Luke 12 PT3

Pastor Joey continues our journey through the gospel of Luke. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Let's jump to chapter 12. Um the last week I didn't make it as far as I wanted to uh in the text, and so I'm gonna go back and hit on something really quickly. And uh so we're gonna start in verse 31. And I'm ready to get into it. Uh seek the kingdom of God above all else. So when I read that, the insinuation is what? Above everything in my life, Jesus is asking me to do one thing seek his kingdom above everything else. And it seems like really straightforward, but it is a really hard task to accomplish. It just me? Like it's hard. I can get to Wednesday and forget to be seeking the kingdom of God. Why? Because my life is involved, and when all my life is turns into what's going on with me and about me and how things could be better for me, I forget about his kingdom. And it happens like to every single person. And so Jesus is laying out to his disciples reminder, just heads up, he's on his way to the cross. He's not going to be with them for much longer. So he's giving them insight. And also, who's reading this letter? We go back to it. Theophilus is reading this letter. This is a letter written to him from Luke. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. So don't be afraid, little flock. I like that. With the little flock. Don't be afraid, little flock, for it gives your father great happiness to give you the kingdom. It's an interesting phrase that he used. Don't be afraid, little flock. Now, last week we talked about mentioning birds, that if he takes care of the birds of the air, how much more will he take care of us? But so so right now he calls us a flock, but then there's something interesting that he puts in there. For it gives your father. Now, the birds outside that are flying around, God is their creator, but he is not their father. Why? Because they don't have a soul. Only people, human beings, have been given a soul. So not only is he our creator, but he's our father. There's uh the the word would be Abba, Daddy God. We have this relationship as a son to a father, as a daughter to a father. Yeah? We have a relationship we get to have with God as human beings that no other animal on earth gets to have. Cool, right? And so don't be afraid, for it gives your father great happiness to give you the kingdom. What is his kingdom? So we talk about the kingdom of God, like what when we're seeking it, what are we even seeking? I think that's a great question to work through and to think about. Because if you don't know what the target is, the kingdom is the good news, the gospel. It's the message that there is a kingdom, and in that kingdom, there's a king. King Jesus. Amen. Right? He is a friend. We have a friend in Jesus, but he is also our king. Sometimes we get so hung up on the friendship that his kingship we forget about. And so it changes the way that we operate in our day-to-day life. Because if I know that he's king, when the king speaks, his servants listen. I don't always listen to my friends. Sometimes I laugh at their ideas because they're dumb, right? I got great friends, but not always great ideas come from them. Like sometimes I laugh, giggle, chuckle with them. I'll take their counsel maybe, but it's not, it's not the same. Jesus is a friend of sinners for sure, but he is the king to those who would call him Lord and bow their knee to him. So the kingdom is the good news that there is a king, and in his kingdom, the way we enter into it is through salvation. That's the only doorway that we get into the kingdom. There's no other way. There's no other religion. There's not a good enough amount of stuff that you can do. You could buy turkeys for all the schools in Virginia. And unless you come to Jesus and have him be your savior, confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that he's Lord. Your best works are as filthy rags, is what the Bible says. The only way to salvation is through Jesus. Salvation is the door that brings us into the kingdom. It brings us into right standing before God the Father. And in this spiritual kingdom, Jesus rules over our lives and our hearts. He rules over our lives and our hearts. Sunday mornings, pretty solid on that one. Right? But am I? My concern is have you ever you like we said daylight savings happened, and everybody like this has hit me hard this year. It's 6 p.m. I'm like, is it? It's midnight. We've been up till midnight again. It's just it hit me weird this year. But like it's dark so early, and you walk into a room, you got to flip on a switch. You didn't have to flip on last week because the sun was still out. Sometimes I feel like seeking the kingdom for believers is like flipping on a switch when you want to. I'm gonna seek the kingdom on Sunday. I seek the kingdom Wednesday night. Right now, we're doing as a family, we're doing good seeking the kingdom. We've come in, we've worshiped. I don't know if you all know this, but there's people that showed up early preparing this place, cleaning toilets, vacuuming floors, wiping off anything, like just making it presentable because family was coming in. And I look at all that and like, man, we are seeking the kingdom. That's awesome. But is it a switch we flip on and flip off? Because if so, it becomes confusing for people. And I ask myself, does his kingdom have rule over my heart? Let me let me put it like this in the context of just coming off of a week where we had an election. Thank you, God, that we're past that. Oh man, because these commercials, they'll try your patience. So, anyways, and it doesn't, it doesn't even matter. My son's like, I don't know what these commercials are about. Son, I don't know either. So if if my peace has anything to do with who gets elected, I don't