0:02 [music] >> Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray, Lord. You know everything that every one of us is going through. You know the secrets of every person, Lord, and you said, Lord, that the secrets of the 0:22 hearts will be revealed. And we will surely attest that you're here, Lord. We pray that we all that we do is for your glory. I pray that you'd uh uh prepare our hearts, Lord, so that we're ready to receive it and respond to 0:37 it, Lord. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. And he's even today as we begin, I know that as you all traveled here, there might be a lot of things on your mind and your thoughts. 0:55 And sometimes when we have meetings like this, if our hearts are unsettled, we might not be able to receive anything because we're distracted by many things. If you turn with me to Revelation, and someone might have to help me get 1:12 this this verse, but um >> [clears throat] >> before the throne was a glassy sea. And it says here in uh Revelation 22, 1:38 verse one, that he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb and in the middle of the streets and the and in one place it says there was a glassy streets sea, fully at rest. Then for today even as 1:56 well. And going into this weekend. It's important that our hearts are completely like that glassy sea that's in heaven. Completely at rest. And so if there's something of anxiety. Something that's bothering you about the 2:13 future or something else. I'm pretty sure there might be a Many of you struggling with different things in your mind. We can cast it on the Lord. Making sure that Lord, I want to have peace right now. To be able to hear your 2:27 word without any distraction. There's unsettled matters that you need to set right. Uh spiritually uh Some things that you have to go and ask for forgiveness. Or forgive someone that you've has harmed you. Make sure that you set purpose your 2:46 heart right now. Lord, at my earliest opportunity. I go and set that matter right. That way when you're listening to God's word in this weekend. It's going to be able to speak to your heart. It's not going to be taken away. 3:02 Because of distractions. And as I was thinking about um There was something that uh Um This expression. How much does How much do you value Jesus? 3:19 And if you turn with me to Zechariah. There's expression that came to my mind. You turn with me to Zechariah. Chapter 11. 3:43 Zechariah chapter 11. Verse 12. Zechariah 11:12. I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages, but if not, never mind." So, they weighed out 30 shekels of 4:03 silver as my wages. Verse 13, "Then the Lord said to me, 'Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.'" And we read that in the New Testament in Matthew 27 when Judas gave that money, 4:21 30 pieces of silver, to betray Jesus, it says that they were fulfilling this verse. And I read that "This is the price at which they valued that I was valued by them." And I was thinking of that expression. 4:38 For those people, for Judas, what Jesus meant to them was 30 pieces of silver. That's all that Jesus was worth to him. But for many others, Jesus was worth so much more. And because of that, you can see in 4:58 their lives the one that they valued so much, their lives changed, and they were willing to do so much for the Lord and knows the Lord because they valued him. But it all started off with how precious 5:17 we consider Jesus. For Judas and the Jews, they valued him as 30 pieces of silver. And so, even today as we consider, we think about it, each of you probably have known Jesus 5:35 in some manner, but how precious is he to you today? And as I think about that, um I believe all of us want to know the Lord intimately in our lives. And I want to turn to Song of Solomon. This is part of a one of the articles as 5:55 well that we had. So, Song of Solomon chapter five. And if you have a Bible, definitely take it out and turn to it. Get familiar with 6:13 God's word. It'll be very helpful in times when you need it. We can read from verse two. Song of Solomon chapter five verse two. And this is the bride. And the bridegroom is calling out to the bride and 6:33 it says this, "I was asleep, but my heart was awake. A voice, my beloved was knocking. Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one. For my head is drenched with dew, my locks with the damp of the night." And so, the 6:52 bridegroom, the Lord was knocking on the door saying, "I want to come in. I want to talk with you. I want to fellowship with you." And this was the response of the bride. "I've taken off my dress. How can I put it on again? 7:08 I washed my feet. How can I dirty them again?" And my beloved extended his hand through the opening. "And my feelings were aroused for him. I arose to open up to my beloved. And my hands dropped and dripped with myrrh. 