VBC SERVICE 3/12/25 BROTHER CURTIS

LUKE CHAPTER 12 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, if you will, uh we're gonna be picking up in Luke chapter 12. Uh the next question comes in verse 14. If you were here last week, we actually skipped this question, and I did that on purpose to kind of connect some dots, to connect a couple points for us. Uh we were finishing up last week on the question that comes in verse 26. And if you haven't been here, I know we've got some that uh hadn't been here uh maybe throughout the the last month or two. We've been going through a series of the questions that Jesus asked. And so we started in Matthew just going chronologically. Now we're going back in in Luke and uh Mark, Luke, and John and picking up the questions that um are recorded in those Gospels that weren't covered in in Matthew, and so it's a little less, uh it's a little more sporadic, but even here uh last week we covered the question in verse 26 of Luke chapter 12. Um if you then be able, um be not able, uh if you then be not able uh to do that which is least, why take you thought for the rest? And so Jesus is asking that question of, you know, if you can't even do the small things, uh whether it's incapability, or I would even suggest, even if it's inability, if you can't do the small things, if you can't get the small things right, why are we worried about the big things? Uh at the same time, we talked about how people, we kind of finished up that conversation. People that have, you know, I talked about the phrase I use, it's a pipe dream. It's these big monumental dreams, or I'm gonna do all these great things, and yet they they can't seem to accomplish even the most minuscule tasks. And so uh we kind of stop there, but it's not disconnected. A verse that comes before that, a question that came before that, that then we'll connect here tonight, comes in verse 14, and he says unto them, uh, again, this is Jesus. He said, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? Now, that's an odd question for Jesus to ask. Like Jesus is the judge, he is the divider, he's the wisdom. Uh, but he's asking this man who's come to him, asking him for advice. He's saying, Hey, who made me judge over you? Um now, once again, it's not disconnected, but verse 26 kind of puts that in context. When it comes in verse 14, it's a little harder to sort of digest until we come behind that question. But the it's the same uh point that he's making here if we if we kind of connect these dots. Uh he's saying, Listen, if you can't even do the small things, if you if you don't even do what you know to do, why are you coming and asking me for advice? You know what to do. I've given you the word of God, you have the scriptures, you know the law of Moses, you know what the word says, and you don't even do that. You don't even do those things, and now you want me to come and expound upon that or give you deeper details. And it's amazing how many people uh will come and ask many, many uh minute questions uh of their pastors and yet uh have glaring problems that we're just skipping over. And I've told you guys before, and just for me in ministry, had a great conversation with another local pastor yesterday. We just met in a gas station uh by chance and just having that conversation, and he he brought it up, he said, Man, I get so weary of these guys just wanting to argue about every little detail. And I said, Man, I just tell them all the time, y'all go argue. You're both gonna think you won. The loser will be the cause of Christ. I'm gonna go lead people to Jesus. Y'all tell me how that worked out. I don't have time for the minutiae. And it's not that I don't care, it's not that it doesn't matter. It's just that we've got to get the big things right before we worry about the small things. And so um, if if we pick up there in verse 14, he follows that with this with this statement in verse 15. He says to him, Take heed and beware of covetousness. He's like, You're worried about all these, you know, doing all these great spiritual things and having a great impact, and and you know, uh all these questions. You want me to answer these questions? He says in verse 15, take heed, beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. You you can have lots of stuff. He who dies with the most toys, right? That's the old American adage. But the reality is Jesus says, listen, that's not what makes your life. It's not what makes a life worth living. You can have all the stuff in the world and be miserable. We all have seen people that have that. Um I would also caution it, it's it's not a matter of that there's anything wrong with having things. He's just saying, listen, you it doesn't, that's not what the meaning of life comes from. If you think those things are gonna bring meaning or purpose or fulfillment or somehow bring you ultimately salvation, uh then you place them as an idol. We've talked about that so many times, whether it's a spouse or whether it's a child or whether it's a vacation or whether it's a trip or an opportunity. Man, there's people this week, spring break, they're getting away, man. If we could just get to this trip, life will be better. If we can just get away for a couple days, our marriage will be better. No, it won't. It's the same two people. Nothing changed. It's it's just let it be a couple really great days with your spouse or with your family, an opportunity to rest or relax or or catch your breath, and it can, and that'll be glorious. But if you expect it to be something that it can't be, you'll ruin that very thing. You'll destroy the very idol, and that's the way it's built. And so these things that we amass that we think as Americans, this will bring me meaning and it'll bring me purpose. And and um, and I've I've shared that illustration so many times before, but it doesn't matter what object you buy, you think, man, if I could just get this, that'll, man, I'll be happy. Anybody here found that thing yet? Because I bought a lot of stuff. I've been suckered in on some of those, you know, 2 o'clock in the morning, you know, gensu knife ads, man. If I just had that thing or this sporting, you know, this sporting goods catalog, man, they come in and all these, if I just had that, well, if I could just get that, that'll make, no, it'll make me more broke, is what it'll make me. That's how that works. It's it doesn't change anything. And then he gives us this parable, and we know the parable, but a lot of times, again, we teach it separately. But the parable that we know well is in response to this statement that Jesus is making. It's about the abundance of things. He says in verse 16 through 21, and again, you've got to get all this. He says, the ground of a certain man uh brought