["Pomp and Circumstance"]
All right, well, thanks for coming, everybody.
If you want to go ahead and take your seats, we'll be getting service tonight.
Go ahead and turn on your handles over at song number 30.
We'll sing Nothing But The Blood.
Song number 30.
["Nothing But The Blood of Jesus"]
All right, we're going to end the Word of Prayer.
Good Lord, again, thank you for the opportunity to be in your house.
It's really with me with us tonight.
Be blessed with preaching and singing and fellowship.
We ask in Christ's name, amen.
All right, we'll sing that song number 147 next, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.
Song number 147.
Song 147.
Let's sing it.
["Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"]
All right, it's time to look at our announcements.
If you need a bulletin, go ahead and slip up your hand whether Adam threw one.
As always, we've got our service time listed there on the left-hand side.
We're doing first teams tonight.
I'm actually going to be wrapping up first teams chapter number 19.
I was debating whether or not to preach, but it's just the last few verses,
and I know hopefully it's just those that came down from camp today
that are feeling like maybe a short service in the morning, so I'll do my best.
Hopefully not everybody goes that way.
I can at least sympathize with the people that are at camp.
They get preaching every night, and I appreciate everybody coming out tonight.
Again, I'll be at first teams 19 and wrapping that up.
We've got the salvation, the baptism, the offering tools, and the tenets below that.
We'll go ahead and count up the salvation going back to Monday.
We're going to go from Mondays to Tuesday, or Wednesday,
or Wednesday, or Tuesday.
We'll keep up the good work out there slowly.
Again, I know we're on the right-hand side.
Hope you can join us this Sunday, July 3rd, at 10 a.m.
to go into coffee.
We're celebrating the month of July, so come on out early for that.
You can get a go at it.
Also, we've got the main conference schedule.
Of course, Pastor Aaron Thompson was just here this Sunday and with us at camp.
Pastor Joe Jones was just up there in Tempe this last Wednesday,
so next Sunday I got Pastor Jonathan Shelley.
Then, of course, next Wednesday we'll have Pastor Roger Menes.
I will be running a shuttle up there,
so anybody that wants to join me at 5 p.m. here in the building,
I'll take a handful of people.
I've got enough for about 15 people, 14, other than myself.
We'll cram you in there.
It's only an hour and a half in the way, so you can max it out.
I think that's good, but I'm looking forward to hearing that.
Servants and Pastor Menes, Pastor Dave Burgin, Pastor Robert,
are also coming up.
Don't forget, Mexico Monday has been put out until the second Wednesday.
There's the notes in the back of our hand.
Of course, that's coming on.
And then we have the weekly Bible memory passage below that.
We'll do it for announcements.
We'll go ahead and sing another song.
We'll get into the preaching tonight.
We're going to go to song number 56.
It'll be all of your companion.
Song number 56.
Sing the largest of the children,
Sing his mercy and his praise.
In love they shout,
He'll be there for us to praise.
In the arms of faith today,
One day you'll rejoice,
You'll never be.
In the arms of sweet Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory.
While we walk the hill,
We'll camp with clouds,
We'll all course with the sky.
On which traveling things are over,
Not the shadowless sky.
When we all get together,
One day you'll rejoice,
You'll never be.
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory.
Let us be true and faithful,
Just be serving every day.
Just one grace of living glory,
We'll learn to work again.
When we all get together,
One day you'll rejoice,
You'll never be.
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory.
Onward to the Christ,
We'll sing and shout the victory.
To the Holy Spirit,
We'll sing and shout the victory.
When we all get together,
One day you'll rejoice,
We'll sing and shout the victory.
First, on the bottom.
In the past, we went into the house of Jesus.
And Jesus passed away.
We watched him.
And he wrote a sermon at the church.
And he asked him to take us to the world.
And he said,
We're all supposed to heal what's happening.
And the other piece,
He took him to heal what's going to happen.
And after that, he was saying,
The contribution of God passes across all of us to a day.
And God showed him to go out and pass him.
And God asked him again.
He took one of the arrows,
And he went into the pit.
And God showed up.
And he said,
You know, I've been waiting at your wedding.
To sit down in the highest room
With some more honorable men and thousands of visitors.
