, you might as well have stayed home and watched the football game. I wish you would just not even open the door. Why? Because the fire that you're offering on my altar is a useless one." 12:07 So, I say, "Lord, okay, how do I offer your an alt an offering that is pleasing to He says in verse 11, here's what I want. Here's what it means to have a meaningful, useful fire. Before that, again, I hope you see the three categories. Evil works, offering 12:25 fire to Baal and all the idols, sinful life. Okay, I'm not living that sinful life anymore. But now I'm I'm I'm in the altar. I'm offering on God's altar to God, to Jesus, reading the Bible. I'm singing Christian songs. But he says, 12:41 "That's useless." I know you stood there and raised your hands and closed your eyes and all that, but it was a useless fire. I wish you hadn't even come here and sung that song. I want meaningful work that will remain. God's 12:56 work done God's way. There's evil works. God's work done my way. God's work done God's way. And that's the only thing that will remain. You see that even here in Malachi. And he says, "Here's what it means to do God's work God's way. From 13:10 the rising of the sun even to its setting, my name will be great among the nations. And in every place incense is going to be offered to my name, and a grain offering that is pure for my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. This is 13:27 what it means to do God's work, God's way, where it's that his name will be great, God's interest, and for his glory. That's what we want to think about. I want to mention just a couple of things related to what it means to 13:41 serve God out of his interests and for his name and for his glory. And it might not be what you think. One of the tests that I've discovered to see whether I really care about God's name and God's interest is that I don't get offended. 14:01 I remember hearing from the child from the time I was a little child. I can still have the memory of as a little boy growing up in CFC in Bangalore hearing my dad say that getting offended is the kindergarten lesson in the church. 14:18 At that time I was like uh okay I I don't know but years later now I see that he was absolutely right. getting offended. When you get offended about something with somebody or some other brother didn't do this or did that, some sister did this or didn't do 14:35 that, the elders did this, didn't do that. When you get offended, it means that you haven't even you maybe you think you're sitting in sixth grade, but you're not even passed kindergarten. How did you end up in sixth grade when you 14:46 haven't even finished kindergarten? To qualify for first grade in the Christian life, that means you finished kindergarten. I don't know what they learn in kindergarten these days. I mean now nowadays it's amazing. They learn so 15:00 much in even kindergarten. They come out smarter than I did maybe in third grade even. But in the Christian life, if you want to get from kindergarten to first grade, you must pass this test of not getting offended. I wonder how many Christians who sat in 15:16 churches for 8 years, 10 years, 15 years, and they still haven't passed kindergarten. They think I'm How old are you? Well, I'm I'm I'm 15. So, what what grade are you in? Yeah, I'm in I'm Everybody else is 15 is in 9th grade or 10th grade, I 15:35 don't know. So, yeah, I'm in ninth grade, too. I've been here 15 years. But you haven't finished kindergarten. Really? This is getting the fire or the X-ray now? I don't want to get to the end of my life, stand before Jesus. And he says, 15:53 you were still sitting in kindergarten spiritually. But Lord, I I I GAVE MY LIFE TO YOU BACK THEN, 20 [clears throat] YEARS AGO. YEAH, but for 20 years, you sat in kindergarten. Why, Lord? Cuz you never overcame not getting offended. 16:09 This is ser really serious, dear family. And it's it's a problem that not just in this church or any other church. I'm not speaking to any particular church group. I see this consistently in Christianity. And I'm not the one to judge anybody 16:26 about who what grade are you in. I'm not the one that tests that. But I've seen in my own life that we ought to take this matter of getting offended very very seriously. It is a very serious indication of our spiritual condition. 16:43 If I get offended over something that somebody does to me, says to me, how I'm treated, or not treated, it's an indication that I haven't really grown spiritually. Let's turn and and I will show you a few verses here in Luke chapter 4. 17:01 When I look at how Jesus built his church, there are two chapters in the new in the gospels that come to my mind when I think about Jesus building his church. One is Luke chapter 4 and the other is John chapter 6. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus came to his 17:20 hometown. It says in verse 16, Luke 4 verse 16, he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to 17:36 him. Now, in another passage, I think it says he asked for that book. He asked for the book of Isaiah. And he opened the book and found the place where here he he specifically turned to a passage. You know, brother Jesus, what do you 17:51 have to say? Okay, give me Isaiah. and I want to find a specific verse that I'm looking for. He didn't have a Bible at home. So that verse must have been going through his mind when he woke up that morning. He remember hearing as a little 18:06 child this verse. Okay. And the father says, "I want you, they're going to ask you to speak maybe, but I want you that verse is on his heart. Thy word have I hid in my heart." And so Jesus had hidden this verse in his heart. What he 18:19 quotes there from Isaiah 61. And then he they asked him to speak. You can say, "Okay, I've got a word. It's been burning on my heart." What's the word? Jesus. Verse 18, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to 18:31 preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. God is happy with you." 18:47 Oh, what a wonderful sermon, Jesus. I love that. That's what you picked. And he closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, and he began to say, "Today, this scripture has been 19:04 fulfilled in your hearing." Just get a feeling for this meeting. Everybody's so excited. Wow, God is happy with you, brother. Come and be He's so welcomed you. Come and sit on his lap. He loves you so much and all that. And he you you 19:18 are you're poor. He's going to preach the gospel to you. you released to the captives and all of this is true. [snorts] And then in verse 22, all were speaking well of him and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from 19:33 his lips. And they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son? Oh, what an amazing man. He's just a carpenter's son, but what a wonderful message he gave us. I'm so excited about what I heard. God loves me so much." And Jesus could have stopped there. 19:51 We're talking about doing God's work, done God's way. Most preachers doing I mean, did Jesus do God's work up to this point? Of course, he was quoting from the word of God from Isaiah 61. But God's work, done God's way where the 20:06 father says, "Listen, Jesus, there's more I want you to say." And if Jesus had stopped at that point and everybody was praising him, he's like, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, good time point for me to end the sermon. And um sorry, I probably messed with that too 20:23 much. Um but the father says through the Holy Spirit in Jesus, you're not done. The sermon's not over. Okay? And they were saying, this is Joseph's son. And he said to them, listen in verse 23, this is God's work done God's 20:43 way. you see a little pivot. He said, "Listen, I know you guys are praising me. You're like, "What a great sermon, brother, brother Jesus. You've done amazing." And he said, "Listen, no doubt you will quote this proverb to 20:59 me, physician, heal yourself. Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well." They're like, "What? Wait, hold on. Hold on. What are you saying, Jesus? You see how Jesus could have finished his message when they were praising him. 21:15 Everything he said was absolutely true, but the father said there's more. And he goes on to say um it talks about how um truly a prophet is um not welcome in his hometown. verse 24 21:33 um and and the end of it you can read those verses but at the end of it in verse 28 I mean how long does it re take to say verses 23 24 25 26 and 27 maybe about 5 minutes less than that 3 minutes 21:52 those words that Jesus added to the end of his sermon he quoted from Isaiah 61 that sounded good but then he added those 5 minutes at the end that the father told him to say. He could have left it out. Nobody would have known 22:05 that he was supposed to say that, but he left it out. And I think there are many preachers who reach a point where the where the Holy Spirit says I'm now say this. And they're like, "No, if I say that, I know exactly who's going to walk out of here. 22:21 I'm going to offend somebody, probably a rich person or a gifted person who does so much in the church. I I can hold back. Nothing wrong in holding back, right? Well, there is because that's God's work done God's way. And if Jesus had not said though those 22:41 remaining five minutes of words, all the other innocent all the other people including the disciples would have been like, "Oh, that was a great sermon. Thank you, brother. You touched my heart. I'm encouraged." But Jesus would have known. And I 22:58 believe there are preachers who have who have um walked away after a message with a guilty conscience because the Holy Spirit said, "There's more that you need to say." And they said, "No, I can't say that. It'll offend somebody." 23:13 Jesus said it. And after those extra 5 minutes, look at the result. These same people who were praising him said in verse 22, "They were filled with rage. They heard these things and they got up and drove him out of the city and led 23:29 him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built in order to throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went his way. You see what happened? Because Jesus did his father's work the father's 23:44 way. How he said that extra 5 minutes that he knew was going to offend them. I mean, he read the read the scripture, sat down, and he saw them all praising him. And the father said, "I got there's five more minutes I need you to say." And 23:58 that five minutes is all the difference between God's work done our way and God's work done God's way, it's a small compromise. But if you if you know that you you avoid something because of who will get 24:16 offended by it. If you avoid taking a stance in the workplace because you'll be thought of as a weirdo, radical, zealot, and you say, "Well, I'll just I'll skip that." Let's turn to John chapter 6. 24:44 Sometime I encourage you to go back and read those two chapters, the passage in Luke 4 and John chapter 6. If you really dear dear family, dear brothers, sisters, young people and children, if you really want to be a part of the work 24:56 that God is building, the church that he's building, not this name church or that name church, the church that Jesus Christ is building, we must know God's work done God's way. We we can't afford to miss it because it otherwise it'll be 25:11 work that will be burned up at the end of our lives. And it's not enough just to meet as a church and call it CFC or this or that. That that's nothing. Is it God's work done God's way? That's it. Doesn't matter what name you take. 25:27 In John 6, [snorts] we read in verse 22. I'll just pick out a few verses here, but again, I want to encourage you to meditate on this chapter sometime on what it means to do God's work. Build a church the way Jesus built. See, Luke 4, what we read was 25:42 Jesus building his church. I will build my church. How? By adding the extra 5 minutes. That's going to offend somebody and the numbers will shrink and they'll want to kill you and throw me off throw you off the top of the cliff. But he 25:53 says, "But I got to say it." I think Jesus knew exactly how the people would respond with those extra five minutes that he added. But he wasn't going to shrink back. He wasn't here to be popular. He wasn't here to increase his 26:08 numbers. He didn't mind if the church shrunk by half or whatever. He says, "I don't mind, but I've got to do my father's work his way because if I do it my way and the NUMBERS INCREASE, THAT ENTIRE COMM COMMUNITY congregation is 26:23 going to get burned up at the end of time at the judgment seat of Christ. What good is it to avoid offending somebody and getting a larger group and a larger group where everybody loves this church and everybody's telling 26:35 their neighbors, "Come to this church and you think what a great work God is doing, but it's going to be burned up at the judgment seat of Christ. And Jesus just says, "I'd rather have 12 that will make it through." Ended up 26:49 being 11. I'd rather have a small group of people because I'm thinking of what's on the other side of the fire, not what it looks like now. Oh, family, this is the essence of what I'm saying. Don't be deceived by the appearance of things. 27:06 How big is the church? Oh, it's not so big now. Oh, it's bigger now. That doesn't mean anything. Look for what's on the other side of the fire. That's the only thing that matters. John chapter 6 22. The next day, the crowd 27:22 that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus had not entered with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples had gone away. Here was a large crowd. John 6:22. 27:37 And Jesus says to them, "Listen, I know I see you guys." has about 10,000 of you, man. A lot of people here. But he says, "Listen, I know that you verse 26, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were 27:53 filled." And that sounds like a little bit of a rebuke right now. Listen, as we walk through this passage, you're going to see that the message is just going to get stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger. It starts out, oh yeah, here's some 28:10 food. 5,000 people, activities, 5,000 men, plus women and children, nice activities. I bet they had a good time. They ate. They had a great time. But Jesus says, I've got more to say. the next day. And and Jesus starts by telling them, "I 28:26 know you're here just for the food, for the good experience that this church will give you, friends for your for your children and uh nice activities and and good Bible studies and prayer meetings and and conferences and all of that." 28:38 Okay? And but look at their response in verse 28. He says, "Okay, what shall we do so that we may work the works of God?" Sounds good. They're asking, "What shall we do?" And then he answers them, "This is the work of God that you 28:51 believe in him whom he has sent." And so they said to him, "What then do you do for a sign so that we may see and believe? What work do you perform?" Now, they're getting a little bit testy here. Jesus is pushing their buttons and he's 29:05 curious to see, are you going to get offended because the message got a little bit stronger? Now, listen, it's going to get even stronger. This is not, oh, I'm I'm going to be strong for a little while and then I'm just going to kind of pat you on the 29:17 back and let's let's take it easy because I spoke a strong message last week. So this week I'm just going to kind of massage your back. No, no, this is stronger and stronger even after that. This is Jesus way of preaching. 29:31 And then Jesus said to him, it is not uh verse 32, not Moses who's given you bread, etc. And they said verse 34, listen to this, Lord, give us this bread always. They're they're still excited. They're still kind of hungry. 29:47 And then he but he doesn't stop. You know what would you say? Okay, I preached a couple of strong things. He's been like I pushed up the notch a couple times. And their response was, "Yes, Lord. Give us this bread." And Jesus in 30:00 his flesh could have been like, "Yeah, let's leave it at that." I've been pretty strong up to this point. But the father says, "Noah, I want you to build my church, not just gather a bunch of people. So you got to take it 30:12 up another notch. It's going to be another strong message the next week." Okay? So he says, "I am the bread of life." And you can continue reading everything that he says there. And finally, they've had it like this is too 30:26 much. You see verse 34, Lord, give us always this bread, wonderful teaching. Let's have a Bible study around it. Let's share on the Friday meeting about what we heard in the Sunday message. But Jesus says, "I've got more. Come back 30:39 next Sunday. I've got a stronger message for you." Okay? And by the end of it now in verse 41, I mean again, how long does it take to speak verses 35- 40? 