forth plentifully. Now, again, who made the ground bring forth plentifully? God's blessing this man, okay? There's nothing wrong with being blessed. We're not mad at the guy for being blessed. God blessed him. And so don't, some sometimes I think we are so quick to go, oh, well, we just, you know, we don't want no, God blesses him. The problem is in verse 17, again, he thinks that that makes him somehow a better person. He thought within himself, verse 17, he doesn't even say it out loud, he's just thinking, he says, Man, what shall I do? Because I have no room to bestow my fruits. And he said, and he and and he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater, and out there I will bestow all my fruits and my goods, and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. And this is the American dream. I've gathered it all up, I've amassed enough, and now I can just, you know, just enjoy life. Right? That's what we we think is gonna bring us happiness. If I can just get to that place. And but God says in verse 20, and again, you gotta get verse 20 and 21. God says, Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee. Then whose sh shall all these things be which thou hast provided? You can gather up all this stuff, but one day this stuff is all gonna be somebody else's stuff. And you thought this was gonna, this was it, this was meaning, this was purpose, this was what mattered most. And God Himself, the same God that blessed him, said, Yeah, you you missed it. You missed the opportunity to use what I had for my glory, what I gave you, what I entrusted you. You didn't steward it well. That's the biblical concept. I gave you these things, I trusted you with it, and instead of you using it for my glory, you thought it was all about you. And so we see that his life uh seemingly is cut short. And then it says in verse number 21, so is he that layeth up treasure for himself. But I would submit to you, that's not the end of the verse. And is not rich toward God. The same God that required his soul of him is the same God that blessed the man. And sometimes I think we as Christians almost shy away from blessing because we don't want to be blessed, because the more we're blessed, the more responsible we're gonna be, and we're afraid to receive the blessing because if we get that, then God's gonna hold us more accountable because to whom much is given, much is required. And so it's almost like sometimes we'll shy away from that in our own life, because the reality is we we either just don't want to have to have that burden or we don't feel worthy of it. As Christians, sometimes we I think we misunderstand it. He's he doesn't say there's anything wrong with having treasure. He says, if you're not rich toward God, wealth is going to be a problem. This same man, God is the man that God is the one that blessed the man. He entrusted this man with much. So much so that he didn't have room to bestow it, he didn't have room to to to put it all up. He could have said, Man, my barns are full. You know what? I could. I mean, you know what the logical answer is there, right? Like I've got more than enough. Like my barns, my biggest dreams have all been satisfied. Like I could I could share with the community, I could help somebody else. I could be a blessing to somebody that didn't. Maybe their property didn't put, hey, what do I do with all this extra? I could be a blessing. And instead, you know what? I want to build bigger, I'm gonna I'm gonna rest more, I'm gonna relax, and God says, You miss the point. Again, I don't think there's anything wrong with being blessed unless we let the blessing cause us to forget God. If you're not rich toward God, you've missed the point. And I've shared this before, but one of the financial counselors in our life, um, as we sort of started you know studying and trying to learn some things, uh, one of the first things that that he told us, he said, Listen, I want you to know, and while I'm trying to coach you on some things about how you can you know be a better steward of the resources God's given you and multiply those and use them like the talents and and see those you know multiplied, he said, that's that's a good thing. It's a biblical concept. God wasn't God's not mad at wealth. Wealth is amoral. God wasn't mad at Solomon or David or you know, I mean all the people I've told you all those things, and God's not mad at that. But he said, here's the deal. I want you to know as a financial coach, I'm praying for you that if when you get these blessings, if the if if God blesses you, if just like he did this former, if God blesses you and those blessings are gonna cause you to do what Israel did over and over again, it's gonna cause you to forget God. He said, I want you to know, as your financial coach, I'm praying these don't work for you, that God won't let this work. This works, this system works, this plan works, and and and it'll it'll generate wealth. But I want you to know, I'm praying for you, that if that wealth is gonna draw you away from God, I pray God doesn't bless you. You can plant the same seed in the same field. One year it yields, one year it doesn't. It's God that gives the increase, right? And so, how many times do we see Israel? Man, they they are blessed by God. They come into the promised land, God gives them these cities they didn't build and farms that they didn't plant, and they forgot the God that gave it to them. And how many times are we guilty of that? That's what this man does. And Jesus turns to his disciples in verse 22, and he says, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life. Like this guy missed it. It's amazing how many times he'll he'll speak a parable and then he kind of turns to his disciples and he breaks it down like he really sort of brings it down to sort of to the lower level. And he says, Take no thought for your life what you shall eat, neither for the body what you should put on. Life is more than meat and body more than raiment. And then he starts down this conversation which is so needful for us to be reminded of. Verse 24, consider the birds, right? Consider the ravens. They need to sow or reap. They don't have barns. I take care of the birds, right? Aren't you better than them? I know that's controversial in the modern world, right? You're you're better than the animals. No, the Bible says you are. You're better than the birds. Jesus didn't die for the birds, right? But he died for you and he says, I take care of them. What are you worried about? Like, trust me. Which of you taking thought, verse 25, can add uh to his stature? One cubic. You can't grow. We were joking just last week. Most of the guys in the Blake family, um, they stopped growing somewhere in high school and then they have this growth