And he said,
Baby, you're coming to come
And say to me,
If it's not faith,
You know, you're getting changed
And you're going through
Whatever it is,
Go and sit down in the lowest room.
And when you hear that baby coming,
And you're saying,
It's a threat,
It's a poor fight.
Then shout out,
I'll worship you,
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to have. And Elisha, being one that's going to take on the mantle of Elijah, is somebody
that has some persistence, somebody who's willing to even get in there with that ox
and labor like an animal. Meaning there's nothing that's beneath him. That's probably
not how you want, you know, Elijah at this point is probably pretty well known in Israel.
I mean, Elisha instantly knows who he is. He's a man with some clout. He's well known.
And you want to be fond of Elijah probably doing something a little bit more dignified
than sharing a yoke with some ox. You know, it's probably a bit of a, you know, me, I'd
be a little embarrassed. You know, I'd be a little bit, uh, you know, this isn't normally
how it goes. He ran off, you know, but it just goes to show you that Elisha, you know,
there's nothing beneath him, you know, and if you're going to serve and this, you know,
we could all apply this, you know, if we're going to serve in the local church, if we're
going to serve to any capacity, if we're going to serve and be people that are, are, are
good servants, people that are good stewards, people that are going to be promoted, whether
in the church or whether at our, you know, at, at, uh, at our jobs or wherever, you know,
we can't be these people who just pick and choose what tasks are worthy of our attention.
You know, that's, you know, especially in the ministry, you know, that's not something
that you have a lot of liberty of as liberty in, excuse me, when it comes to the ministry.
I can't just sit here and say, well, you know, I, I just don't feel like cleaning this week
and look, I'm happy to clean, but if it doesn't get cleaned, you know, it's not going to get
cleaned, right? Well, I just don't feel like preaching this week. You know, well then who's
going to do it? You know, well, I, I just don't feel like leading that soul winning
time. Unfortunately, you know, fortunately we do have guys that'll step up and lead some
soul winning times for me when it's needed. But you know what, but if that was just consistently
week in and week out, these things are just going to go undone. You can't just say, well,
that, you know, I'm, I'm above that, you know, that task is beneath me. You know, you have
to have a willingness to humble yourself and be able to serve wherever and however
needed. And really what I want to talk about is this, this type of attitude that you have
to have in ministry. And you might not understand what I mean by it at first, but what I, what
I think the type of attitude you have to have is just this burn it all attitude. You know,
that nothing, nothing's off limits, just burn it all. Let's just go full tilt all the way
in 100% just burn it all because that's what Elijah does here in the story. It says there
in verse 20 and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss
my father and my mother. And when I, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him,
go back again for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him and took a yoke
of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen. So the same
plow that he was in, that same instrument, he takes that and he takes the oxen and he
burns his own tools. He just burns it all because what it's showing us is this burn
it all attitude is just this attitude of, Hey, I'm just, I'm leaving it all behind.
I'm just, I'm lighting it all on fire. I can't come back to this. I'm going all the way in,
you know, and I'm preaching specifically about the ministry tonight because I believe this
is something that should be preached. You know, if you're, if you're one who wants to
be in ministry, that's not something you just dip your toe in and see how the waters are.
You know, that's something you have to go all the way in and stay committed. You know,
that's not something where you just kind of, well, I'll see how this goes. That's not what
Elijah did. He said, I'm being called to this ministry. This mantle has been cast upon me.
I'm going to fulfill the room of Elijah. Let me just burn these instruments. Let me just
slay these oxen and kiss my mom and dad goodbye and just go forward and serve God. You got to
have a burn it all attitude. Leave, just leave it all behind in order to serve God.
That's what's necessary for ministry. You know, and we see that in Luke. If you look
there and if you're going to Luke chapter 14, go back there. And Luke five of course
is the story when James and John, the sons of Zebedee and Peter are first, you know,
called to the ministry. It's after that great miracle of fishes where they cast the net
into one side of the boat and there's that great draft of fishes and then they have to
come help Peter. Peter falls down and says, depart from me for my Lord, for I'm a sinful
man. And he says, you know, from thenceforth thou shalt catch men. But it says that when
he called them that they brought their ships to land, you know, and said, I'll be back
in a little bit. You know, keep it warm for me. It says they forsook all and followed
him. You know, when they were going to go follow Christ on his earthly ministry, they
forsook everything. What is that? It's a burn it all attitude. Just leave it all behind.