3 4 minutes 5 minutes. Jesus could have left it out. Lord, give us this bread. Okay, that's a 30:57 good point to end the sermon there. No, the father says, "No, five more minutes. Jesus, you got to speak these. You speak of one more message, it's taken up the notch. And then verse 41, the Jews are grumbling now. Now there's a little bit 31:13 of this is too much. You pushed it too far. The Jews were grumbling about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down out of heaven." Jesus didn't have to say those extra five minutes, but he did because he was doing his 31:27 father's work the father's way. And the father said, "You've got to say five more minutes of it." If he had skipped it, nobody would have known. The father would have known. The Jews start to grumble. And now they're saying, "Is not this 31:42 Jesus the son of Joseph?" as a um in a in a negative way. Remember in Luke 41, this is Joseph's son, the carpenter. Wow, he's such a great man. Oh, this is Joseph's son. You see how it's twisted now? The same person. He's still 31:57 Joseph's son, but now I'm offended that he's Joseph's son because of what he said. Is this not Joseph's son? Who does he think he is? How dare he speak to us like that? How does he now say, "I've come down out of heaven." And Jesus says, "Don't 32:13 grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day." And he continues to speak maybe another five minutes. He's he's pushing it up a notch. Oh, you you're grumbling now. Oh. 32:27 Oh, I'm sorry. Let's let's let's let me tone down the message since you're grumbling. No, you're grumbling. Okay, I'm going to turn it up a notch some more because I'm only interested in building the church, not making people 32:38 happy and being popular. He's going to turn it up a notch. Verse So, he turns it up a notch between verse 43 and 51. And then in verse 52, now they're starting to argue with one another. Ah, I don't like this message. Ah, used to 32:54 be a good preacher. Now I'm I'm not a big fan of his anymore. Jews began to argue with one another saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" They're arguing about it. And Jesus sees them arguing. He says, "Okay, no." Father says, "You got to 33:07 keep push it up another notch. He he speaks verses 53- 58. Then you get to verse 59 or 60. Many of his disciples when they heard this said, "This is too hard. This is a difficult statement. The 33:26 preaching was too strong. Who can listen to this?" And they started to walk away. When it says many, what do you think many is? If there's a 100 people and you think and you say many of them, is that 10? Is 33:42 that 20? It's at least 50. If many out of a 100 have left, it's at least 51. I would say at least 51, that means at least 50% grumbled and left. Many of his disciples, and these weren't 34:00 just the crowds. This was his disciples who had said, "I want to follow you. I'm going to I like this teaching. I'm going to follow you." And he says, "Many of them heard this and said, nah, the preaching is too strong here. 34:14 I'll find some other preacher who I who I listen to instead. [snorts] And Jesus thinks, "Okay." He watches more than 50% of them leave. He says, "Okay, Lord, that's that's probably it, right?" The father says, "No, you got to 34:29 push it up a notch again." This is how Jesus is building his church. Do you want to be a part of that church or do you want to go somewhere where you'll you they'll tickle your ears and you'll feel good about yourself? Yeah. They'll preach once in a 34:40 while a strong message and you think, "Yeah, the preaching here is pretty strong." But what you don't know is that preacher was supposed to push it up another notch and they didn't. And that made all the difference between 34:51 whether you were building the church that Jesus is building or just some other work that will be burned up. Dear family, I'm I'm not trying to scare you or stir you emotionally, but I'll tell you this. I with all of my heart I don't 35:07 want to be a part of any work that will not remain. I I don't want to have anything to do with it. And I don't care how much it hurts my flesh. I don't care how much it it I I it it it hurts my pride or my reputation or any of that. I 35:19 don't care. I want to make sure I don't care what humiliation I have to go through or or other experience, painful experience, loss, disappointment, or any of that. I just want to make sure that WHEN THE TIME COMES to send my life 35:31 through the fire, it remains. That's all I'm interested in. That my life will not be a waste. That my whole work, life's work will remain on the other side of eternity. I hope that's why you're here. Cuz if if if you want to preserve your 35:48 reputation or you want to have some ministry or listen to some good teaching, there are plenty of churches in the world that will give you that. And Jesus is not going to be offended if you walk away from his church like he 36:01 wasn't here. >> [snorts] >> So when the when Jesus was conscious that his disciples when his CONSCIOUS THAT HIS DISCIPLES GRUMBLED, he says I'm going to push it up yet another notch. Verse 62 61 through does he says does 36:18 this cause you to stumble? What what what if if this caused you to stumble? It's only going to get worse disciples. And he continues speaking and then you get to verse 66. As a result the you know the already many have withdrawn. Now that many many 36:37 of that few also withdrew. As a result of this many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. This is Jesus building his church. God's work done God's way. But it will remain. And then there's 12 left. It went from about 36:57 10,000 to 12. I've never seen church growth like this. This is church growth. God's worked on God's way. The church grew from 10,000 to 12. This is church growth. And then he says to the 12, and Jesus says, "Oh, at least the 12, right? 37:13 That's what I would have said, I think." But the father says, "No, you got to test the 12 as well." So he turns to the fellow and says, "Hey, 9,988 have left, church. 9,988 have left. There's 12 of 37:32 you have have left. Now there's only 12 of you. Do you guys also want to leave?" You see, he's he's saying you can leave, too. Not a will you guys stick with me. Everybody else is gone. At least I can count on you guys, right? He says, "No." Verse 37:47 67. Do you do you want to go away also? Do you? And then Simon Peter says, "Lord, what do you mean go? I don't care if everybody else goes." And Peter meant it. Now, I know he was a little bit of an arrogant type and the these 12 38:00 weren't perfect people. They were flawed. But their heart was right and they said, "Lord, I don't care what you say to me. I'm not going to get offended." You know how he said if getting offended is the kindergarten lesson in the Christian life. and all 38:14 these other people who thought they were such good disciples and all that, they got offended. And the 12, Jesus said, "You can leave too if you want. I don't mind. You're not going to hurt my feelings because you left." Jesus was committed to his 38:29 father doing the father's work, the father's way. And if he was the only one standing, which he was in the garden of Gethsemane, finally last man standing. All deserted him. One of these 12 betrayed him with a kiss and he said, 38:44 'Lord, it's just me. Father is just me, but you have not left me alone. Jesus said, I am not alone because my father is with me. That's that was enough for Jesus. Dear family, do you have that mindset that if you it's just you and 38:58 your father left alone, everybody abandons you? You know, often when people leave churches or people who are walking with us walk away, it's it's painful and it's sad. Yes. Okay. But deep down once you get to the root of it 39:11 and you say, "Father, I'm willing if it's just you and I," there's a saying, a phrase that Awtoa used. He says, "The saint must walk