7:27 And my fingers with liquid myrrh on the handles of the bolt. I opened to my beloved, and but my beloved had turned away and had gone. My heart went out to him. As he spoke, I searched for him. And this is come one of the saddest 7:43 verses, but I did not find him. I called out to him, but he did not answer. The watchmen make who made rounds in the city found me. They struck me and wounded me. And so you see this. There was a time when the Lord was close, knocking at the door. 8:01 And wanted to fellowship with the bride. Wanted to fellowship with me. It's knocking on that door. And I was waiting for that feelings to come out. I was lying down and it took a little bit of effort to go to that door and open it. 8:19 But I was hesitant. And by the time I got to the door to open the door, the Lord had left. And I believe that would have been such a heartbreak for her and for me as well. When I The Lord is calling with a gentle voice. He's knocking on that door. 8:37 Am I sensitive? Am I going to immediately go and run to the door? Jesus says, "Who's like that watchman who stands at the door who when the when the bridegroom comes, he will immediately open the door for him?" And it's a good thing for each one of us 8:57 to see where is our heart right now. When the Lord is calling out to us, are we hesitant? Say we wait. And I've seen that in my life as well. There's been times where the presence of the Lord is so near. His words are just flowing to my heart 9:13 and I can hear it. I can sense it. I know his will. Everything is clear. And then there's times perhaps because of my laziness, perhaps because when the Lord called me, I was hesitant. And I go searching for the Lord and 9:31 I feel a distance between me and him. But that should not be the end of the story. If you turn with me to two chapters earlier in chapter three. Song of Solomon chapter three and verse one, on my bed 9:49 night after night, I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I did not find him. So again, the bride is seeking for the Lord. One of the mistakes she made is she's seeking for the Lord where? On her bed. 10:07 She's laying down and sleepy and and then she says, you know what? I must what? Arise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares, I must seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I did not find him. 10:24 The watchmen who made rounds in the city found me and I said to him, "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" Scarcely as had I left him when I found him whom my soul loves. I held on to him and and 10:44 I would not let him go. And I feel that this is the way for each one of us, no matter how it's been till today. I believe the Lord is calling out to each one of us, knocking on the door of our hearts. Maybe we know him. 11:02 Maybe he's been calling out. Maybe he's distant to you. You've known the Lord, but he's distant today. But it doesn't have to be that way. Like this bride went and searched, it didn't matter what. She got up from her bed and said, "Lord, I must find you 11:18 whom my soul loves." And she went and got she found found him and I love this thing. I held on to him and would not let him go. And for each one of us that must be sometime 11:37 today reach out. Lord, I want this experience. I want to hear you speak to me. There are those who it says in 1 Samuel, if you turn with me to 1 Samuel 14. Some who didn't value when God was speaking to them. 11:57 And this was one such a occasion. If you turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 14 verse 36. 1 Samuel 14:36. Then Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and take the spoil among them until the morning light. 12:14 And let us not leave a man of them." And they said, "Do what is seems good to you." So, the priest said, "Let us draw near to the to God here." Verse 37. Saul inquired of God, "Shall I go down to go down after the Philistines? 12:33 Will you give [clears throat] them into the hand of Israel?" What does it say next? But he did not answer him on that day. So, he asked God, "God, what should I do?" And he didn't hear anything from God. 12:52 And then he said, "Okay, let's move on." It's okay. I didn't hear from God. We'll make our decision on our own and proceed. It started off here with a small time when God was speaking to he wanted to hear from God. God didn't answer right away. 13:10 What should he have done? Like that bride, "I'm going to search for him until I find him, until I hear his voice speaking to me. I'm not going to I'm not going to settle." Years later, you probably remember, he calls up 13:28 Samuel and then he's asking Samuel, "Samuel, God's not speaking to me, the prophets are not speaking me, nobody's speaking to me. So, that's why I called you up from the grave. Tell me what what I must do." And Samuel tells him, "If God's not 13:45 speaking to you, why are you coming and asking me?" And