know that he has rule in that area of my heart. I've given that authority to somebody else. I've given that authority to another system. Could it be make you nervous or happier or more peaceful? Like, listen, we have to look at the things in our life. What is it that we get our peace from? What is it that we rely on for our joy? Because some of this stuff we've made idle out of people and trying to get what only God can give us through other people or through other systems or through political parties or through social media. We're trying to, we're trying to milk out of that something that only God can give me to sustain me. And when I do that, I recognize He's not ruling in that area of my life. Does that make me suck as a person? No. It makes me in a point where I am learning and developing and I'm growing. So when I get nervous in the area, I have to come back and say, God, is my heart submitted to you there? And if it's not, it's not a how I feel, it's what I choose. God, I'm choosing to trust you in a season where there's a storm. I'm choosing to trust you in a season where I don't feel like trusting you because your emotions will try to trigger you into not trusting God. That's why the enemy is always at war with your emotions. Your emotions don't have wisdom. They can be helpful, but if he can trigger you to trusting yourself and not trusting God, he will do it all day long and throughout the rest of your life. That's how you can be walking with Jesus for 30 years and still not have any more spiritual maturity than the day you started following him. Because there was never a growth in saying, I'm going to trust you when things are untrustable. When the situation doesn't look like you have your hand in it at all, God, I'm still going to choose to trust you because you are more than this. Right? So when I'm talking about the good news, the kingdom of God, there's people in the context of your life that don't have a clue about what the kingdom of God is, but they are desperate to know whether they know it or not. They are desperate to know that King Jesus stepped out of earth, that heaven broke into earth. Right? We're coming into Christmas season. Now, listen, I want to tell you something right now. I'm gonna talk about Christmas for a minute. You're like, Joey, you want those people to put up your trees before Thanksgiving? No. But I don't begrudge anybody that does it. And if your trees up, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Like, listen, Christmas season, go have at it. Like, I can I can I can celebrate two things at once, right? I'm multitask like that. I can have a pie on Thanksgiving, be excited about Christmas. Like, I want to talk just for a second about Christmas today because I felt like if I wait till the week of Christmas, we'll have been robbed so much of this season because of what our culture tells us it's supposed to be about. You stop seeking his kingdom and you try to start seeking culture's kingdom. What are the hallmarks of our culture's happy Christmas? What are the hallmarks of what are the things you got to check off the list to make it a good Christmas season? And there are so many things to check off that it will wear you out and you'll be wishing to get past that day rather than remembering that's the day heaven broke into earth. That the king said, uh-uh-uh, uh I'm I'm about to set up a kingdom. I'm gonna invade this place. And how and how did he do it? The king, little town of Bethlehem, right? In this, in this unforeseen, like unless you knew the prophecies of the Old Testament, Bethlehem had no meaning to you. But he was gonna show up in Bethlehem and he wasn't gonna wasn't gonna be born in this fancy palace, but he's gonna be born outside under the stars with barn animals around him. His teenage mother, who was a virgin, by the way, this miracle, listen, one of the ways that the kingdom of God spreads is through miracles. Miracles is the invasion of the kingdom of heaven onto earth. We have a faulty idea with this word invasion. We don't like how it feels. I want to tell you right now, we need, as believers, to be invading where hell has territory. Because there's people in those territories that need to know the love of Jesus, the heartbeat of Jesus, the redemption of Jesus. Right? And so miracles is one of the ways that it happens. He's not done performing miracles. I had a friend text me a couple days ago. He was ministering in in um Northern California. They were praying over a girl who had had five knee surgeries, had one leg that was four inches shorter than the other. As they prayed for her, they said, in an instant, her leg flew out, grew out, not didn't fly out. That'd be crazy. But four inches, boom, her leg grew up, and every bit of pain left her body. Just instantly. It's a miracle. Miracles are still happening today. And when I look at the kingdom of God, I recognize that it started invading earth through a miracle. And so we have King Jesus, not born in a palace, but born and rested in a manger. And his he wasn't heralded to all of the royalty in that place. But he was made known, his arrival was made known to outcast in the field, shepherding sheep, the lowest of that society, right? And when you think about all this, you're like, man, Jesus, your kingdom is not going to look like how I think it should look. But I'm going to seek your kingdom. So when it says to me, seek the kingdom of God, what does that mean about my life as a believer? It means there's an activity involved in me following Jesus. I cannot do this. I can't just sit on my couch all day long and say, okay, Jesus, I'm seeking you. Because Jesus is dynamic, he's not static. I had a friend, dude had an incredible prayer. He'd spend all day praying. I'm like, wow, that's awesome. Who did you talk to today