Just turn it all to ashes. Let me just serve God with my life. There's nothing there for
me to go back to. I'm going all the way in. That's the type of attitude is needed to serve
God, especially when it comes to, you know, being in the ministry, being, you know, I
don't like to use that term full, you know, that, that term full time ministry because,
you know, we're all full time Christians, but I'm saying, you know, you're going to
be the preacher. You're going to be the one who's on staff. You're going to be one who's
leading the church, you know, that you have to have this all in burn it all type of attitude.
You have to forsake everything and be willing to just go full tilt into the ministry. The
ministry again, isn't something that you just try out and look, I've known people in the
past, good people, you know, but you know, and, and well-intentioned I'm sure, but I've
known people in the past who tried the ministry, you know, and it didn't work out so well,
you know, and that, you know, that's kind of a, it's kind of a black eye a little bit.
It's kind of an embarrassing situation to be somebody who started to build something
and then couldn't finish. You know, that's what it tells us here in Luke chapter 14.
He said in verse 25, and there went great multitudes with him. And he turned and said
unto them, if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children
and brothers and sisters, yea, in his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And of
course people get confused. What do I mean? Is he saying you have to hate them? He's saying,
in comparison to serving me, it has to be as if you hate these other things. You can't
just be so affectionate and so, and hold on so dearly to these other's relationships and
yea, even your own life, if you want to serve me to the capacity that I need you to serve
me. And of course, you know, this is a very unique situation. This is when you're, we're
talking about literally following Christ in the flesh for three, you know, the three years
that he was, you know, in doing, working his ministry, you know, but there's a, there is
still that principle that applies that, you know, if we're going to serve God, we can't
just be overly concerned with all these other relationships and all, even our own plans
and ambitions, our hopes, our dreams, you know, we might just have to burn all those
things. We might just have to leave all those things behind. We might have to pull up stakes
and go to some other town and, you know, leave everything that we've known behind, everything
familiar behind in order to just go serve God. You know, that's what's needed in ministry.
That's what it requires. You have to have this burn it all attitude. Look at verse 33.
He said, so likewise, whosoever be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot
be my disciple. You know, and that's the disciple. That's not even just, you know, an apostle.
That's just, hey, if you want to be a disciple, you've got to be willing to forsake everything.
You know, if you're going to serve God to the capacity that he wants you to, you have
to at least be willing to forsake everything. You know, and this was quite literal for the
people back then in Luke chapter 14. Today, you know, that's not really what you're asked
of us, is it? I don't know anybody that's been asked to just forsake everything. You
know, we've got to, you know, God takes it easy on us today. We might have to forsake,
you know, an hour or two on our Saturday afternoon to go serve God. We might have to, you know,
forsake a few hours during the week to go to the house of God and hear the word of God
preached. We might have to forsake some other things in our life in order to, you know,
praise God and live godly in Christ Jesus, right? But have any of us been asked to just
forsake everything? You know, I know I haven't, and I don't know of anybody else that has.
But there still has to be that willingness. You know, and I think about that. What if
the persecution gets so bad in this country? I'm not saying it will, but what if it just
gets so bad that we can't even minister? What are we going to do? Well, Jesus said, if they
persecute you in this town, flee and go to the next. And I take that literally. You know,
if it gets so bad, well, let's just leave. I'll just go somewhere where I can serve God.
I'll forsake everything. I'll leave my house. You know, I'll leave my 2007 Dodge caravan.
Such sacrifice I'll make for the Lord. You know, I'm willing to put it all on the altar.
You know? But that should be our attitude, to forsake all that we have. To hate our own
life also is what's necessary. That's what you have to have in order to serve God. Especially
when it comes to the ministry. A burn it all attitude that doesn't look back. Because that's
what Elisha is showing us. He's saying, I'm going from being a farmer, from plowing, to
going and ministering, being a man of God. It's not something I'm just going to try for
a while and if it doesn't work out, I'll just come back to my oxen. No, I burnt that.