I think that was a couple of chapters towards the end of Saul's life. He's frantically wanting to hear from God. But, there was a time when God he could have heard God speak to him if 14:03 he valued it. But, he put it off. He said, "You know what? That's not that important to me." Years later, he's like, "I want to hear from him." And I see that he didn't value God's words and he didn't value Samuel as well, 14:19 a godly man who's speaking into his life and telling him, "Saul, you're wrong. I was up all night crying and weeping over you because of the decisions you're making. God told you to destroy all the Amalekites. You didn't do that." 14:38 And it says here, if you could turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 15, verse 20, "Then Saul said to Samuel, what did he say? I did obey the voice of the Lord." Not only did he disobey the Lord, 14:55 but when confronted with his sin, he said, "No, I didn't disobey the Lord. I did what God God told me to do." And you can see that even when confronted with a godly man, he was not able to accept what he did was wrong. He wasn't able to humble himself and 15:14 say, "You know what? I'm sorry, Samuel. What I did was wrong. I did not kill all the Amalekites. I See, he to please men. If he had set matters right that day, how different it would have been in his life. But when God was in speaking to him, 15:31 when he was jealous of David and all of these things, he didn't deal with it. He kept on putting it off. God was prompting him. Set the matter right. Set the matter right. Set the matter right. Made difficult situations, circumstances. 15:45 But he would not give in. And then he says, you know what? It says here if it says later verse 24, then Saul said to Samuel, what? I have sinned. I listened to the voice of the people. 16:05 Verse 25, now therefore pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord. I said I was sorry. Let's move on. Let's go on to the next thing and worship the Lord. Why did he want to worship the Lord? Because he didn't want others to know 16:21 about his sin. He had sinned. He was not interested in setting the matter right. He said, "I have sinned. Let's move on. Let's go and worship the Lord. Let nobody else know the sin that I've committed. Let's cover that up and let's move on. 16:37 And so that everybody sees that I'm worshipping you, worshipping the Lord and everything is okay on the outside." Was everything okay? No. But he did not want to set that matter right. I say for each one of us, we also have 16:55 situations like that when God convicts us personally or through a godly man, we have two choices. One, to be honest and say, "I want to humble myself. Yes, I was wrong. I want to set that matter right. Doesn't matter the cost. Doesn't matter 17:12 the embarrassment. I cannot go without clearing my conscience in this matter. I need to set it right. And I encourage every single one of you uh to read this book, The Good Foundation. 17:30 If you've read it, read it again. I read this when I was about a little younger to you when I first came to know the Lord. I read this. And I'm very happy I did. Because a lot of the things that I'm talking to you about, even this morning, 17:45 about setting matters right. There are many people who will say different things. Oh, yeah, don't worry. You ought to forgive people. It's not necessary you forgive, but if you turn with me to Matthew chapter 6, sometimes if you want to 18:04 justify your sin or live in sin, you'll either find some excuse for it, take a verse out of context, or you can find a person to who agree with you and say, "Yeah, yeah, the way I interpret it is this way. You ought to forgive. 18:21 It's not compulsory, but you ought to." And then So, it says in Matthew 6:14, "For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you your 18:39 transgressions." And so, on that day when we stand before the Lord, the Lord's not going to ask me, "Okay, what was that person's interpretation of what this verse said? Or why did you make this excuse for not obeying?" He's not going to ask all of 18:54 that. It's just going to be me and the Lord. And the Lord's going to ask me, "Did you forgive everyone?" And I say, "Lord, yes, Lord. I forgave every single one. I didn't make an excuse for it. If I needed to go and set the matter 19:09 right like Zacchaeus did, go restitute, pay back. I'm willing to do that, Lord. Zacchaeus was willing to do that because he valued a right relationship with the Lord than to have the extra money in his bank account. He said if that bank account, that's fine. 19:27 I'll give that up. But I need to have a clear conscience. I need to have And the Lord said salvation came to his house that day. So, every area and I saw that's why I encourage you brothers and sisters to read the good foundation. Know what 19:44 true repentance is. See, what Saul did was not true