alone." I think about that phrase alone often, a wonderful hymn we sing. Jesus, I my CROSS HAVE TAKEN ALL to leave and follow 39:31 thee. I'm content, Lord, if it's just you and I walking. Now, it's not in a pride proud proud way. It's not prideful. and say, "Well, Lord, it's just you and I. Everybody else's compromises." Not like that. But if in my stand for the truth, 39:43 in my stand for doing God's work, God's way, if I'm the only one left, Lord, I have already left everything. All to leave and follow you. I'm not looking for friends here. And oh, he did so so much good to me. He was kind to me. He did this for me. He 39:58 did that to me. We had good memories together. No. All to leave and follow thee. Jesus, I my cross have taken. We must be willing to walk alone if we are to have true fellowship in the church. Otherwise, what we have is a 40:12 club. If my fellowship with Jesus Christ is somehow dependent on you, that you also come with me. That's not true disciplehip. So he says, you also don't want to leave, do you? And Jesus said, Lord, 40:30 Peter says, verse 68, Lord, what do you mean leave you? I don't have anywhere to go. See, Jesus had called Peter years before that or and said, "Peter, leave your nets and follow me." To Peter and Andrew. Then he walked down 40:46 the road and saw James and John. Leave your nets and follow you. Follow me. And after these years of following Jesus, now he says something that offends them. And then he says, "Okay." Jesus offers them the opportunity to leave him. And 41:04 then Peter says,"Lord, when you asked me to forsake everything and follow you, I actually did it. I literally LEFT MY WHOLE LIFE BEHIND. SO WHAT DO YOU MEAN leave you? Where can I go, Lord? I put all my eggs in your basket. If you take 41:20 the basket away, I don't have anywhere else to go." Is that the way you came to Jesus? That you don't have anything else to fall back on because you committed your life fully to him? This is what Peter was saying. Lord, when when I left 41:32 my nets, what do you mean I go to you? You you could say anything to me, Lord, because there's nothing there that I I could go back to. This is true disciplehip. The problem we have in Christendom today is that people are not 41:44 really being offered disciplehip. They're being offered, hey, come to Jesus, you can go to heaven. You never hear the Bible says Jesus wants to take you to heaven. The one call that Jesus gives us is forsake everything and follow me. And if we 41:58 actually did that then I tell you there would be nobody getting offended because like what do you mean get offended Lord? I have committed my life FULLY TO YOU. YOU COULD SAY WHATEVER. THERE'S NOTHING THERE THAT I COULD GO 42:11 BACK TO. If you have something that you can go back to it means you haven't forsaken everything. You have the words of eternal life. Lord where can I go? We have believed and come to know that you are the holy one of God. And Jesus 42:29 says, "Okay, that's good. You 12 are going to stick here." And actually, it's only 11 of you. This is how Jesus builds his church. Turn to me with me, please, to Matthew chapter 16. Peter passed this test. But you know Jesus continued to test his disciples 42:47 to see why was Jesus always somewhat you know if you read the gospels plainly and literally you see that Jesus almost sometimes seems antagonizing. Antagonizing means like he's trying to get you worked up, get you angry at him. 43:04 Is that the Jesus you read in the Gospels? That's the Jesus I believe in. He's he's it's it's almost like he's pushing my buttons with the Pharisees and with the crowd and even with his disciples. It's like poking like come on 43:17 Jesus, leave me alone. No, I'm not going to leave you alone because there's a fire coming. And where I'm poking is that area that's not going to make it through the fire. And I love you so much that I want to make sure that everything 43:30 that you invest in makes it through the fire. So that area that I'm poking in, you have to get rid of it. And most people will just say, "Nah, don't leave me alone. I'll go somewhere else where somebody won't poke me there." Think about it, family. If you 43:44 went to a doctor and he's constantly telling you, "Man, there's a problem in your intestines or there's a problem in your kidney." And you come back the next week says, he says, "Stosh, there's a problem in your kidney." 43:57 Next week, there's a problem in your kidney. Hey, you told me that last week. Why are you telling me again? Because there's a problem in your kidney. Okay. One month later says, "Okay, let me just not go to that doctor. Go to 44:09 another doctor." The doctor says, "Yeah, everything's good, man. You look good. You're looking good fit today, man. That shirt looks good on you. Nice to see you again. This is what's going on in many churches. Here's pay your pay your bill 44:21 on the way out. I'll make you feel good." After a while, you're like, "Man, but something doesn't feel right." You go back to the first doctor. Hey, doctor. Says there's a problem in your kidney. You told me that a month ago. 44:32 Yep. there's still a problem in your kidney. I remember it was I think it was DL Moody um he used he used to constantly preach you must be born again and then next next message you must be born again. Finally somebody came to him and said 44:46 hey why do you keep preaching on you must be born again he said because you must be born again that's why I'm PREACHING ON IT. WHY IS IT THAT it seems like the Holy Spirit is still poking in a particular area in your life and 44:57 you're like hey I thought you preached on that a month ago. Why are you still preaching on that? because that's the area that will not make it through the fire. And thank God that there are prophets in this world in in in the church today who 45:10 are still willing to harp on the same issue until it's addressed and taken care of. This is how Jesus is building his church. And there are those who Jesus knows will get offended. Man, you it hurts. You've been poking on the same area for a year 45:25 now. He says, I'm going to keep poking until it's addressed. I love you too much. There are plenty of other prophets that will give you what you want to hear and tickle your ear. You leave the the the the the Sunday meeting feeling good 45:39 about yourself. Yeah. Once in a while you feel like, "Yeah, I poked a little bit." I'm talking about the poking that keeps going until the cancer is removed. That's true love. See, the doctor doesn't say, "Let me poke at it for a 45:52 while just so you feel like I'm a good doctor, but then after a while, I'm just going to tone it down and let it go." A true doctor won't let it go until it's removed. Right? We know that in the physical realm, in the spiritual realm, 46:05 unfortunately, people really care more about their bodies than their souls. That's the sad reality. Matthew 16, the same Jes Peter who Jesus said, "Are you going to leave two?" Now, at some point, you know, Peter and then 46:23 he gets revelation, you are the Christ. Matthew 16:17, I'm going to build a church using your confession, Peter. Peter is now feeling really good about himself. And then Jesus said, listen, this is how I'm going to build my church. It's going 46:36 to be suffering. Verse 21, Jesus began to show his disciples that the way he is going, which he invited them to follow, this is how he's building his church, God's work done, God's way. He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and 46:54 chief priests and scribes and be killed and he raised up on the third day. And Peter's thinking, hold on. You asked me to follow you. I have left everything, all my nets. I have nothing else to go back to. I told you some time ago, Lord, 47:08 where else can I go? But you're telling me now that this is a a life of suffering and death and loss and pain and and a difficult life here on this earth. And then Peter says, "Hold on, hold on, hold on. Lord, you know I'm the 47:24 one that got revelation from the father, right? You just told me that. I've got a word for you, Jesus. Your preaching is a little strong. What What is this? Uh Lord, don't. That's too strong. Lord, that's not I can't. You missed it. Forbid it, Lord. 47:41 This shall never happen to