spurt after high school. Uh, you know, I think Wade grew about six inches after high school or more. We've got a couple uncles that grew about a foot after high school. I stopped growing about my freshman year and leveled off. And I was really excited for quite some time. I'm about to give up on the growth spurt, all right? It just hasn't come. Um, but you know what? I can think about it, I can want it, I can try, I can he says, you can't make that happen. And then he asked this question in verse 26 as we're working through these questions. If you then be not able to do that which is least, why take you thought for the rest? That's so now we're connecting those dots back together. Just what we covered last week. We've got to come to terms with the fact that uh in a statement, there's just certain people in relationship, if you follow Christ together, there's conversations that stand out. And one of the questions, the conversations that I'll never forget having with Brother Marty Herman that now serves in Mexico, he there's a there's a phrase he uses, and it was just it was, it's it's like any kind of coaching, you know. If you've ever like coached a team or coach, you say things and you say it and you say it and you say it, and you try and say it different ways until finally one day it clicks or it sticks or it makes sense to that person on that day. And and the way it clicked for Marty is he says it this way, you I've got to remind myself I'm not the master of the universe. And maybe for you that clicks. I'm not the master of the universe. I it's not all about me. I can't make myself grow an inch, I can't feed myself, I can't make the crops grow. All these things that we consume ourselves with, we act like we are. We act like we're in charge, as if we control all things. And that's really where most of our frustration comes from, if we're honest, is when life seems out of control. When it seems like I can't control this, this is bigger than me, it's beyond me, and then we get anxious and then we get fearful, and then and suddenly we start, you know, worrying and wondering and losing sleep over these things that we can't control at the beginning of it all, you didn't control it to begin with. And then God goes on, Jesus goes on, he gives them more food for that. Think this through. It seems scary to what we would say. It feels like giving up control, like acknowledging God's role in your life. It feels like we're giving up from control. Saying, okay, God, I trust you with it. You never had control to begin with. You were never the master of the universe. Just because you acknowledge that, it's not giving that control. God had it the whole time. And when we do that, we it it's it's really, while it feels like we're giving up something, it's really liberating. There's a peace that comes with it, it's freeing to understand. Listen, I can't control these things. I can trust God with it, I can have faith. And God, as I talked about Sunday, He's never left you hanging yet. God always comes through. There's, you know, it rains on the just and the unjust. It doesn't mean problems don't come, but the reality is this: He says in verse 27, not just the birds, consider the flowers. Consider the lilies. How they grow and they toil not, they spin, and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. And if God so clothed the grass, which days in the field and tomorrow is cast in heaven, how much more will he clothe you? God cares more for you than the grass, than the flowers, than the birds. Oh, you have a little faith. Seek not what you should eat or what you should drink. Neither for you to doubt be doubtful of mine. It's amazing to me if you study, especially American culture, the amount of time we spend. Th thinking about what we're gonna eat or drink is unbelievable. Like if you just do the research on that, I was telling somebody uh just a couple weeks ago we were talking about parenting children, and I remember when we had young children, I remember seeing the research that the number three cause of friction in a marriage, we know number one, you know, sex, money. Number three is feeding the kids. It's like that's insane. But it's real. You guys, you work in an office. Hey, let's go get something. There's a 30-minute argument about where you're gonna go eat. And everybody in the you could eat at any one of the restaurants, everybody, they all have something you'd like, right? He says, What are you doing? You're consumed with this stuff, and I think us maybe more than anybody ever. Don't be consumed with that. And then he says also, neither be doubtful of mind, for all these things do the nations of the world seek after. And he says this in verse 30. You guys remember that God knows what you need. He knew before you acknowledge it, he knows before you bring it to him. He wants us. He says, Call it to me. Cast all your cares on me because I care for you. But God knows what you need of before you ask. Which then, if you haven't heard me teach on that, it's that concept. It's it's the tithe principle, it's the acknowledging God's goodness principle, it's the prayer principle. If God knows what you have need of before you ask, why does he wait till you pray to provide it? And we we're like, I don't understand. Why would God do that? Is he just that arrogant? I heard some comedian mocking God this week, that same thing. Is he just this God that so needs his ego fed that he set the world up that way? Don't pretend you don't understand what it is to be acknowledged. We're created in the image of God. You know what he wants? He wants to be acknowledged. He wants us to acknowledge where all good things come from. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. And he says, Listen, if you'll acknowledge me, if you'll call to me, I'll answer. He knows what you need. But how many times I believe it said he's just waiting on us to invite him in. Invite him into the process. What if this rich man in verse 17 had invited God into the equation and said, Hey, Lord, man, the crop's really put on this year. I need I need you to show me what to do with it. It would have changed everything. And instead, he put his plan to work. And then he says in verse 31, uh, you probably know this verse, but it helps to know where it belongs in scripture. Rather, seek you first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you. This is not the one we normally quote, it's not the passage we normally refer to. We normally go to Matthew, but here it is in Luke. Seek you first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you. God already knows what you need, but seek him first, seek his kingdom first, and he'll take care of you, he'll bless you, he'll provide all those things that you think you need because