It's gone. I ate those oxen. I gave them away. You know, there's nothing for me to go back
to. Because I'm not planning on coming back. That's what he's showing us. That when he
set out to go out and follow Elisha, he's saying, I'm going all the way. I'm burning
it all. I'm leaving it all behind. You know, a lot of Christians today, they don't serve
God to the capacity that they could because they don't have this attitude. They don't
have this attitude of whatever it takes, I'll serve God. Whatever it takes, I'll be in church.
Whatever it takes, I'll be out soloing. Whatever it takes, I'm going to serve God to whatever
capacity I can. They let such small things stop them. It reminds me, if you would go
to Luke 9, keep something in Luke 14, go to Luke 9. It reminds me of the children of Israel
when they came out of Egypt. You know, they were hungry, so God gave them manna from heaven.
I mean, wouldn't you think that's pretty cool if God miraculously just started feeding
you manna from heaven? I mean, I wouldn't really care what it tastes like. Well, maybe
not at first. I don't know. I shouldn't speak too soon. But I mean, I would probably,
I would be amazed. You know, if I walked across the street, like the park across my house,
and it was just covered in manna. You know, and it was just, you know, if I took too much,
you know, and it bred worms. If I didn't take enough, there was always enough there.
And it had, you know, it was like a coriander seed, and it tasted like honey. You know,
it would be an amazing thing. But, you know, that's exactly what he did for the people
that he took out of Egypt. Right? And that's a picture of salvation, right? We've been
taken out of Egypt. We've been saved out of the world through the blood. We've been baptized
in that sea, so to speak, right? And what did they do? What did the children of Israel
do? They started to look back. They said, you know, they started to complain, and it
displeased the Lord, and they said, we remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely.
And they had this desire to go back and eat. They wanted the leeks and the melons and the
onions and the fish that they ate for. It's like, yeah, but did you forget about the fact
you were being oppressed? That they were whipping you and making you, you know, give a certain
tale of brick, and they were making your life miserable with hard bondage? Did you forget
about that? Did you forget about they were telling you to cast your firstborn, you know,
your children into the river? Did you forget about that? And people get so shortsighted
sometimes in their service for God, they forget how bad, they think that going back to their
old life is going to be good. It's not. It's the same bondage. It's the same hardship.
It's all still there waiting for you. Yeah, there might be some fish and some leek and
some onions, but good night. God's giving you manna. What else do you need? But this
is human nature. This is what we do. We take for granted these great things that God has
given us, and we start to wonder about what it would be like to go back. And what that
is is a lack of what? Of a burn it all attitude, like Elisha had to just say, I'm not coming
back. I'm burning this. I'm slaying that oxen. It's over. It's not even an option. You know,
sometimes I'll tell myself that, like, you know, if we're tempted to do something or
if we feel like quitting, I'll just say, well, it's not even an option. I've taken that off
the table. It's not going to make any point for me to sit here and think about this. I
shouldn't even be pondering it because I've already determined that's not an option for
me to go back. It's not an option for me to quit. You know, when you have an attitude
like that, what you find yourself is you start to figure out a way to make things work. You
start figuring out, okay, well, if it's just not an option, well, then I'm going to figure
out how to get through this temptation. I'm going to figure out how to keep serving God.
I'm going to figure out how to just get better at what I'm doing. But, you know, if we don't
burn the instruments, if we leave the oxen there, we might eventually start going, well,
you know, it's there. It's available. I guess I'll go back. Look, if you're going to serve
God, you have to burn it all attitude. Jesus said in Luke 9, where you are, verse 62. And
Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit
for the kingdom of God. So you're going to labor for God. You're going to grab ahold
of my plow. You're going to go out, and you're going to break up the fallow ground in the
hearts of the sinful. You're going to sow the seeds of the gospel. You're going to get
in the plow of preaching the gospel. You can't sit here and look back. If you're going to
serve me, you've got to put your hand in that plow and keep your eyes forward. And I always
love that verse, and I know I've probably shared this illustration before, but, you
know, it reminds me of when I was first taught how to mow a lawn. Now, if you're native here
to the Arizona, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. But, you know, where
grass actually grows, you have to mow the lawn, you know, once or twice, you know, every
couple weeks, usually. But, you know, we had a long lawn. I mean, it was probably like
from here to the water cooler. You know, and people drive by, they'll look at, you know,
when you start mowing lawns, you start looking at everybody else's lawn. And say, oh, they
did that diamond pattern. Oh, they did an angle. You know, or they were all over the
place. You know, and I was told the way you mow is you pick a spot, and you just keep
your eye on that, and you just push, and you'll make straight lines. You know, it's a perfect
illustration of what Jesus is talking about. Look, you want to get to the end of your life
and look back, and God, let's say, let's look how you plowed your field, and it's nice,
straight furrows. Everything's where it should be. It's the most efficient use of the land.