about Jesus? Joy, I was, I was, it was crazy. I was praying. I felt like I was seeing all this stuff and all these. I'm like, awesome. Who did you share about Jesus with? Right? Prayer time's critical. But man, the prayer time, something happens in it, that God deposits something in our life that we take it to others. I love that we get to walk in blessings so that we can be a blessing. Not that we walk in blessings just so that we can be blessed with no other purpose. That's American mentality. I want to be blessed so I can be blessed. The kingdom is, I'm gonna bless you so you can bless somebody else. But to do that, you've got to give away what I've given you to be able to get more so I can give you more. I think this is an area where we're tripped up in the body of Christ. And here's what I would say to us right now I'm gonna challenge you with this, and hopefully, this sounds a little bit harsh. I believe some of our breakthrough hasn't happened because God can't trust us with what the breakthrough means in our life. If you'd be faithful with the little, he's gonna help you be faithful with more. He's gonna give you more to be faithful with. But I believe breakthrough hasn't come for many of us because we cannot be trusted to steward what's on the other side of breakthrough. Because we're still seeking our kingdom. There's breakthrough that could happen in your life, but it might take you farther from what he has for you. I I know people that they'll go through hell in life and their prayer life will be epic, and then when things get easier, they just back off. They'll like, no, it's good now. I don't need to go to church, it's good now. I'm gonna read the Bible as it's good now. I'm not gonna be turning on worship songs on my way to work, it's good now. Like, listen, I'm not saying every single moment of your life has to be some kind of Christian-oriented moment. But I'm saying that if your days, you begin relying more on you, that if your peace comes from your bank account, your workplace, or whatever, then your peace is placed in the wrong place. You're putting it in an environment that cannot sustain it. We're halfway through a verse, okay. Now we may we made it further. This is what it says. Most people don't like this one. Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven. So, like, if you're a tactile person, if you like to touch things, feel things, like when you buy something, you want like like I just, you know, oh my new Bible, boom, boom, boom, right? Or whatever it is. I can I tell you something super weird, and you can't judge me because we're in church, you can do it afterwards. Um, I'm just kidding, you can't even do it afterwards. I would love as a kid when I would buy a new pair of shoes, or my parents would get me a new pair of shoes, I'd get it, and I'd open the box, and like it was back made back in the day when they used whatever the real glue was, and it had an aroma, right? You open up and like new shoes smell. I was like, oh, this smells incredible, right? I wanted that moment of just listen, if you're storing up treasures in heaven, what don't you get in the moment? You don't get to feel it, you don't get to touch it, you don't even really get to see it. You're just getting to trust that God, as I trust you with my life, there's things that's being stored in heaven that I won't know about till I get there. Is that crazy? They're like, there's things stacking even now as you serve the Lord. And you're not you're not serving him, so those things stack up, but there's treasures that just come as you follow him and as you're obedient to him. And it's happening in heaven. So sell your possessions, give to those in need. This will store up treasures in heaven, store up treasure for you in heaven. Does it say sell all your possessions? I'm not telling you you got to go home, put your house on the market, put your car on the market, put all your clothes on Facebook Marketplace. I'm not telling you that. But I'm saying our king gave, and so as we follow him in his kingdom, we become givers. Does that make sense? The mentality of the kingdom of heaven is to give because the king gives. He gave before we could, right? When we start talking about the tithe, recognize when we talk about tithing, it's 10%. Tithe means tenth. 10% blesses the other 90%. And what that means is God's going to be able to do more with that 90 than what you could do with the 100. And so I tithe under a principle, understanding that as I give, the rest is blessed. And the same would happen with with with uh when they would have animals, right? When a lamb would be born. It was the firstborn that would redeem the rest. Right? And so when we look at it, we understand that Jesus' death as the Lamb of God, his death meant that now the rest are blessed, you and me. Does that make sense? So literally, Jesus was God's tithe. So we can be givers because our God is a giver, and in his kingdom, giving is just how it flows. It's how it works. And when you forget that there's treasures in heaven, and when you forget that this life isn't all there is, when you forget that, you will hoard and not give. And that doesn't mean that you don't have, you can, you can use wisdom, you can have a savings account. I'm not, I don't want to this week, hey Pastor, I did it. I emptied the 401k. And uh, like I'm not there's an idea in this. Can you catch this principle? Can we not be extreme without understanding just the principle of the kingdom? Is that we give in it. Sell your possessions, give to those in need. This will store up treasures in heaven and the purses of heaven never get old, never develop holes. Your treasure will be safe, no thief can steal it, and no moth can destroy it. This season we're coming into as we seek the kingdom first, it should lead me into