you actually do need some of those. You need food and you need shelter and you need clothes. And he says, Listen, if you'll trust me, I'll provide those things for you. And then he goes on, he says this in verse 32, fear not, little flock. Is that the right next verse? Yes. Uh, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. He says, Listen, you think God already knows what you need and you're all worried about it. Seek his kingdom and all these things. And then he says this, and so we so miss verse 32. It's God's good pleasure, it's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. He wants to bless you with things that will then serve his kingdom, with things that will be a blessing to him. But then he says this in verse 33, sell all that you have and give alms to provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in heaven that faileth not. Where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. So we see here that Jesus is telling him, He says, look, God knows what you need. He's already told them that. Seek him first, he'll add these things to you. It's his pleasure, it's his good pleasure to bless you for his kingdom. Then he says, This if you'll do that, if you'll trust God, sell all you have and give all. He says, Listen, if you'll trust God, if you'll be faithful with your finances, he'll provide you, you can provide yourself, he even says, with bags which wax not old and treasures in heaven that faileth not. There's there's an image in the Old Testament that I believe Jesus is referring back to where he says, Listen, it's it's like you have bags with holes in it. You make a living, you provide all these things to put them in bags with holes. And I know I've preached on that recently, but it's that idea, I think, so many times in our finances, you ever have one of those seasons where you just, it seems like it's never enough. No matter how much you make, there's always something. It's, it's, it's always, man, it's it, it's just, it's like you're putting it in a bag with holes in it. But then he says, Listen, if you'll trust me, you can provide yourself with bags which wax not old. There's there's also this idea of, you know, he talks about you don't put new wine and old wineskins. This idea of, listen, you you there's a way that God can bless you, and you it can keep continuing to be blessed if we'll continue to be faithful. And then comes verse 34, where your tree where your treasure is. There will your heart be also. And then he goes on in these next few verses and talks about, and I don't want to skip these tonight, they're not directly connected to the question, but I think they're so relevant to where we are in the world today. He said, Blessed, verse 37 are those servants who when the Lord cometh, when he cometh shall find them watching. He says in the in the verses that precede that, verse 35 and 36, that we intentionally skipped. Let your loins be girded about, let your lights be burning. And you yourselves are like unto the men that wait for the Lord, for when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, he that they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are the ones who are watching. Verse 38. If he should come in the second watch and the third watch and find him, so blessed are those servants. And this know that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not suffered his house to be broken through. He said, It's watching for the return of Christ for him to come for us to return for his bride. And he uses this illustration of a thief coming in. Not that Christ is a thief, but he's saying, listen, just like that, if you knew what hour he was coming, you'd have been prepared, you'd have been watching, you'd have been ready. But instead, we pretend it's not gonna happen. Can I tell you this? Too many of us, we pretend it's not gonna happen. I tell you guys all the time I watch too many, way too many cop shows. I was watching one this week. Random burglary out in the middle of nowhere in some farmland up north somewhere. They they do this whole investigation. It turns out this guy who left the bar at 3:30 in the morning in a drunken stupor turns off the wrong driveway. Is that for me? Thank you. Um, turns off the wrong driveway, gets stuck in the snow, wanders into this house, probably just hoping to get help, wanders into the downstairs section of the house where there's a gun cabinet open with guns everywhere, ammunition laying in the floor, picks up a gun, loads it, goes upstairs, and kills everybody there. And as I was reading these notes preparing for night, I thought, you know, that's a picture of most of our lives. Like you couldn't live in a more ignorant fashion. Like they were set up for failure. Does that make sense? Like you literally had in a in your downstairs entryway a gun cabinet that was open, guns laying everywhere. They had been out shooting, that they had they were just gonna clean them, ammunition laying in the floor. I mean, it's like you couldn't have set yourself up for failure anymore if you tried. And yet, how many times do we set ourselves up for failure, live our lives in a chaotic fashion, chaos happens, and we're like, oh Lord, how did this happen? Well, it's kind of the logical product of, I mean, right, if I told you that like that's a scenario, it's almost like a jury's gonna go, well, man, they had it coming. Not that they deserve that. But understand this. We could take some measures, like to live a little more wisely, to put, you know, to lock some things up, to be a little safer, to put some protocol in place, to live a life that's a little less likely to be destroyed, to turn to chaos. And Jesus is saying, listen, he's coming. Guys, man, one of the one of the things that we we've got to remind ourselves of is he is coming. And when he comes, blessed are the ones that are watching. Verse 40, be ready, be therefore ready also, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when you think not. This is that concept of live every day like it's your last. Right? Not just live like you were dying, which is a good title of a song, and it's you know, do some cool, crazy, fun stuff. That's not just that, it's the idea of literally. And the concept of that song is live every day like you're like it's your last day, because it could be, right? We don't know. But live every day like he's coming back because he is. The Bible says that Christ is coming soon. And I've shared with you the illustration before, but if you would have to change how you're living or how you're acting, if you knew Christ was coming tomorrow, something's wrong. Amen. Just in conversation this last week, we were talking about different cities and locations, and uh somebody we were talking about the city of New Orleans, and