repentance. He said sorry. He said the right words. Externally, if anybody asked him, "Oh, he had a very good testimony before the people because all of what we're reading, who knew about it? God knew 20:00 about it and Samuel knew about it. Everybody else, he covered it up from. We also can live like that where everything in front of others it looks good, but God knows how things are in our personal walk with him. And so, 20:20 it says in the beginning of this book and I'll read that out to you as well. And this is something that touched me. When I was about 15 or 16 years old when I first read this book. Our life after we are born again can be 20:39 compared to a house being built. We all know that the most important part of the house is its foundation. If there is a crack on the third floor, the cause can be usually traced to a faulty foundation. It is the same with our lives. Years 20:56 after we have trusted in Christ, we can suffer the consequences of a faulty foundation laid at the beginning. And as a 15 or 16-year-old, I said, "Lord, I don't want to be that man that 30 years later after accepting you 21:11 that our my third floor is crumbling. I get offended at something or I've not set the matter right or I go back into the world and backslide. I don't want that. I want to set the matter right today. I want to have a solid 21:25 foundation. And I'm very thankful I did those years. And I continued to make sure every matter is settled. But if we rush past it like Saul did it'll come back. Later on that crack will definitely come up. 21:45 And I feel that, you know, just like that bride hesitated but once she restored that relationship, she said, "I'm not going to let you go anymore." I feel that each one of us can have one of two relationships with the Lord. 22:01 One is a mechanical relationship. Oh, I ask Jesus for all of these things. I ask him for forgiveness. When I have a need in my life, knowing God's will, I seek him. But it's just a relationship which Lord, when I'm in need, I come to you 22:17 and you help me in that need. And that's pretty much it. But I see that the Lord doesn't want that type of relationship with him where we just go to him for forgiveness of sins. You know, whenever we need help, go to him. 22:33 But he wants us to have that relationship like that bride. When he knocks on the door to come and talk to him. And I see that the Lord wants that that type of relationship with us. If you return with me to Matthew chapter 22:46 13 I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 12. Matthew 12 verse 42. Matthew 12 verse 42. The queen of the south, that's the Queen of Sheba, 23:03 will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And behold, someone greater than Solomon is here. And if you turn with me to 1 Kings 23:22 chapter 10, we can read about how Queen of Sheba went and met Solomon. I don't know how many weeks or months she would have traveled all the way to meet Solomon. Jesus said it was the ends of the earth 23:40 and she would have traveled there day after day, week after week coming there. So, 1 Kings chapter 10 verse 1, 1 Kings chapter 10 verse 1. Now, when the Queen of Sheba heard about the famous Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with 23:58 difficult questions. So, she came to Jerusalem with a very large company with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him 24:16 about all that was in her heart. And so, her relationship when she went to meet Solomon wasn't just, "Okay, this is here I give you some gold, you give me something and we go away. I need some help." No, she spent time. 24:31 "I want to hear from you. I want to know what do you have to say?" And I believe that she would have had all these things. It says she poured out her heart. I don't know what she was struggling with. But she spoke to him and said, "This is the 24:46 problem I'm facing. This is a situation that I'm going through. Lord, what or Solomon, what's your advice? What do you think I should do in this situation?" She talked to him, Asked for his wisdom. And it goes on to say 25:04 Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was hidden from the king which he did not explain to her. And if Solomon explained everything that queen had in terms of questions that he had, things that were on her heart. How much more will Jesus, if we talk to 25:23 him and say, "Lord, this is what's happening in my life. These are the circumstances what are playing out. Lord, give me wisdom in this situation of what to do. I don't know." That's one who has a relationship with the Lord. One who can talk to him. It's 25:40 not a distant person that I don't know. It's one that I talk to every day. Meet with. Long to know more. And that's the type of relationship we all must have with the Lord. Often Jesus would say to his disciples, not everybody. He says, "I don't pray 26:00 for the