It was able to bring forth the most that it could. It was because when you put your hand
on that plow, you kept your eyes straight forward. You weren't doing this. But this
is how Christians live their life. And then they wonder why they're bumping into a tree
over here. They're digging up into rocks. They're getting into the neighbor's garden
over there. Everything's a mess. It's because you're looking back. You have to keep your
eyes forward. You have to have this attitude of, I've burned it all. There's nothing back
there to even see. There's no reason for me to turn around and look. It's all gone. There's
nothing to go back to. I don't need to look back. That's what a burn it all attitude does.
It doesn't look back. It says goodbye to the world. It says goodbye to the past. You know,
and that would probably help a lot of us out to learn to just say goodbye to the past.
Because some people, you know, we look back on our past and, you know, it's just heartache.
It's something we would probably prefer to forget. And God's saying, yeah, go ahead and
do that. Go ahead and forget about the past. Go ahead and forget about all those things
that you're ashamed of, those things you wish you didn't do. Go ahead and forget about them.
I already have. Why don't you do it and just keep your eyes forward and keep serving God.
That's what a burn it all attitude does. It says goodbye to the world. It says goodbye
to the past. That's what we see in our story. He said he left the oxen and ran after Elijah
and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and mother. And what was he saying? Let me
tell him goodbye. Let me say goodbye to the past so that I can follow you. That's what
a burn it all attitude does. And I want to wrap this up early tonight. My next point
about a burn it all attitude is that it can be belittled. It says goodbye to the past.
It doesn't look back. But you know what? It can also be belittled. Let me explain what
I mean by that. Verse 20 again. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let
me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother. And then I will follow thee. And he said unto
him, and I love Elisha's response here. Oh, I'm so glad you're following me. I'm so glad
you chose to come and take up my mantle. I'm so glad that I have a servant. I'm so glad
that I have somebody to impart this knowledge unto and to show how to do this. You know,
he gets right into it with him. He says, if you want to serve God, it's not going to be
enough. He says, go back. What have I done to thee? It's such a weird statement. And
if you're Elisha, you're kind of like, dude, I'm leaving everything, man. I'm burning the
oxen. I'm saying goodbye. You're going to give me attitude right out of the gate? I was
busy working, and you just came and throw your mantle on me. And I'd like to come serve you,
but let's check that attitude, Elisha. Let's get something straight here. I'm taking up
your mantle, and you're going to show me something. No, he says, you know what? What have I done
to you? Do whatever you want, Elisha. I really don't care. And that's why I always had this
impression of Elijah just kind of being this bit of a grump. And maybe I'm totally wrong,
and maybe I'll get there, and he'll be grumpy with me. I don't know. That's not how I was.
But that's the impression I get. He's just like, go back. But Elisha, he took that, didn't
he? He was belittled. I haven't done anything. Who are you? He didn't have this, well, I'm
the one who's following up in your footsteps. That's who I am. He said, OK, all right. And
he runs back. He does what he has to do, and he gets right back where he was. And then
we don't hear about him for several more chapters. And what we do find out about him, it was
he who poured water on the hands of Elijah. That's what he was doing the whole time, and
we don't hear about him. We're talking about grown men here. If one of you guys came to
me and said, I need to wash my hands. I will hold them over the sink. I need you to grab
that basin and pour water on my hands while I wash them. We'd probably be like, wash your
own hands, dude. We have indoor plumbing now, right? And obviously, there was something
practical behind that back then to pour running water on someone's hands. I don't know if
you ever tried to do that yourself, try to pour water on your own hands. Go home and
try that. Use your teeth. Pour the pitcher on it. You're going to make a mess, right?