that came up in conversation. Every time I think of New Orleans, I think of Miss Ruth Brock. Used to sit right over here, and and uh she was 86 years old, and I remember having a conversation with her, and she said, Oh brother, I went to New Orleans one time, and she said, The whole time I was there, all I could think is, I hope the Lord doesn't come back while I'm here. Right? Like this is not where I want to be when the Lord comes back. You know, again, I'm not against New Orleans, I'm just saying here's the deal. How many times are we in a condition? Well, I hope the Lord doesn't come back while I'm here. I I hope he doesn't come back while I'm doing this. I hope he didn't, I hope he gives me more time. Well, the reality, he says, listen, you'll be blessed if you live as if he's coming tomorrow. If you if you have to change something, if if you knew Christ was coming this week and you would have to change things, something's wrong. I've shared with you before, if in the workplace, back when I used to work for dad, and man, I'd run a crew and I'd I just I have weird hearing. I can hear very well, apparently, a lot of things most of the time. My wife would probably argue with that, but I can hear a lot of things, she knows that's true. And so uh we'd be on the job site working, and I could hear. I knew not just a Chevy truck had pulled up on the job, but I knew dad's door. When that door closed, I knew that was dad's truck was on the job site. And we'd be in there working, and I'd hear truck pull up, I'd hear the door close. And it's amazing how all of a sudden your crew starts acting different. Like some of them start looking for tools to pick up and they start acting, you don't want to pretend like they're working. And guys, if you're in the middle of a conversation and the boss pulls up, if that conversation's about work, you should be able to continue the conversation. Like you don't have to pretend you're working. If you're if something changes, if the boss pulls up and you have to change what you're doing, then what you were doing wasn't right. You something was wrong. And the same thing is true if Christ is coming back, and if we would just remember that he is coming back, and then don't you love Peter? He's such a goofball. Verse 41 Lord, is that for everybody or us? Are you talking to Jesus says in verse 42? Who then is that faithful and wise steward? Who his Lord shall make ruler over his household or give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, verse 43, who his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing. You want to be blessed? Be faithful. You want to be that employee that gets promoted, that gets blessed, that be faithful. Not just when the boss is looking, because here's the deal he's looking when you don't know he's looking. That's how that works. They're looking even when you don't know they're looking, they're watching, and the Bible says, be faithful even when nobody's looking, because it doesn't matter if anybody else is looking, you know and God knows. Verse 44 of a truth I say to you, he will make him ruler over all that he hath. We've talked about it last week, but this it's that same concept. If in your relationship with Christ, if your being is right, if you are being the right person, if you are the right person, the doing just comes naturally. You just instinctively do that which is right. You just you want to be faithful, you want to do those things. But if you find yourself constantly being the one that goes, Oh, I you know, I plan on doing good, I want to do good, verse 45, if that servant saith in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming, yeah, I'll get around to it tomorrow, manana, whatever, I'll uh, you know, one day, but they're they're being found lazy, they're not doing what they should do, they're taking advantage of it. It says the Lord, the Lord will come in a day when that servant looketh not for him. At an hour when he's not aware, and we'll cut him asunder and appoint him a portion with the unbelievers. Guys, we're Baptists, and I'm not trying to confuse anybody on your theology tonight. I'm not talking about losing your salvation here. He's saying if that's how you're living, then you don't believe. You don't believe he's coming. You've heard it. You know, you know what it says, you've heard it your whole life, maybe, or you're aware of it, but you're you're living like he doesn't because you don't believe it. If you don't believe he's coming back, you're gonna act like he's not coming back. And Jesus is asking, why are you it goes back to you, why are you asking me what's right and wrong when you already know, you know what I've told you, and yet you're living as if these things aren't true. He he tells him, the Lord has delayed his coming. We know that. People, well, they've been saying that since I was born, since I was a kid. People have always been saying Jesus is gonna come back. Jesus says, Listen, the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him. He's gonna show up at a time that you're not aware. And again, just to kind of finish off that illustration, one of the jobs we worked on when I was working for dad, they built the theater out here on the loop, and it's kind of a cool job. We were doing it, and uh, we were super busy at the time, and I don't remember what all we had going. I just remember we had a lot of other jobs going, and that job was in a hurry, and and it was a rush deal. And so I just remember working a lot of late nights there. Uh we would go work at other job sites, and then we'd go over there like after you know, five or six, and we'd go out there and set fixtures. Just we were finishing up, and as it was finishing, they did they did a really kind of a neat thing. I've I don't know that I've ever worked on maybe one or two other jobs where they actually appreciated the workers that built their facility. Um, and so they were like, hey, for the last week or two, we're gonna go ahead and hire our staff and be training them, and they're gonna be like cooking popcorn and making drinks and doing all those things. And in fact, we're gonna be burning in all the projectors, we're gonna have the movies running. And so any of you guys, uh, if you want to, you know, they'll be they'll clean up all the trash on the job site, they'll take care of all these things, and you guys can work, it's just gonna help you guys get moving faster. Anything you want to eat or drink, just go up there and order it, they'll take care of you. We're training them. And I thought, man, what a cool deal. They're being so gracious to us. Well, what we came to find very quickly is the bosses were upstairs on the mezzanine. And they're watching. They've hired about twice as many people as they need. And