more peace, not more fatigue. Does that sound like a challenge? Because it might mean more peace might mean that you have to start operating with boundaries in your life. And there's some people that used to be getting let in that just drain the life out of you. And you might need to set up godly boundaries saying this is this is how long you can come in, this is how long you can come in for. But there will be people that will abuse the relationship as long as you let them. This is a side note. I don't I didn't have this in the notes. I don't know who this is for. Boundaries are a helpful thing. Uh they're a God-given thing. Guard your heart above all else, right? Um cool. If you need more insight into that, talk to me later. All right. This season should lead us closer to Jesus, more into peace, further from fatigue. And this season, we remember this, it offers a world that is still weary, the thrill of hope. The kingdom of God, this is interesting. As you read through scripture, we recognize that it has come, right? Because the king has come. And if you look at scripture, it is still coming. So it's present and it's still arriving. It's a weird thing to think about. But it's one of the reasons we see sometimes you pray over something and healing, boom, it happens. And other times you don't and you don't see a healing happen. Like you pray and you don't see the fullness of that healing. Or there's times where you just see like you see bits and pieces of the kingdom, but not in its fullness. It has come and it is still coming. And as it is still coming, we're still gonna be pushing into everything the king has for us. Are y'all with me today? All right, come on now. Listen, I said I'm gonna I'm gonna just you turn back to this. I said a couple months ago. I would love this church to be an amen church. Like, this is not a life support congregation where y'all just sit there, boop, boop, and then I make a at least maybe a halfway funny joke, you know, boop, boop. Like, all right? It's okay to laugh in church and amen in church. This is not this isn't easy to do, by the way, just in case you're wondering. Yeah. Especially when everybody looks at you like you have a third eye, okay? Like it's like all right. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will be. Man, I would spend some time this week and think about it. Like, man, where are my treasures? Let me put it like this: where's the desire of my heart? Where's the desire of my heart? He's about to shift gears, coming in 35. Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. This feels like a shift in gears, right? Anybody like if we'd have just read through all that other stuff about the kingdom of God and now it's like, hey, be dressed for service. And what outfit is that, God? Right. Like, be dressed for service, keep the lamps burning. It's interesting because Jesus was with them, but he was going to be going from them and then returning again, but they didn't have that on their mind. All they know is Jesus is with them right now. Jesus, you're in front of me. You're talking to me. Like Peter's like, you're talking to me. I hear you. You're right here. Like you are my master. Why am I going to be waiting for you to come back? Right? So these are some things that they wouldn't understand in its fullness until he was gone. But we understand because Jesus says, I am going so that another can come, the Holy Spirit, but I will return. And so we are in a moment right now where we are waiting for his arrival, for his return. Praise God. That we have a king that's coming back. He didn't just come, do a few cool things, and then bail on us. He's a king that is a soon-coming king. He's a king that's returning, and he's going to make everything right and set everything right. Right? So he's a king that's returning, and he's saying to them, check this out, be dressed for service. What does that mean? In that culture, in the Near Eastern culture in that time, they would have worn long tunics, right? I don't really rock those anymore. The guys don't, at least around here, right? So you wouldn't, this wouldn't be on your radar. Most guys wearing, you know, pants, shorts, whatever. These guys are wearing long tunics, and it says, be dressed for service. What that meant was, like King James translation was gird your loins. And everybody's like, I don't even know what that means. And it sounds kind of ooh, right? So but what they would do is they would take the the excess of their garment and they would take it and they would gather it up and they'd pull it back between their legs. So now the garment's going between their legs, they pull it up and around, and either they would take it and part it and tie it in the front, so now their garment is up above their knees, or they would take it and tuck it into their belt. And this is what they would do when they were preparing to run or preparing to work. When they were preparing to run or work, because you're not going to be running, sprinting somewhere, and you got your tunic flopping about like a crazy person. You're going to take it up, you're going to gird your loins, you're going to take that thing up, and you're ready to go. You're not going into battle with a floppy tunic, you're not going to work in a floppy tunic, you're not running in a floppy tunic. Right? Ain't no floppy tunics in the church, right? We are all called. It's crazy, right? Get the excess, get ready for it. And what he's saying is like when the master comes home, you shouldn't have to get ready for his arrival. You should just be there ready for it. Edge your seat. I'm tuniced up. I'm ready. I got it all tied up. My stuff's ready to I'm ready. I'll put it into days, I'll put it into days terminology. This is the vernacular you'll get. You put your crocs into sports mode.