you. It sounds good. What Peter is saying. And here's Jesus is facing a test. This is Peter, my favorite disciple, the one who I always take with me wherever I go. He's my close disciple. And I could just 47:59 kind of let it be. Just say, "Peter, privately, I could tell Peter, hey, listen, man. You need to just trust me." But what does Jesus do publicly? He says, "Get behind me, Satan." To his closest disciple, "You are a stumbling block to me." Why? 48:19 Because you're not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's. Is this a Jesus you're following who will tell his closest friend, "Get behind me, Satan." Because you're seeking your own interests, not God's. And Jesus said to his disciples, if you 48:38 want to follow me, listen, I told you from the very very beginning, you must deny yourself. We use that phrase, deny yourself loosely. What does it mean? I tell you, if you really denied yourself, you would never get offended because the person 48:51 who gets offended is one who is still alive. If I had been denied, denied myself means everything about me I have said no to and I've taken up my cross. Again, it's a phrase we don't use in 2026. It means I buried him in the 49:08 grave. He's dead. He's been put on the electric chair and he's he's dead. Now, what do you mean get offended? Can a dead man get offended? The reason somebody got offended is because they didn't take up their cross. They didn't 49:22 deny themselves. They're still very much alive. That's why they got offended. But he said the calling all along was deny yourself. take up your cross, follow me. Such people are never get offended. You can't offend a dead man. 49:39 Now, what's what's bad? That's a pretty serious word that Jesus told Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." And I'm sure Peter was taken back. I was like, "Wow." We're not told what all was going through Peter's mind, but we know he passed the test because 49:57 he continued. You know what's worse than Jesus saying, "Get behind me, Satan." Is there possible that something could be worse than that? If Jesus himself came and looking at me said, "Get behind me, Satan." Is it possible that there's 50:10 something worse than that? I guess there is. I want to tell you that getting offended cuz Peter after Jesus looked at him and said, "Get behind me, Satan." Didn't get offended. He wrote, I mean, he was the leader of the apostles. He was there on the day of 50:25 PENTECOST AND HE PREACHED about this Jesus. this Jesus of Nazareth whom you crucified. He's the one that rebuked me and corrected me and um spoke strongly to me. And at one time he even looked at me and said, "GET BEHIND ME, SATAN. THIS 50:39 JESUS OF NAZARETH IS THE one who is our savior." He didn't get offended. Now you contrast that with Judas. Let's turn to Matthew 26. What's worse than Jesus 51:01 looking at you and saying, "Get behind me, Satan." Is getting offended. That's why I said it's the kindergarten lesson. Matthew 26, read in verse 8. Uh you know the story. There was a woman who sinful woman who came and poured out 51:21 an alabaster vial of costly perfume on his head and on his feet. And the disciples and especially Judas you read in John's version of this story were indignant when they saw this and said why this waste for this perfume 51:36 might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor. Sounds very religious, right? Hey, why did you waste all this? Take that money and give it to the poor. And look at what Jesus says to Judas. Listen, why do you bother 51:51 the woman? For she has done a good deed to me. You always have the poor with you. You do not always have me. For when she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in 52:05 the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her. How would you compare that with get behind me, Satan? Which do you think is stronger? Hey, leave her alone. She's done a good deed. Get behind me, Satan. 52:25 Who's the one that didn't got offended? Peter. Who's the one who got offended? Verse 14. Then Judas's Scariot said, "I've had enough of this guy who corrects me and rebukes me." He went to the chief priest and said, "What are you willing 52:42 to give me to betray you? Betray Jesus, this man to you. This man who I followed and gave everything for. Now I'm going to turn against him. I'm going to betray him. What? What? What? How can I help you bet? How can I help you capture 52:56 him?" How quickly it's turned. Now, it didn't happen in a moment. It was building over time. And uh Judas was secretly living a sinful life in secret. The rest of the 11 disciples didn't see it. He was stealing from the money bag. Secret sin. 53:15 Eventually, he he he went to the chief priest and he said they weighed out 30 pieces of silver. And from then on, he began looking for an good opportunity to betray Jesus. What did he do? He came back. He went, "Hey," he tells the 11 53:30 and Jesus, "Hey, listen. I've got something to do. I'll be right back. I'll be gone for a couple hours." What's he doing? He's betraying Jesus. Hey guys, I'll be gone for a couple hours. I'll see you guys later this evening. He goes and talks to the chief 53:42 priest. Gets his 30 pieces of silver, hides it somewhere, and he comes back and acts like everything's okay. In his heart, the betrayal's already begun. They've been it been building up for years. He got offended. Jesus is too strong. He's 53:56 too too harsh. And he's not kind. He's not compassionate enough. He he rebuked me and he spoke like this and spoke like that. And look, we started out once upon a time. We had 10,000 people. Look, there's only 12 of us left. 54:10 Judas betrays Jesus. But because he got offended, you look at what the end of his life is. Do you think Peter is thankful that he didn't get offended? Oh, absolutely. Today, he's in the presence of Jesus somewhere up there in heaven and every 54:26 every part of him is like, "Oh, I could have easily gotten offended. I'm so glad I didn't." And what do you think Judas is thinking today, man? that it started with a little offense. I wonder if Judas in in hell is thinking 54:40 back right now and thinking when where did it begin. I I was following Jesus. I gave up everything to follow him as did Peter. And he's thinking about the other 11 who are in the presence of Jesus today in heaven. And there is J Judas 54:54 rotting and burning in hell. And he's thinking where did where did it go wrong? And I wonder, I'm trying to imagine here Judas thinking, man, it started that one moment when I got offended and then I allowed that offense 55:06 to remain and I got a little bit more offended and a little bit more offended and a little bit more offended and it just got worse and worse and I didn't deal with it. And he maybe he thinks back of how the Holy Spirit tried to 55:16 convict him and says, "Sin is crouching at the door, Judas. Don't deal with it. Don't don't let it go on like he did for Cain." But Cain rejected it. Judas rejected it. And Jesus continued to say hard things and he got even more offended and more 55:31 offended and more offended and you know how he ended up. So when we seek God's interest this is what it means to live to God from God through God and to God. That means you say Lord I it's not about me and my reputation 55:47 and my name or anything like that. I don't care if I was embarrassed in front of everybody. WHY? BECAUSE IT'S YOUR NAME THAT I CARE ABOUT. WHAT I'M INVESTED IN IS FOR YOU AND YOU ALONE. I have nothing to do with it. Yeah, let 55:59 Santos be forgotten about or talk evil about. I don't care, Lord. HOW DO THEY TREAT YOUR NAME? That's what I care about. There's also um another part of this is the willingness to face hardship. How do we live our lives for God's glory? Let's 56:16 turn to Psalm 34. When we say that we want to live our lives to God, that means that deep down our ambition is that God will get the glory out of our lives. And that means that we're willing to go through hardship. 