they're just watching to see which employees are working and which ones are sitting in there watching the movies. So that when they opened a few weeks later, they knew which employees they wanted to keep on staff to effectively run their business. And that was good for us, but it was one of those things. They were watching, they were paying attention. You think if those people had known that they were up there watching, they'd have reacted a little different, they'd have acted different, they'd have served different? Absolutely they would have. So I ask us again, what would change if we knew he was coming tomorrow? And guys, I'll be the first to tell you there's there's some things in my life I'd want to tidy up. If you know company's coming over, you're gonna tidy the house up. There's some things you're gonna get presentable. We just need to be reminded more often he's coming. Amen. Chapter 13. We jump down, we're gonna pick up verse 10. The question comes in verse 15. He's teaching one of the synagogues on verse 10, and it's on the Sabbath. And behold, there's a woman which had a spirit of infirmity 18 years, and she was bowed together and could have now wise lift herself up. So we don't know exactly what's going on. She's just, she's very tormented by the situation. Jesus saw her and he called her to him, and he said, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and he said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work. In them, therefore, come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath. Like this woman comes, she's at church, she's 18 years she's been in this condition. Jesus heals her, and there, you should have come yesterday. Come tomorrow. Don't you how dare you get healed on the Sabbath day? Just think of the arrogance of that statement. Just process that. And Jesus answers them in verse 15 the same way you probably, you you hypocrites. Like, what are you doing? Like, you should have got healed yesterday or you should wait till tomorrow. It's been 18 years. Jesus heals her. There ought to be a celebration going on. And instead, they're like, How dare you? How dare you get healed on the Sabbath day? And then he points us out. He says, Oh, you hypocrites, doth not each of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to water? You've got to understand, we were having, again, a conversation just this week about Israel and how to this day how critical they are on this whole idea of Shabbat, the Sabbath, and how you don't do any kind of work on the Sabbath day. But there are certain things that they understood, those animals still got to get watered. And so while that would be a violation of most of their rules about, well, that's more work than you're allowed to do, but this is an exception that we can make an exception for the animals because they've got to get watered. And Jesus is pointing, he's like, you hypocrite, you water your animals on the Sabbath, knowing that that would be a violation, technically, of this rule, you but you know better. And he says, he just calls them out. He says, Your hypocrisy is glaring. You ever had somebody call you out on your hypocrisy? Does that ever go well? Um, it doesn't for me. One of the conversations actually, the reason Ian had called me this week is he was asking for my advice about uh just a plan they that they're looking at for their their ministry there. And and uh he he had just in messaging, he had asked me for my advice. And as I've told you guys before, don't ever deal with important things through text or through messaging. You know, it needs to be a conversation and tone of voice and all those things. And I wanted to make sure that he understood what I was saying and the heart behind it. Uh, but I was I was just telling him, I said, man, I I 100% believe in what you're doing, and I'm a great model, and I think it's I think God will bless it. But I also think you need to be very aware that a lot of American Christians and certainly American pastors have a double standard for our missionaries. Things that we would do in our churches, we would never allow a missionary to do. And I know that seems kind of crazy, but I mean, this is this is not just in Jesus' day. He he they're talking about an idea of having you know space to where as they have people come on staff and and at work there, that they could, you know, maybe provide housing on property. And then if they're if they have extra room, then maybe once in a while they could rent some of those rooms out because they're in a tourist city. And so he's like, you know, how would that work? And I'm like, you know, uh, I know their model, I know what they do. I know Ramil had 13 young men in his house that's about a 700 square foot house for several years. I know what they do, I know what he's talking about. But he's like, listen, if we had some vacancies, we know we could use those. And I said, Listen, that's that's a good thing. But here's the thing: most American churches, they'll have an after-school program, they'll rent out their facilities, and they most of them wouldn't even admit that it's a profit-generating tool for their church to offset low offerings. But they'll do whatever's necessary to underwrite their ministry, but at the same time, if you present that to them, most of them will have a very harsh reaction to you. Even to the point, and I shared with him, I said, listen, one of the things that you need to understand as a national pastor, as a Filipino man, when you come to the States and you're going to churches, most American pastors have been not to support the national pastor. You support the American missionary that goes over. We've had men tell this to me and DJ, listen, don't ever support the national pastor because they'll become American-dependent. To which I always ask the question remind me who the American missionary is dependent on. The American missionary is American-dependent. So I can send a Filipino guy like Ian, who's there, who will go on about a third of the budget of an American missionary. And he's going to be way more effective because he's brown skinned, he speaks to Gallic, he's one of their people, he'll be way more effective than we can send an American missionary over there. Either one of them's gonna be American-independent. But at the same time, he needs to understand there are some American pastors who have this idea of, oh no, no, we you don't support the national pastor. Let them come to Jesus and then let them struggle. Don't give them the resources to do what needs done. And here's the thing: his budget, I mean, we talked about it. I know we've we've had missionaries come by that are going to the Philippines to live there, but they're American, you know, people. We've had people that are Filipino-American going over there, and they've got the same, you know, several thousand dollars a month budget that an American would have as opposed to what a Filipino would have. Here's the deal, guys. We have no problem living well and having nice things. But some want their missionaries struggling. A lot of churches want their pastors struggling. Thank God for a church that doesn't do that to me and DJ. I'll just say that openly. You guys take so much of that pressure off of us and allow us to function in our families to not resent the ministry. That's part of why we've been able to be here as long as we have is hey, when your family doesn't resent the ministry that you're over, it helps. It takes a lot of pressure off and it lets you focus on what's in front of you. But here, Jesus says, listen, you you hypocrites, you know that you do it. You you have this exception, right? You do the things that you know you should do. Ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound? So now we see that this is not just a physical animal. Jesus is saying, this is a satanic situation, this is demonic. 18 years she's had this. Shouldn't she be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath? You you unharness your livestock on the Sabbath, you set them free. Shouldn't she be set free? And when he had said this thing, his adversaries were ashamed, and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. And man, you would think right there, they're like, Man, Jesus is right, we're gonna follow him, but as you know, it just deepens their resolve to destroy him. And that brings us to chapter 14. This conversation, which you would think was resolved. And I say that to say, much like us, just because Jesus just put them in their place, told them the truth, and humbled them publicly, you would think that would be enough. You ever have Jesus speak, ever have the word of God kind of put you in your place and humble you and say, hey, this is for you. I need you to get this, you've got this, okay? You would think we would just learn the lesson and move on. Chapter 14, the next passage. He went to the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, and they watched him. Why are they watching him? Not to follow him, not to learn from him, because they're angry. He just humbled them, and now they're watching. And he's in the house of a chief Pharisee. Now I think it's important because this guy's an important dude. And behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. Now, that just sort of translates. Dropsy is not a word we use a lot, and so it's it's what we would call edema. It's severe fluid buildup, swelling. Uh if you know somebody has like severe congestive heart failure, that's this is kind of the symptoms they'd be talking about. And Jesus answering spake unto lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Okay, is it okay for me to heal him today? Right? Can I are you are you okay with that? It's amazing how many times the rules change when when when we're the ones making the decision. Instead of Jesus just doing it like he's done so many times before, here he sort of calls them out before he just heals, because with the woman, he just healed her. And here he says, okay, let's stop. Um you're the one making the decision now, guys. Uh isn't it amazing uh how many times you make a decision? Somebody sells says, I'll tell you what you ought to do when they're not the one, right? I'll tell you what you ought to, well, wait a minute. It's amazing how many times when you look at that person, well, the church needs to do better at this or you need to do better at this, and you say, okay, what suggestion would you make? Crickets, right? It's easy to be a critic. And so Jesus just puts the ball in the air court and he says, Listen, instead of telling everybody else what they ought to do, and and and let me just say, man, one of the one of the rules that's helped me in life is trust the people that are closer to it than you. So many times it's easy to be critical. You see something, you say, Man, they ought to do this. Well, perhaps they know things you don't know. Perhaps they know information you didn't have, or they knew things before you knew it, or there's a set of circumstances. So Jesus says, he just asked him point blank, are any of you gonna tell him to not get healed today? Before he heals him. Any of y'all want to tell him that he shouldn't get healed today? And you know what they did? Same thing we do. When that shoe's on the other foot, when the responsibility's on our shoulders, they they held their peace. Instead of being critical, this time they they bite their tongue. And he took him and he healed him and he let him go. And he answered them saying, again, same context. Not only do you lose them to water, but which of you should have an ass or an ox, fall into a pit, and not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these things. Now, guys, we this is this is a concept that that we definitely need to get our hearts around as the church of our generation. There are things that are urgent, there are things that are a temporary need. Right? There can be valid reasons to miss church, is what I'm saying. And I've shared this with you before, but one of the things we've been we've been so you know diligent to teach about, man, be faithful to church, be faithful to church, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together. You've got to be faithful to church, don't miss church, don't miss church. And I'll have people come up and apologize to me, Brother Curtis, I'm so sorry that we're not gonna be here next Sunday. And I'm like, well, where are you gonna be? They're like, well, our you know, our grandson's being baptized at their church. And I'm like, well, please don't be here. Like, that's important, right? And sometimes we've we've had drilled into it, it's like you've got to be in the house of God, you've got to be in the house of God. That's a good thing, and we ought to be, and we ought to be faithful. But there are other needs. There's times when, hey, if if you're sick, right? There's times that it's okay to miss church. If there's, if there's, you know, if if your car's stuck in the ditch, if your ox is stuck in the ditch, it's okay. But but then as always, while there's valid reasons. What we do is we say, well, if there's valid reasons, then it's okay to miss. And then we begin to take liberty. If it's okay if I miss, then it's okay if I miss whenever I want to for whatever reason. And we begin to do these things, then I can miss whenever I want for whatever I want. And we see that. So it's a problem on both ends. We have some people that are so dedicated to it that sometimes they're apologizing for being somewhere more important. And then