unknown 24:44

Right?

SPEAKER_00 24:45

Jesus said, put your crocs in sports mode. Don't have the little, anybody, right? You on the same page with me? Don't have it flopping over the front. Put that strap in the back so you can run. Your croc won't fly off. Like, I need you to be ready. When the master comes back, you're ready. You're doing work. You're prepared. Check this out. He says, be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning. In that time, they would have had these little sort of terracotta clay lamps that you would have to consistently put oil into and you'd have to consistently trim the wick. They would have used like um fibers from plants, right? To be their wick, and they would light that, and every so often they'd have to trim it, and they'd have to keep like you had to maintain it to keep the light of your lamp burning. Joey, what does that have to do with anything? Keeping the lamp burning is a way of saying that my spiritual vigilance will require active maintenance. Joey, what does that mean? That me staying attentive to the kingdom, attentive to when the master returns, what does that mean? It means that there's a maintenance, a spiritual discipline that needs to be a habit in my life. Right now, you're sitting in what is a spiritual discipline. You're sitting in a church service, the gathering together of other believers. There'll be prayer that happens after this service that's not where I'm not even involved in it. It'll be it'll be one follower of Jesus praying for another follower of Jesus. It'll be one person who's fatigued being prayed for by another person who is not as fatigued, maybe in that moment. When one is weary, the other comes and lifts their arms. This is what we are called into. And so this is an area where we must be vigilant and staying together. I listen, I'll tell you this. I don't see long-term many believers grow in their maturity being isolated from the body of Christ. I I maybe you know somebody that is, but I rarely see it. I don't know if I can ever point to a person. I often see somebody that their theology will get a little bit weird the further they are away from the body of Christ, and then they'll just abandon Christ completely. We we are we are called as family. Listen, you see something funky in my life, and it doesn't matter if I got the title pastor, you need to come say, hey Joey, it seems like I noticed you're getting angry a lot lately. Oh man. I was feeling it on the inside. I didn't know it was showing. Man, would you pray for me about that? Like, can listen, if we're gonna be a vulnerable, you gotta allow me, if we're gonna be a vulnerable church, you gotta allow me to be a vulnerable pastor. Right? Can't be up here pretending like it's all together. It is not all together. It is not. My wife's like in the second room. It is not, it's not all together, it's not all figured out. And um there's times where I leave, I'm like, was that too harsh? Was that too hard? Like just trying to, I don't want my stuff to, I just want the Lord's stuff to come. I just want the Lord's heart to be felt here. But he's using a human to bring it. And so sometimes I might miss the mark, something I have to come back and say, you know what, I said this the other week, and that was really my frustration. That wasn't the word, that was Joey, right? But we got to be family in this. One of the things that we have to practice this vigilance in keeping the lamp lit, right? To keep the lamps burning, to keep the oil in it, prayer life. Joey, I don't even know how to pray. The fact that you could communicate that to me and talk means that you know how to pray. Because conversation is prayer and prayer is conversation. But the more you feel like you have to edit your prayer to be acceptable by God means you have a false idea about who God really is. Because if he is Abba Father, he's daddy God, my kids just come to me saying crazy stuff. I love it. I love it. 6'7, 6'7, right? Like they just, I don't even, what are we even talking about right now? What's happening? And but I love, I love that conversation. But here's what I recognize Abba Father is up there. It's like, Joey, Joey, just talk to me regular. God, I don't, I don't know if I'm really giving you rule everywhere. And I don't know a good way to say that. I was dealing that this week, I was driving down the road preparing my Am I giving you rule everywhere?