world. I pray for these whom you've given me." He prayed for the disciples. When he broke bread, he didn't break bread with the world. He broke bread with only those 11 disciples. When it says that that they may know that the Father loves 26:16 them just as much as he loves me. Who is he talking to? It was just the disciples that he was talking to. So, all these promises, sometimes he will say, "Let's go out for a Let's go out to a secluded place and be together 26:31 for a while." He would often do that with his disciples. It says in John chapter 18 verse 2 that Jesus met with the disciples often in the garden. And I say, "Lord, I'm also a disciple, Lord. I also want to meet with you. I want you 26:48 to speak to me. I want to hear from you." He said, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. I want to hear those words, Lord. It says in Psalm 28, if you turn with me to Psalm 28, 27:08 and this can be a cry for each one of us. To you, oh Lord, I call I call verse 1 Psalm 28 verse 1, my rock, do not be deaf to me. For if you are silent to me, I will become like those who go down to the pit, meaning the grave. 27:28 And he says, you know what? Lord, don't be silent to me. Life is meaningful only if you speak to me, Lord. Life is not meaningful if you don't speak to me. I want to hear from you. And so, one thing in that 27:46 my encouragement is, Lord, make that real for every single one of us. It's a a personal relationship with each one. There is 10 virgins, but five of them had oil in the lamp. It was a hidden life that they had when the Lord came. 28:05 And five of the virgins says, "Hey, give me something give me some of your oil." And they said, "No, I can't give you what I have. You have to get it for yourself." And each one of us have to get it for ourselves. It's not something that your parents can 28:22 give or even the elders or anybody else can give. This morning, if you were hungry, I can't eat for you and satisfy your hunger. Every one of you, if you're hungry, you'll have to eat for yourself. No matter how much I want to 28:38 satisfy your hunger, I can't. It's something that you'll have to, like those virgins, buy for yourself. Know the Lord for yourself. Hear the Lord for yourself. And that's my encouragement for each one of you. Now, as I look at different people in 29:02 the Bible that made choices. One was Lot. There was a time in his life where he had a choice. And you read this in Genesis. You can turn with me to Genesis 13. And a lot of us come up with choices. 29:19 Jesus said, "If you lose your life, you will You will You will find it. If you lose your life, you'll find it. But if you keep your life, you'll lose it. If you keep this self life, you're going to lose it. But if you lose this life, 29:37 you'll keep it. Many people, I believe, even Christians, they still believe you can live this life, enjoy it to the maximum, and also have the life that Jesus offers. You don't have to lose anything. You can have this life, you enjoy it, 29:55 and also the life to come. And the life that God wants to give you. But Jesus' own words says, "You can't have both. You have to either deny yourself life and follow me, or you cannot be my disciple." He made it very clear. 30:13 And I remember even as a young person, and that's why I know each of you are going to be able to understand this. Because I was younger to than you when I I knew when I came to Christ from a non-Christian home, I knew that I could not live in sin, live for 30:28 this world, and also have the life that Jesus. I had to pick one. And I said to myself back then, I said, "If I am going to live for this life, I'm going to live it to the maximum. Enjoy it to the fullest. Get everything this world can offer. And 30:44 when I stand before the Lord, I will know, "Lord, I am guilty. I made this choice. I decided on this side of eternity to live for myself, live for this world, and I did." And now I stand here guilty. Or in this brief time that we have here 31:03 on Earth, that I love the Lord, live for him, deny myself the pleasures of this world. And then when I stand before the Lord, I say, "Lord, yes, Lord, I loved you here on this Earth. Everything else I denied myself, like you said." 31:19 And Lord, there's only one of two choices, brothers and sisters. We must make that line clear. You know, they say draw the line on the sand and pick that side. Pick which side you choose to be on. Either for the Lord 31:39 or for yourself. And so you see this here, if you turn with me to Genesis chapter 13. It all started off in verse 10. Lot lifted up his eyes and saw the valley of the Jordan 31:58 that it was well watered everywhere. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself and all the 32:16 valley of Jordan. And so he picked that place. He settled there. He looked at it and then he went there. It says he pitched his tent there and directed himself and I don't know, pitched his tent then went to the gates then then finally settled 32:32 there. But it all started off when he lifted his eyes and said, "Okay, what here on this earth do I want? What's the best for me?" And he set his eyes. There he set He went there into Lot into Sodom and Gomorrah, lived there. 32:50 And as as you fast forward, time goes by. And during the last hours where he was there in the city, they say, "Who made you a judge over us to tell us what to do?" He was there all those years. And he was not able to 33:10 make a difference there. And he was sitting there and it says there in 2 Peter. Turn with me to 2 Peter. This is a testimony of a man who was not He was He was also a righteous man, but he made a choice to set his 33:28 tent towards Sodom and Gomorrah. And so you see here verse 7. Second Uh sorry. 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 7. And he And if he 33:43 If he rescued righteous Lot oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men, for by which he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day 34:00 after day by their lawless deeds. And the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment. And so you see, he was there in Sodom and Gomorrah. It says that he was righteous, 34:18 but he sat there in Sodom and Gomorrah even though it was unrighteous. Didn't make a difference to anybody around him, but yet decided to stay there. He said his righteous soul is tormented day after day. Okay, if your righteous soul 34:31 is tormented day after day and you're a righteous man, that's fine. But why are you staying there in Sodom and Gomorrah? Nobody's forcing you to stay there. Why didn't you leave? Why didn't he leave? Because there was something in Sodom and 34:45 Gomorrah that he still was attached to. Uh externally and even Peter says he was a righteous man. But he's not my example. Because he was a righteous man, he was tormented by everything that he saw around him. But he didn't do anything 35:03 about it. He said, "Okay, I'll stay in the world. I'll I'll I'll be here." And he probably could have had something to say, "No, I'm going to be an example for all of these people there. Who Who's there for these people in Sodom and Gomorrah?" 35:19 But you see there if you turn with me to now let's fast forward to Genesis 19. Genesis 19 verse 15 35:38 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot "Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city." But he he he hesitated. Just like the 35:56 the bride hesitated to go to that door when the Lord was knocking, these saints are hesitating. Why did he hesitate? He knew it was going to be destroyed. But he lived there. He saw everything and he didn't agree with it. He didn't participate in it. 36:11 But he was around that. He didn't want to leave it. And though even when they were pulling him out he hesitated. And brother, sister this also can be in our hearts as well. Something on this earth pulling us when God is saying, "Hey, leave." 36:31 So, the men and these are angels, seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters for the compassion of the Lord was upon him and brought him out of the city. Verse 17 again, when they had brought 36:46 outside the city do uh >> [clears throat] >> He says, "Do not look behind you and do not stay anywhere in the valley. Escape to the mountains or you will be swept away." Verse 18, but Lot said to them, "Oh, no, my lords. 37:04 Now, behold, your servant has found favor in your sight and you have magnified your loving kindness which you have shown to me by saving my my life. I cannot escape to the mountains for a disaster will overtake me and I will die. 37:20 Now, behold, this town is near enough to flee and it is small. Please, let me escape. Is it not small that my life might be saved? Verse 21, he said, "Behold, I grant you this request. Also, not to overthrow the town of which 37:37 you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore, the name of the town is called Zoar. So, there was five cities there in the valley there and Zoar was one of them. And it was a small city. 37:54 And he said, "Give me the city of Zoar. I can't climb up all the mountain." God's will was for him to go up that mountain. And I believe if he had listened to the Lord and went up that mountain, he would have been so far away from the 38:07 valley that possibly his wife wouldn't have been able to see in the valley. But the reason she was able to see everything was they were not so far away. They were still there in Zoar which was a part of the valley. They were in the mountains. 38:19 He He would have been able to save his life, and his wife's life, and all of that. But he made a small compromise. He said, "No, I'm not going to go to the mountains, and you showed so much favor towards me. You saved me out of Sodom 38:33 and Gomorrah. You haven't destroyed me. Now, just let me do this one thing. Let me go there and stay in Zoar." Small compromise. Brothers, sisters, there are going to be small compromise. He didn't stay in Sodom, but he didn't go to the mountains. 