there's other people who take that liberty. And we live in this world that's somewhere stuck in between those two. And people say, well, you know, God knows we have all these excuses, and this is stuff that doesn't get preached much anymore, but I'm just gonna, we're here tonight, so I'm gonna let the text speak. But, you know, God knows what I'm doing, He knows this is what's best for my family, and and you know, I can't make it to church because we're so busy. I know it's Wednesday night, but sometimes we need to be reminded so we're not the next dropout, right? I know we're busy, and I know what it means for you to stop on a Wednesday and come. And I know you could have been at home resting tonight, and I know people that are faithful, but here's what happens: so many people. Oh, we just didn't have time. Well, you can make it to you can make it to work every day, but you can't make it to church. Or maybe you didn't have to work, but you took that extra shift. Or sometimes you even ask for the extra shifts that cause you to not be here. Right? But man, you won't miss one of your kids' games. You won't miss all the other things that are important, but we'll miss church. And I know I'm preaching to the choir tonight. But guys, this is something we need to be reminded of. We need a faithful core in our church of people that are faithful and committed, and they're gonna be here whenever they can. Because what happens is we have time for the things we value. And if you're here tonight, you're to be committed. We ought to value the house of God. We ought to value worshiping together. Jesus is pointing out these people. He says, listen, this idea, he keeps using their livestock, he's pointing out to them, you're no different than the people in Gedera. You remember when he gets to the seashore and there's the maniacs in the tombs, and he heals them, and the pigs run off the cliff, the whole story. And what's the issue? They run him off because they valued livestock over people. And over and over again, Jesus is using that same point right here. Listen, you guys value your donkey more than you do this woman who was healed. You value your animal that's in the ditch more than you do this man who has a demon. You have, you, you've got your values in the wrong place. You value the wrong things. And Jesus is pointing out to them, listen, you value stuff over people. You value things over people. That's what this whole passage has been about. Whether it's the Sabbath day, he says, listen, you value certain things. You would never leave the ox in the ditch. You'd never let the ox not be watered because you need it to work Monday. But you'll leave the church hanging, you'll leave yourself hanging. You won't come to worship. Or maybe you value the wrong things. The you know, the abundance of things is not where the purpose of life is. Jesus just got through saying that. And so the whole point of all this is him coming down to, if you remember last week with Mary coming and worshiping at the feet of Jesus the week before last. All of this is connected. He's saying, listen, I want you to value what I value. There's nothing wrong with having livestock. There's nothing wrong with pulling it out of a ditch on the Sabbath. There's nothing wrong with letting them water. There's nothing wrong with having abundance of things. There's nothing wrong with your crops growing when I bless you. But you better make sure you value what God values. You better value what the kingdom values. Because it's only then that we're going to be willing to structure our lives to do the things, to invest our lives in what He values. And again, I know I'm preaching to a Wednesday night crowd, but guys, once again, he's saying, listen, if you value what I value, your life will bear it out. It'll be your you'll structure your life. You'll make time for it. You'll you'll carve out time, you'll make it important. Just like all these other things you make important, you'll make sure that the kingdom comes first. Seek ye first. Isn't that what he said right in the middle of the kingdom of God? And all these things will be added to you. Anytime we get that backwards, it doesn't work. You've probably lived long enough and tried it enough to know that it doesn't. I know I have. But here's what I want to remind us tonight, and we'll we'll stop right here for the night. There's two more questions coming in, chapter 14. God help us to value what he values. How many times do we get caught valuing the wrong thing? And it's not the situation. There's nothing wrong, again, with your with your crops being plentiful. There's nothing wrong with water and your animals. There's nothing wrong with God blessing your life unless you value the wrong thing. So tonight, right in the middle of all that, he says, listen, don't forget I'm coming back. And with that in mind, value the right thing. Value the right thing so that you won't be ashamed when I come back. Let's pray together. Lord, we come to you tonight. And God, I pray that you would burden us with the reality, Lord, that you are coming back, that you are returning. And Lord, if we would just keep that one simple fact at the forefront, it would change what we value. It would change how we structure our lives. It would change what we prioritize. It would change what we're critical of and what we allow. And so, Lord, tonight I pray that you would help us to be reminded and ever mindful of the fact that, Lord, you are coming. And you've entrusted to us many things. And Lord, we are a blessed people. We can easily identify with the man whose barns were full because, Lord, we are a blessed people and we acknowledge that and we thank you for that. But God, we pray, Lord, that you would give us wisdom and that you would help us to acknowledge you in everything that you've entrusted us with. Lord, help us to steward our lives well. Help us to steward the resources you've given us well. Help us help us to steward the growth of our church that you've blessed us with well. We thank you for the souls that have been saved and the new members that we've had. And God, we pray that not only are we thankful for them, but Lord, we pray that you would help us to steward that well, to be, Lord, the friends and the pastors in the church that we need to be for them. And Lord, that we might be better and stronger and more effective because of it. But Lord, we won't do that unless we keep in front of us the fact that you're coming soon. Lord, there's people that need the gospel. There's souls that are lost in sin. And God help us tonight to remember that to which you've called us. To go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature. God help us with that tonight. In the name of Jesus, we pray with Thanksgiving. Amen.