SPEAKER_01 29:46

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

I feel like I feel like I feel like I have days when I'm good at flipping the switch, but I have days when I'm tired. And it's not about your kingdom. Isn't it amazing what fatigue can do to a body? Man. Last night trying to sleep, get ready for church. I'm excited, try to lay down. It's not happening. House is a little bit hot because we're this insane part of nature right now where it's like winter in the morning and fall in the afternoon. You know what I mean? Like it's getting hot and cold and hot, and that the house was just a little hot. I was just too hot right now. Can't sleep. I turned the fan, right, trying to get conditions perfect. I look at the clock. They say don't ever look at the clock. I don't know why, but that's what they say. Bad dreams or something, bad luck. I don't know. And so don't look at the clock. I looked at the clock. I couldn't stand it. It was midnight. I like to get up at 4:30 on Sunday mornings. I just want to go over everything, add some things, take some things. I just, you're like, Joey, that's maybe why some things are a little crazy, you say. You added that thing at 4 45. We can tell right now, I'll tell you. Right? And I was like, oh, but if you have consecutive nights like that, fatigue, it just wears you out. If you if you fall into a season of fatigue, man, it can be brutal. I want to take a moment to stop and pray over anybody that's in a season of fatigue right now. Lord, I I I thank you, God. I thank you that you meet our needs. And Lord, there's some people in this room right now where they are full-on exhausted. They're exhausted emotionally, they're exhausted physically, they're exhausted mentally. And I pray right now that they would have a supernatural encounter with you where you would begin to fill their tanks, that you would begin to give them energy that they didn't have before, that you would begin to just fill them fresh, Lord, and only the way that you could do it. And Lord, I pray that you would then give them wisdom about how to steward the energy. Because Lord, I know in my life there's times when I just waste energy on the wrong things. So Lord, I just thank you right now. For those that are just fatigued and exhausted, there's no condemnation for them. Lord, peace. Rest for them. I pray over those who are struggling in the nighttime. Lord, that the rest of the righteous would be sweet, that it would be sound. Lord, that dreams would be peaceful. Lord, I thank you right now that there'd even be encounters with heaven as we sleep. We thank you for that in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. There's things we have to do to tend to that lamp. And it requires activity on our behalf, right? I believe, I believe we're seeing a shift in the body of Christ where we begin to realize oh, there's things that only God can do, and we will give him glory and honor for that, but we're going to recognize there's things he calls us to do, and we need to be responsible for that. Can I prove it to you right now? Here it goes. Be dressed for service, keep your lamps burning. These are our responsibilities. These are this is your responsibility as a follower of Jesus Christ. As though you're waiting for the master's return from a wedding feast. Then you'll be ready to open the door and let him in in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready for this, check this out. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be what? Rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat. Now we're reading this in the context 2025, Virginia, but in their context, as they're hearing it, in a Greco-Roman world, nobody had ever heard of a master serving the servants. It was like mind-boggling. This, like this concept did not exist. The master's gonna come home and he's gonna have the servant sit and he's then gonna put on the apron and he's gonna bring out the food and he's gonna prepare the meal and he's gonna serve the servants. This was like, we read it now, and we're like, oh, that's sweet. There's a reward. Jesus is gonna feed me some Mickey D's. Right? Whatever it, and you're like, no, no, no, no. In their culture, this was outlandish. This was like, this doesn't, what are you, Jesus? What are you talking about? Were you up at 4 30 this morning? This doesn't make sense. Like, what are you even saying right now? He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn, but whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready, who are ready. That's underlinable, that's highlighable. There is something on our behalf where we must be ready. Man, we don't preach ready a whole lot. We preach how can I feel better? How can I have more peace? How can I have these five steps to a happier life? Jesus is saying, listen, if you're following me, I need you to do a couple things. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbors yourself. And in doing that, be ready for my return and arrival. What is that readiness? How can you be ready? The first step is you got to have a relationship with Jesus. You cannot be ready unless He is your Savior. And we cannot perpetrate to anybody else that there's any other way to get into the kingdom except that they could be ready by having a relationship with Jesus. You with me on that? Understand this. If the homeowner knew, then he shifts gears again. This is incredible. This was probably my favorite part of study during the week. Understand this. If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. Now listen, you read this line once or twice, you're like, man, that's right, that makes sense. You read it like 16 times, all of a sudden you start thinking, this kind of sounds like home alone. No? Just me? You little Kevin McAllister, and you heard the guy you heard, Harv? Right? Marv? Marvin Harry, thank you, bride. Marvin Harry, you hear them, they're coming. And you like, you gotta go. It's like I gotta protect the house. Gotta get it ready. I was, I was, I was reading this, and I'm thinking about home alone. And it's kind of a dumb thought, but you're like, here's this little kid going through getting everything ready for who's coming because he knows when they're coming. And I'm like, man, in my life, I know Jesus is coming back, but there are so many