56:34 Psalm 34 we read in verse 19. What is the characteristic? If somebody children, if you're looking in your Bible with me, what is how will you know that somebody is a righteous person according to this verse? Think about it. 56:51 Psalm 34:1 19. How will you know that somebody is a righteous person? Now, if we weren't looking at this verse, if I asked you that question out of context, you'll say, "Oh, righteous person." Well, he probably has a good lives a 57:07 good life. He's pure. Um, he speaks kindly to others. He knows God's word. He's righteous in money matters. Um, he he's a blessing. He's an encouragement to others. Okay, that may be true. But according to this verse, one of the 57:24 characteristics, one of the identifying marks of the righteous is that they have many afflictions. Did you know that? And so I I like to think of it like this. Some somebody comes to me and says, "Hey, Santosh, how how do you how 57:41 you say you're a righteous person, right?" No, I don't say that, but it seems like you're a righteous person. What's the real test that you're a righteous person? He says, "I go through many afflictions, but it doesn't end there. But the Lord 57:53 delivers him out of them all." Remember this, dear brothers, sisters, young people, children. The characteristic of the righteous is that they go through many afflictions, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. In fact, Paul said the same thing. If 58:09 you turn with me to second Timothy chapter 3, 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 10. He's writing to Timothy. This 58:30 is these are the last recorded words of Paul. This is the as far as we know, second Timothy was the last epistle that he wrote. And he's about to end it. Chapter 4 is the last chapter. And as he's getting this and he's labored with 58:44 Timothy for years, invested in him. He says, "Timothy, I'm handing over the baton to you now. It's your turn. The things you have heard from me entrust to faithful men who can entrust it to others. Timothy, continue the work. 58:58 Look at the way he appeals to him. Oh, Timothy, don't forget the the calling you have and all of that written in these two books, first and second Timothy. And then he says, "Listen, Timothy, you followed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my 59:14 patience, my love, my perseverance, my persecutions and sufferings such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra where perse what persecutions I endured." Here's Paul reminding Timothy saying, "Listen, you 59:32 followed my teaching. You followed my conduct, BUT YOU ALSO FOLLOWED MY PERS THE persecution and THE AFFLICTION AND WHAT PERSECUTIONS I endured. But he says the same thing out of them all the Lord rescued me. I do you have such a passion dear family 59:49 for God for everything to be to God that you say Lord ultimately it doesn't matter. I'm not asking for a comfortable life. I'm not asking for you to to protect me from having any any difficulties or any sickness. Most Christians pray, Lord, help me not to 1:00:04 have any sickness. Help me not to have any uh job problems. Help my children all to be fine. That's not the prayer of the righteous. The prayer of the righteous is Lord, let your name be glorified. Everything I do ought TO BE TO YOU. And 1:00:19 the Lord says, if you really mean that, I'm going to have to take you through some afflictions. and not just some many afflictions. Are you you signed up for that? Do you want the work that will remain to God is for his glory and his 1:00:33 glory alone? And the Lord says, if you really want this life of from God, through God, and to God, I'm going to have to take you through many afflictions. You think about this circle, right? From God, through God, and to God. The last 1:00:49 part of that circle, if you will, is many afflictions. If you want God to get the glory out of your life, it's going to involve many afflictions. That's what righteousness is. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God will deliver you out 1:01:03 of them all. Oh, he he won't leave you to die in your affliction. He will rescue you, but he'll have to take you through it. Not around it, not to avoid it. Out of them all, the Lord rescued me. Indeed, he says, all who desire to live 1:01:21 godly in Christ Jesus, all who want to live a life to God, you can say, will be persecuted, will be persecuted. And that's why God is not, you know, unfortunately the message that's being preached in a lot of Christianom is 1:01:38 that, oh, God loves you so much. He wants to take you to heaven. He doesn't want you to suffer in hell, so accept Jesus as your savior. That's a corruption of the truth. While that is true that God wants you wants you to be 1:01:52 freed from sin and he he's made a way of salvation to be reconciled with the father. All of that is true. Ultimately, what God is most interested in is the honor of his name. That everything that he takes us through will be for his glory and for for his 1:02:08 name and our salvation. him forgiving our sins, him sanctifying us, him making us like Jesus is ultimately so that he gets the glory. Santosh has nothing to do with it. That's just the byproduct that Santos is made like Jesus. That's a wonderful 1:02:24 thing for me. That's great. But ultimately, God says, "It's not about you, Santosh. It is for my name and my sake." We saw that in Ezekiel 36 yesterday. It is for my name that I'm going to fill you with the Holy Spirit. 1:02:36 It is for my glory that I'm going to sanctify you and make you like Jesus. So that's what I want. And so I say, "Lord, yes, Lord, take me through whatever afflictions." And there are many stories that you can read of how God took his people through 1:02:53 trials. Why do you think God um allowed the people of Israel to face all those tests in the wilderness? You read the story at some point they they go through trials and and and tests and why did God allow them to not have 1:03:08 food is so that he could provide mana. Why did God allow them to come to the bitter waters? So that he could show them that you don't have to be dependent on the circumstances around you. If you're in a desert and the water is 1:03:20 bitter, I can make it sweet. The afflictions were many for the Israelites. Why? So that God could deliver out of them. Out of them all. That's what he wanted to do. But the Israelites missed it. They were like, "Lord, more problems. More problems, 1:03:33 more problems." He said, "Yes, but I'm GOING TO DELIVER YOU OUT OF THEM ALL. AND LOOK WHAT A TESTIMONY YOU WILL HAVE at the end of your life when you you people will ask about you. Hey, tell me about your life." He's like, "Oh, man. 1:03:45 2025 was one of the worst years of my life. Go back 2021 that problem. 2017." And they say, "WHAT WHAT KIND OF GOD DO YOU SERVE WHO CAUSE ALLOWS YOU to go through so many afflictions?" He says, "This is the true God. The God I serve is interested in his 1:04:01 glory and he's going to take me through more and many afflictions so that at the end of it I can say he delivered me out of them all. Are you willing to go this way, brothers? I know I want to. And I I'm not trying to paint a gory picture 1:04:14 and a like a a picture that following Jesus is somehow a miserable life. It's not. The devil wants you to think that. He'll take this message and he'll say, "Oh, that's Jesus. What about the joy of the Lord? Yes, I I want the joy of the 1:04:28 Lord. But the joy that comes through suffering, I want the joy that Jesus had. You know what the joy Jesus had? Let's Let me show you Hebrews chapter 12. Earlier in Hebrews, it says that Jesus had more joy than anybody else. See, I 1:04:46 don't want a joy that's temporary, that comes and goes. That's what the world has to offer. happiness, joy in certain situations but not joy in other situations. I want eternal joy, fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11, which comes only from the 1:05:03 presence of the Lord. And Jesus had it. But you know what Jesus' joy looked like? Hebrews 12 verse 2. Jesus had this joy. You can read it in Hebrews 1. God thy God has anointed thee with the oil of s salvation with with joy above all thy 1:05:20 brethren. More than anybody else, Jesus had joy. That's Hebrews 1:9. You have loved righteousness, hated lawlessness. Therefore, God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness, the oil OF JOY 1:05:39 MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE. WHO WAS THE most joyful man that ever lived on this earth? Jesus. That's the joy I want. I don't want some fake joy that some preacher offers me saying here's how you can have joy by avoiding the message of 1:05:51 the cross. I don't want some other joy that the world offers me that says you can have joy through success and more money and pleasure. No, I want the joy that Jesus had. That's the ultimate joy. He says, "Okay, here's what that looked 1:06:02 like." Hebrews 12:2, for the joy set before him endured the cross. And he knew that the way to through to to true joy was through the cross. Endure the cross despising the shame. Cross and shame. This is the way to true 1:06:22 joy. But you could instead choose says, "No, I don't like that message. Give me joy right now. Temporary joy." Yeah, you can have that, but it'll fizzle out. It will burn up in the next few hours or days or weeks or months or years. 