38:53 He made a small compromise in between. And I believe that destroyed his family family, and his life also was not an example. He could say that he saved his life, but what happened to his family? His wife, and those all because of that compromise. 39:08 But where did it start? Started back in when he lifted up his eyes towards Sodom and Gomorrah. Why do I say this, brothers and sisters? There could be things like this that are in our heart that will hold us back. And as 39:31 I think about him, uh, I see how externally he had a good testimony. If anybody met Lot, guess what his testimony was. "Hey, this is Lot. He was in the worst of worst cities, 39:49 and Lot, he was rescued from Sodom and Gomorrah. God destroyed the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, but look at this man. He was rescued of it." But who knew the real story of his compromise? Only the Lord knew. He had an external testimony. This is 40:05 the man who left Sodom and Gomorrah and its wickedness. But God only knew that he did not obey and go to the mountains. He made compromise. So, he had a good testimony, but I believe God was very sad with the choices that he had made. 40:21 I say, "Lord, many people might have an external testimony, but that counts for nothing. On that final day when I stand before you, it's not going to be anybody else's opinion of me that's going to matter. It's going to be your opinion 40:35 of my life, who's seen everything in secret. You saw that small compromise. You saw that thing of how I loved that little thing and I wasn't willing to get and I made excuse after excuse for it. The Lord saw it. And I I see other people as well. 40:54 Samson. If you see He says, "I He says, "I want to get married to this Philistine woman." And his parents are telling him, "Why do you want to get married to that Philistine woman? Why don't you find someone who's godly 41:11 and marry her?" And he says, "You know what his response is?" Uh turn with me to Judges. And for us, too, some of us, you know, with jobs and other choices, marriage and other things, there's going to be two things. 41:31 One, God's will. So, um Judges chapter 14, verse one, "Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So, he came back and told his father and 41:49 mother, 'I saw this woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. Now, therefore, get her for me as a wife.'" Verse three, "Then his father and mother said to him, 'Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives or among 42:03 our people that you should go and get a wife from the Philistines?'" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me. That's all that matters. Just get her for me. Was it God's will? No. What? 42:22 He did what seemed good for him. He saw what was right in his own eyes, what seemed good, and he did it. Lot saw what was good for him and did it. But in the midst of that, in the midst of those people, there are people 42:39 who say, I'm not going to do what seems right to me. I want to find out what God's will is and do that. And you see that in the life of Abraham as well. When God said, he also had some choice to make as well. He said, "Okay, 42:57 Isaac is too dear to you. I need you to sacrifice him on the Mount of Moriah." That was a difficult choice. It was much more difficult choice than the choices that Lot had to make or Samson had to make, but it was a choice. 43:15 And it says that he just had to walk three days and walk up a mountain. He also had a mountain to climb. Where Lot wasn't willing, he was. He climbed up that mountain and said, "I'm willing. Doesn't matter anything." So, turn with 43:31 me to Genesis 22. Brother, sister, we're going to have situations. Each of us have things in our life, and are we willing to give it up? And it says here, 43:53 verse five, "Abraham said to Genesis 22:5, Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there, and we will worship and return to you.'" And then it goes up, and he takes him, 44:06 and he's about to strike Isaac when the Lord says, "Do not." But the testimony of after that is what I I really was encouraged with. He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad. Do nothing to him. For now I know that you fear God since you 44:26 have not withheld your son, your only son from me." Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked and behold a ram was caught in the thicket and he sacrificed that. So, "Now I know," it says here in verse 12, "I know that you fear God." 44:45 The secret of the Lord belongs to those who? Do you know? Can you turn with me Psalm chapter 25. The secret of the Lord belongs to Or you can say he's intimate. He tells the intimate things to those 45:03 who? Who fear him. So, turn with me to Psalm 25. Psalm 25. Verse 14. Psalm 25 verse 14. The secret 45:26 of the Lord is for those who fear him. The secret of the Lord. That means the Lord reveals his secrets to those who fear him. And Abraham was tested. It says at the beginning of Genesis 22, God tested him. 45:43 And for each of us as well, when God puts that test before us, we have the way of Lot and the way of Abraham. Abraham said, "You know what? Nothing is more important to me than you, Lord. I'm willing to give up Isaac if that's what it means." 46:00 He's ready to do that. And Lot wasn't. He had that. And for each of us as well, we have these choices and we can make excuses. Lot made would could have had so many excuses of why he's could stay in Sodom and Gomorrah. 46:18 And you see the end result of it. And as we close this morning, I just wanted to mention there's a thing that it says in John chapter 1. John chapter 1. Verse 35. 46:45 In John chapter 1 verse 35. Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. And he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, "Behold the lamb of God." The two disciples heard him speak 47:02 and they followed Jesus. They went with Jesus. Two of them went with Jesus that day. And it says that they they said and Jesus asked them and turned and said, following them, "What do you seek?" And I believe the Lord's asking 47:18 you and me the same thing. What do you seek? Do you seek me myself? Do you seek something that I can give you? Is there something in this world that's going to They heard John the Baptist speak and then they said, "You know what? I'm 47:32 going to follow Jesus." And so they followed Jesus and Jesus asked them, "Why are you seeking me? Is it something I can give you? What are you there?" And they spent the entire day with Jesus. And at the end of it, one of them was 47:46 Andrew who decided to be a disciple for Jesus for the rest of his life. He would end up being martyred. I think uh he was martyred as upside down with a They called it the Andrew's cross, I think. But it all started here. 48:04 They heard John the Baptist. They looked at Jesus. They followed him. Jesus asked them that question, "Why are you following me?" "How much am I worth to you?" "How precious am I to you?" For Andrew, Jesus meant everything. He gave up 48:21 everything to follow him. And I believe each one of us has that choice for us even as well. If we've seen Jesus, like Mary Magdalene said at the tomb, after she said, "I've seen the Lord." And for each one of us, in the heart in our hearts, 48:43 may we have a revelation of the Lord. If we do, our our life will be like Andrew's who saw the Lord, spent time with the Lord, heard from the Lord. He probably just saw Jesus, ate with him, wash Jesus probably washed the dishes 49:00 after they ate. And I I think Andrew would have seen such an ordinary person. But at the end of it, he says there that verse 41, he found first his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the 49:20 Messiah." How did he know? He just spent some time with the Lord. And in his heart, he knew that this was the Messiah. It's said that two disciples were there. I always wonder who whatever happened to the other disciple. 49:34 Maybe that other disciple looked at Jesus and said, "You know what? This is too ordinary." I don't know. Maybe he was offended. Maybe there's something but I don't know whatever happened to that other disciple. But I do know what happened to Andrew 49:51 and how he followed Jesus till the very end. And my desire for myself and for each one of us that that will be our testimony. The things that we hear that we say, "Lord, there's no cost that I will not pay to follow you. 50:09 I've seen you. I want to know you. I want to hear you. I want to have this intimate relationship with you day after day." And so we'll close uh there um this morning. We'll pray. Heavenly Father, I pray, Lord, 50:32 just like John the Baptist spoke and they followed you, Lord, and Andrew followed you for the rest of his life because he saw something in you when you revealed yourself in even the ordinary day he spent with you. I pray, Lord, that you would do that for 50:49 every single one of us. That we would value you, Lord. That you're most precious to us, Lord. We'll be willing to give up anything, Lord. We won't be We make any excuses on anything that you put your finger on to let go of, Lord. I pray, Lord, 51:06 that we would love you more than any person. We'd love you then more than anything. And even our own self life to follow you, Lord. I pray, Lord, that you would do a miracle in every person here's life, Lord. That everyone just like you met with the 51:21 disciples on that day, Lord. I pray that every single one of us would be your disciples and follow you for the rest of our lives. In Jesus' name. Amen. >> [music]