off days for me. No? For you, like for me, there's a lot of days where I'm not preparing to get ready. Because the thief, he comes like a thief in the night, right? Like, understand this: if a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. He's gonna be ready for it. You also must be ready, man. It seems like that's an important word. Because it seems like he keeps coming up. You also must be ready when all the time for the Son of Man will come when I least expect it. When least expected, he's gonna show up. Peter asked, you gotta love Peter. Peter asked, Lord, is that illustration just for us or for everyone? Let's keep reading. And the Lord replied, A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his household. Excuse me, the responsibility of managing his other household, servants and feeding them. So, like, say that again because I read that terribly. A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. But what if the servant thinks, my master won't be back for a while? And he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk. Let's go to the next verse. The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant in pieces. And and you and he will cut the servant in pieces and banish him with the unfaithful. It's scary. Right? Like you'll he's saying you will be forever separated from God. Now, listen, I think what this calls us to is sobriety in our spirituality. Sober, right? Like, man, he's coming back. Can I tell you? You're gonna hear this message. I'm gonna preach this message, and there's still gonna be days where I miss it. And I love that his word also includes even when I'm faithless, he remains faithful. Man, I'm so so grateful. But I cannot in my life say, I'm going to rely so much on your faithfulness that I never serve you ever. And it like if people are not gonna serve him, if this wasn't gonna be an issue, he wouldn't have brought it up. Man, it it rocked me when I read. Can we jump back one, Robbie, to verse 45? Verse 45, but what if the servant thinks my master won't be back for a while and he begins beating the other servants? Man, like I know so many people that have been hurt in church because servants have been beating servants. Partying and getting drunk. It's like, yeah, I'm a servant, but I'm gonna do life my way until I think things are maybe gonna get more serious with God. Man, I've been wrestling with this. Okay, we can jump back now. Next screen. The master will return, cut the servant in pieces, and banish him with the unfaithful. And a servant who knows what the master wants but isn't prepared and doesn't carry out those instructions will be severely punished. Man, we I I love some warm, fuzzy scripture verses. Right? Could you imagine popping this thing in a holiday card and shipping it out to all your family? Merry Christmas. And a servant who knows what the master wants and isn't prepared, doesn't carry out the instructions, will be severely punished. Happy New Year. Could you imagine that? Putting that thing in a Christmas card. But someone who does not know and then does something wrong will be punished only lightly. Not everybody has the same information. We got bad news. You're currently getting the information. You're welcome. Someone who does not know and then does something wrong will be punished lightly. Ashley, did you come for me? But someone, excuse me, when someone has been given much, much will be required in return. And when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. You know, um, I think the thing about being in love with Jesus is that we can be sober to all this. And we can allow it to correct us. Because this is what it should do. Look, right? The Bible says the Lord disciplines those he loves. Maybe you're getting disciplined today. I was reading it this week, I was like, I'm getting spanked by this word. And as the correction comes, you hear, I just love you. The Father's heart is when correction comes, I love you. He's preparing this message in my man cut into pieces. I gotta preach that today. I guess the thought hits me. Why why would Jesus not? We know he's on his way to the cross. Why would he be basically mutilated? By his beating. Scripture says, unrecognizable as a man, flesh ripped apart. I accidentally bumped against a nail the other day, just one nail. He gets a crown of thorns shoved on his skull.

unknown 44:25

Right?

SPEAKER_00 44:25

And sometimes you're like, does anybody get uncomfortable about thinking about the details of the crucifixion? Like it's like, it's hard, it's hard. Being mocked. Fully stripped to be embarrassed in front of everybody. And when he's whipped, it's like fragments of bone and all these things in the whip, and it's just grabbing into his skin, and like it's hard to like. And he's hanging on the cross, like gasping for breath. Man, it's it's I think it's rough to think about. But unless we do, I I think if you forget about how brutal it was, what was he what was he sparing me from to go through that? And now I'm gonna play games with my faith. Jesus, you you did that? They stabbed you in the side? Like they they everything that you could consider that could be done. They did, they're tearing out his beard, they're like ripping him apart, and he's like, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. You and I are the joy that was before him. Relationship restored. The kingdom was invading earth, and we could be a part of the kingdom. Who the Son is set free is free indeed. Listen, the kingdom of God is a jailbreak into which us who are bound and like locked in our sin can be people that find freedom in him. And not just freedom to do whatever we want, but freedom to live with reckless abandonment to what he's called us to. Freedom to love on those who are unlovely, freedom to give to those who don't have anything, regardless of what they could offer us. Freedom to just to be his hands and feet in this world. And I think about the cross, and I think about what he's heading to, and I think about Christmas season, and just in my heart, I'm like, how can I play games with my faith? And I and it's like I wrestle with it because I'm like, family, if you knew how often I get it wrong. Man. I got frustrated last week. Got home after church. I was just tired. One of the kids said something, and like they didn't say