1:06:38 Certainly, it will burn up at the judgment seat of Christ. But this joy that comes through trial, that comes through taking up the cross, nobody can take it away. And uh think about Jesus's life as well. When you if you turn with me to first 1:06:54 Peter two, the joy that comes through suffering because it's everything is to God. I I willing to accept the life of suffering because God will get the glory out of it. 1:07:11 1 Peter 2 21. You've been called for this purpose. Since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps. Why did Christ suffer? To forgive your sins. That's true. So you could go to heaven. 1:07:28 That's true. But I hope you've read 1 Peter 2:21 that Jesus suffered so that you would follow his example in suffering. Oh, nobody wants to preach on that. Oh Jesus, you suffered on the cross for me and they beat you and then 1:07:42 you died. Thank you for what you did. Jesus said, "Okay, that's great. But there's something else you're missing. I suffered so that YOU WOULD FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE." NO, LORD. I I don't mind that you suffered, but not me. You know that 1:07:55 that little problem I have, my boss yells at me, "Why are you allowing me to go through this or that other difficulty I went through?" And Jesus said, "You think that's suffering? Have you meditated enough on what I suffered on 1:08:05 the cross? And you think you're suffering so much with that little problem you're going through?" Now, please understand, I'm not trying to belittle the difficult circumstances that you all go through. We go through that. But I tell you this, I I get out 1:08:16 of my complaining mindset the moment I meditate on the cross. And I realize that Christ suffered as an example for me to follow in his steps. Say, Lord, I pray that I will have the courage and the boldness and the resolve. Resolve 1:08:30 means I'm committed. I've set my face like flint. I will not shrink back when it comes my turn to suffer. tomorrow in the workplace or with my relatives or with in a relationship in the church or whatever. Like we sang yesterday, when relationships demand 1:08:45 commitment, I will be there to care and follow through. I will stick it out even if it costs if it's painful and it hurts. And how did Jesus suffer? He committed no sin nor was any deceit found in his mouth. While being reviled, he did not 1:09:02 revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. What does it mean when suffering he uttered no threats? I thought about it like this that as Jesus, you know, I the way I understand 1:09:17 it, they put the cross down and they put Jesus on it and then they started to hammer the nails into his hand and I imagine this soldier is right there next to Jesus' head as he's hammering the nail in. And the Pharisees are over 1:09:30 there o, you know, leaning over him, mocking him. And very quietly, Jesus could have said, "I'm going to judge you one day. Just you watch." This is uttering a threat. I'm suffering, but one day I'm going to judge you. It's 1:09:47 absolutely true. Jesus is going to judge those Roman soldiers and the Pharisees. But at that moment when he was suffering, if he had threatened with the threat that he had every right to make, he would not have been an example to us. 1:10:02 And right in that moment, he suffered. And it took everything of the power of God in him to not say a word. Just quietly, just you go ahead, hammer the nail a little bit more. I'm not going to say a word to you. And Jesus knew in that 1:10:16 moment, he's going to be sitting on the judgment seat. And that very soldier as he's hitting the nail, that's the same soldier he's going to judge. But at that moment of suffering, he said, "No, I will not offer a threat." 1:10:28 This is the example we're given. When you have an opportunity and somebody does evil to you, will you threaten them? Now, God is going to judge you for what you did to me. Maybe you don't say it, but you think it, Lord, you're going 1:10:41 to judge them, right? They treated me like that. They said that to me. They treated me. They took advantage of me. You're going to judge them, right? Jesus Christ has given us an example to follow. He uttered no threats. And the 1:10:55 result of that, if you turn with me to Mark 15 after all of that, they finally hang him 1:11:13 and finally Jesus dies. And there's another Roman soldier, the head of all these soldiers in Mark 15:39. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of him, saw the way he died, 1:11:30 it wasn't the miracle that Jesus did. It wasn't the raising of Lazarus that Jesus did. It wasn't the opening of the blind eyes and the healing of the lepers. It was the way Jesus died suffering until the very end that this 1:11:45 man [clears throat] heathen said he's got a great God. His father is the true God. Truly this is the son of God. And I prayed Lord I wanted to be so that as people watch me watch my life that they say Santosh has 1:12:03 got a great God. That they watch my life and say he's got a great God. Why? Because I have a comfortable life. That's what you'll hear in most churches. Yeah. I have a great God. What? He helped me to buy this great jet. And of course, the money 1:12:16 came from you all. And u look at how he's blessed me. I have such a nice house. Or I I have No. Okay, maybe we're not to that extreme. Thank you, Lord, for your many blessings. I know you're a great God because you healed me and then 1:12:28 you gave me enough money and I have all that I need. Yeah, thank you that you're a great God. Okay, that's great. What about the great God who says, "Lord, you took me through many afflictions, but you brought me through all of them." 1:12:39 Is this the great God you want to testify to the world? This is what the world wants to see. Every other religion says, "You believe in us and God will bless you." All the religions of the world say that. Serve this God and he 1:12:50 will bless you. What about the God we believe in? Serve this God and he will take you through afflictions, but he will bring you through all of them. And he will allow you to go through that trial. He'll put you in the fire, but 1:13:01 he'll be with you. Like he was for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo. He'll put you in the lion's den, but he'll be with you. This is the God we want to testify to the world. This is the true God. Let's I'll close with this. Uh Psalm 1:13:18 116, we looked at not getting offended. We looked at being willing to suffer hardship. This is what it means to live a life 1:13:34 that's to God for his glory. Psalm 116. It's a wonderful psalm. Again, he says, "I love the Lord because he hears my voice and he's inclined his ear to me. As long as I live, I shall call upon him." He says, "Okay, tell me about 1:13:52 this your life, David. Why you say you love the Lord and uh as long as I live I will call upon him. Why? Because verse three, the chords of death encompassed me and the terrors of sh came upon me. See, I I think David couldn't have written this 1:14:11 psalm if it hadn't been for the chords of death and the terrors of sh. I found distress and sorrow. You went to the workplace and you found distress was waiting for you. Are you expecting that? show up for work tomorrow and there's some distress 1:14:26 waiting for you. Why? Because you serve a great God so that you can sing your own Psalm 116 one day. I don't have time to read the whole psalm. Let's skip down to verse six. The Lord preserves the simple. 1:14:42 I was brought low and he saved me. So return to your rest, oh my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. I thought about it like this that perhaps the reason that many people aren't saved is because they weren't 1:14:57 brought low. Who is it that the Lord saves? The ones who are brought low. You're still up here. Maybe that's why God hasn't saved you yet. He wants to bring you low. Allow you to go through more trial and you think just when you 1:15:12 thought it couldn't get worse, it does. Why? He wants to save you. It used to be that I thought, Lord, why are you so mean to me? Why are you allowing me to go through this? And my eye was on the wrong place. I I was watching how low I was going instead of 1:15:27 fixing my eyes on God who says, "I will save you. Don't worry about me. DON'T WORRY ABOUT how low it will go. I will I won't abandon you." You know, read in Psalm 22 that what kept Jesus going, I believe, was like, "You will not abandon my soul." In I 1:15:44 know it looks like even on the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But you're not going to abandon me. I know that. And even it feels like. Now, please understand, God has not forsaken anybody of us. If we have really 1:15:56 experienced God's forsaking, we are in hell. That's God's forsaking. And if the devil tries to get you to believe it, that God has somehow forsaken you. Refuse to believe the lie of the devil. He's not forsaken you. Jesus was 1:16:09 forsaken so that you don't have to be forsaken. So that we don't have to be forsaken. But when it feels like that and it feels like you're brought low, remember Psalm 116:6. I was brought low so that he could save me. God's salvation is down low, family. 1:16:27 It is. He waits for us to come to that low point so that he could save us. And um so what shall I say? Verse 12, what shall I say to what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me? Look at verse 13. I shall lift up 1:16:47 the cup of salvation. I will lift up my cup and say, Lord, fill my cup, my cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. That's all he asks of you. So God asks whatever you're going through right now. And if you say, Lord, I want to live my life 1:17:03 from you, through you, and to you. He says, just lift up your cup. I'll fill it. lift up your cup. I will lift up the let be that let that be the word that you take. We heard about how God increases our capacity. But today, if 1:17:15 all you have is a cup, you've heard a lot of things this weekend. You say, "All I have is a cup, Lord. But I'm willing to lift up that cup from this low point in my life down here, brought [clears throat] low. I'm reaching out to 1:17:28 you, Lord, with a cup. I will lift up the cup of salvation." And you know what I think heaven will be like? We will lift up that cup. We'll show everybody our cup that God filled. What will it be like? [snorts] 1:17:44 Um Hebrews chapter 2. This is what Jesus did. He simply said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." That's what lifting the cup is. 1:18:02 It's like, Lord, I'm leaning on you. I'm down low. I was forsaken even by you. I was tortured, beaten, suffered more than anybody else ever suffered. But I'm simply lifting up my cup to you. Hebrews 2:10, it says, "It was fitting 1:18:17 for him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things." This is Jesus. For him is for him and through him in bringing many sons to glory. That's the beautiful thing that when Jesus lifted up his cup of salvation to 1:18:36 his father and the father rescued him. Hebrews 5:7 says he's he knew that he was the one able to save him from death. Why did Jesus come down to this earth? The one who didn't need salvation. And now that not that Jesus needed 1:18:49 salvation, but he left that earth his throne above and came down to this earth and simply yielded to the father lifting up his cup. Why? So that one day when he comes back and in for all eternity next to him somewhere will be Santos holding up his 1:19:04 cup and you holding up your cup in bringing many sons and daughters to glory. And in order to do that he had to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. Through sufferings. And verse 13 think about the joy. Look at this. It's 1:19:23 speaking about joy. What will Jesus's joy in heaven be? See, he he he was with the father before time. He is God. He's always been God, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. But look at the joy that that's been 1:19:36 multiplied here where he says, "I will proclaim verse 12, your name in my to my brethren in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise." This is Jesus saying, "I will sing your praise, Father, and again, I will put my 1:19:48 trust in him. And again, behold, I and THE CHILDREN YOU HAVE GIVEN ME." You see, Jesus is so excited that he came down to this earth, lifted up his cup, leaning on the father, and then in heaven, there's you, there's me, there's 1:20:05 any who are willing to trust him and have faith will be lifting up that cup of salvation. And I want to ask you, what's inside that cup? Is it ah, I did it. I made it. It's my cup. When you when you drink a cup of coffee or tea or 1:20:20 water or juice or whatever, do you you focus on the cup? Is the cup the big thing? In fact, the outside of the cup may be filthy. It's fine. It's what's inside that matters. What is inside the cup? It is Jesus. It'll be my cup of salvation that I hold 1:20:35 up and they say, "Hey, show me your cup." And you'll see it was Jesus himself, the life of God. He was who I wanted. It was for him and for his glory. When you lift up that cup, will you be like, "Yeah." Like they do with the gold 1:20:47 medal, you show off the the WWE belt. Is that what the cup of salvation is that I will hold up in heaven? No, it'll be Oh, it was you, Lord. It was for your glory. I lived my life for you. What's inside this cup is you. 1:21:02 Last verse, I promise. Revelation chapter 4. I could keep going. I know I this is, but we have to end. Revelation chapter 4. And when the verse n when the living creatures give glory and honor and 1:21:20 thanks to him who sits on the throne because it was from him through him and to him alone when they these are the living creatures to him who lives forever and ever the 24 elders these are I don't know who those 24 are but there are 24 elders who sort 1:21:37 of get extra honor maybe in heaven what will they do they're lifting up their cup of salvation and another picture we're given is the crown crown on their heads. They the crown has been put on their head. But these 24 elders when they when they 1:21:54 when they when they see Jesus, they will fall down before him sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever and ever. And they will take this crown that he has put on their head and cast it down before him saying, "You alone 1:22:11 are worthy." When Jesus puts his throne, that crown on your head, what will you say? Lord, I don't deserve to be wearing this crown. Take it off my head, Lord. It's you. YOU ARE THE CROWN. They will cast their crowns before him. This is what it means 1:22:28 to live to God for his glory alone. Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and for your pleasure they existed and were created. You put me on this earth simply to bring 1:22:43 you pleasure. My cup is full of Christ. That crown is Christ himself. And like we sing in that wonderful hymn, the sands of time are sinking. The bride eyes not her garment. Not at the crown he giveth, but at his 1:23:01 pierced hand. And I imagine as Jesus comes to put that crown on my head, I I can't look at the crown. I will I will see his hand that puts the crown on my head and say, "Lord, I don't deserve this crown. [snorts] 1:23:18 Your hands were pierced for me." And may I live my life until the end for you and for your glory alone. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that what you've wanted to say will penetrate into our 1:23:36 hearts, Lord. Not an emotional stirring, but what you wanted us to hear, and that we will obey. That we will really live our lives from you, through you, and to you. That the work we do, your work done your way will remain 1:23:55 in Jesus name. Amen.