anything wrong. I just took it wrong. And I got fired up. And then I handled it wrong. And then this would this was the this was the the very next emotion. Hmm, man of God. Listen, if my ministry to my family has failed, my ministry has failed. I'm thankful that like my wife and my kids know, like, dad is far from perfect. But I do pray that there are moments where they're like, you know what, but he can own it. And go to go to us and ask for forgiveness. Go to Jesus, ask for forgiveness. I think when when we ask for forgiveness, we're seeking the kingdom. Right? If you're in the kingdom of God, and if you've called Jesus to be your savior and your Lord, then you're on mission. Now, your job can be whatever your job is, but your mission every single day, listen, why don't you try this this week? Wake up with this thought. God, who is the one person? I want to search for the one person you want me to impact their life today. Years ago we were moving to Montana, and uh I had a Ashley was gonna fly and I was driving across the country. And um, a lot of time to be by myself. I'm not that entertaining, right? So, like, just I was somewhere in North Dakota, and I was thinking, like, I was like, what what if what if we got this wrong? What if we weren't supposed to do this? The whole family's like coming out. I'm like, and I just praying it, and I felt like God say, Joey, I'm sending you to Montana for one person. I'm like, well, would you like to tell me who? Like, this would be helpful to the mission. If I'm on mission, like, you know, having my target, you know, the Death Star, let me know where am I going, you know, stay on target and all that. And he told me, I'm sending you for one person. And then he never told me who. And you know what that forces you to do? You got to treat everybody like they're the one. It changes the way you live your day. But what if you wake up tomorrow and you're like, who is the one person? Now you might get done with your day and you're like, it was the guy at Walmart, for sure. For sure. Uh, it was Carolyn HR. That was who it was for today, right? It was, oh, it was third grader Bobby who always picks his nose, right? Like I, you know, it who some days you're gonna get done and you'll know who the one was. There'll be other days where you're not sure. But but having that intentionality, because the one thing we've read from today is to seek the kingdom requires intentionality. It requires intensity. Someone had to share the gospel with you for you to come to Jesus, right? I mean, I hear stories of people in some of these countries where the gospel is forbidden and they have dream encounters with Jesus and come to faith. I haven't heard that story from anybody in this room. But if you're in this room and you know Jesus and call him Lord, then somebody had to share Jesus with you. Maybe it was hard for you to come to Jesus because there was other people's other people that they mocked you with the Bible rather than shared the Bible. They beat you with the Bible rather than shared the Bible. And I know that's some people's story. And they still, the grace of God came to Jesus. My priority, our priority in the kingdom is not telling people how bad they are, but letting them know how good God is. I didn't come in this place today to tell you how bad you are, how bad you're doing. I feel like if the report card just came out, I don't want to show my parents, right? Like it's kind of that feeling, those vibes. And I don't want to get to the end of this message and say, man, look, look at all the ways you're getting life wrong. I'm gonna say, no. Look at how good your God is, that He loves you so much that He would course correct you. You'd have a Sunday morning where you can course correct and say, Man, I've been going this direction, but God, you're saying, no, no, that's not the best. Go this direction. You were heading down this path, and on a Sunday morning, God said, No, I love you so much, switch directions, go down this path I have for you. There would be a shaking, a loving waking up and saying, Listen, you're in slumber right now in your faith. You're in slumber in your spirituality. Let me lovingly wake you up and saying, You don't have all the time in the world. So now act like there is no tomorrow and love somebody today. Invade the kingdom of hell with the kingdom of God today. Through miracles, through signs, through wonders, through sharing the gospel, through feeding the poor, through helping the sick. The gospel has feet and they're yours. Man, I just want to let you know you are loved by God. And if you've been missing the mark like I have, man, you can come and say, Lord, I just ask you to forgive me. But God, I thank you for your goodness to correct me. I thank you for your discipline to guide me. Lord, I want to say, as a pastor in this church, Lord, as a brother in Christ to the people in this room right now, I just want to say, Lord, may we be a people. Our desire is to be a people that have the tunic all tuned up. To be a people that are ready and waiting. And Lord, that we right now say we look forward to the day where you prepare a seat for us. Man, that the master would serve the servants as wild. Lord, we look forward to that day, but God, we'd say until that day comes that we will be on mission, searching for the one, whoever the one is on Monday, for each person in this room, Lord. May we be courageous, may we be intentional. But God, we pray that we would do it with an anointing from heaven. There's people that are in bondage, Lord, and we pray there be supernatural freedom that would come. And there's people that we've been ministering to, some of us for years maybe. And it doesn't seem like the ship's close to turning anytime soon. Lord, we pray for a spiritual breakthrough. And only the way that you can do it, it's not in how we say it, it's not in how we word the gospel or getting our verbiage right. God, we just thank you right now that we'd be on mission this week. And that there'd be many that would be reached, and that your kingdom would advance. And Lord, I just thank you as we seek the kingdom above all else, man, everything we need, you're going to take care of. Thank you for that. Thank you for that. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You stand with me, family.