So obviously, there was a practical reason behind that, but that's kind of a humbling
job to just sit there and be the guy. Well, what do you do? I pour water on his hands.
What is it? He's a gopher. He's just a gopher. He's just like, hey, do this. Do all the menial
tasks that get no glory. Just go scrub that toilet. Go mop that floor. Go do those dishes.
We saw a lot of this at camp, didn't we? Some of us did a lot of menial tasks, didn't we?
And at one point, I had to kind of check myself. I hope I'm not barking orders too much. But
then I thought, you know what? I'm just trying to get something done. And I'm sure maybe
someone might have felt like I was kind of short, maybe. It's like, hey, I need you to
do this, do this, and do this. And it was kind of that way, right? Why? Because we're
trying to get something done for God. We're trying to make something happen. We're trying
to serve God's people. And I don't have time to sit there and say, well, you'd be really
great, you know, and coddle you and hold your hand. I'm not saying it's an excuse to be
a belligerent jerk. But sometimes, you know, when you're trying to get something done,
you just want to get it done. You know, sometimes people ask, hey, can I help? And you just
want to say no because I know if I say yes, I'm going to spend more time just explaining
what I want done and making sure I say it the right way. I'd rather just do it, you
know, and not have the headache. You know, but when you have someone who knows how to
serve, they're not, they're not, their feelings aren't their main concern. They just want
to get the work done. They don't go, oh, I mean, I volunteered, but I didn't realize
you're going to talk to me like that. Can I get a pretty please with sugar on top? It's
like, no, just get it done. You know, and I'm thankful for my old pastor because this
is something like he taught me, you know, by example, by, by this exact thing. And he
would just, and if I got out of line, if I got an attitude, he'd just check me on it.
I'd be like, all right. You know, in the longest time, the only good thing I had going for
me is that I learned how to, I knew how to be rebuked. I don't know if I shared that
story, but that he tried to get me, I was roofing with him and he went in to get me
a job with the roofing supplier that supplied all the shingles and things. And he was trying,
he was talking to the manager there trying to get me a job. And he, and he, and he said,
well, what, why should I hire him? We can handle being rebuked. That was it. It's like,
I don't know. That's exactly the best thing you want to hear about, you know, in a potential
me. Well, he's, he messes up a lot and you got to correct him a lot, but he can be corrected.
And look, there is something to be said about that. The person that can be corrected will
go far in life. If you can handle somebody telling you, hey, you're doing this wrong.
This is how you're supposed to do it. Now do it this way. Grab that water and get over
here and pour it on my hands. My hands are dirty because I've been working hard and I
need you to do something that, you know, is going to teach you some humility. You know,
that's the kind of, that's what I mean by a burn it all attitude can allow itself to
be belittled because there's humility there. They understand that, you know, the ministry
isn't about the minister. It's not about the person. You know, and if you want to be in
ministry, let me just, let me just go ahead and break it to you right now. You know, and
I won't say this is a hundred percent for everybody, but it's a thankless job. I mean,
it's always a mixture of both. There's always people that are very grateful, that are very
helpful, that are always there and appreciate what you're doing, but there's always going
to be people there who could really just take it or leave it and are just never going to
express any kind of appreciation. And that's fine because that's not why we're in it. We're
not in it to receive praise from men. We're not in it to be thanked. We're in it because
there's a burden that has to be borne and somebody has to bear it. Otherwise, the work's
not going to get done. You know, and I know I've shared this, but I expressed this recently.
I said, you know, I just feel like there's somebody else that could do this job better
than me. And I wasn't told, no, you're the best guy for the job. I was told, well, you're
the one that's available. And that's not in a demeaning way. It was just like, hey, well,
here's the reality of the situation. You know what? There probably are people, in fact,
I know there are, that are much more intelligent than me, much more well-spoken than me, that
could probably do this job a whole lot better. But you know what? Where are they? Where are
they? You know, they're out, you know, with their oxen somewhere. They're out tilling
some other fields. So, you know, you've got to just get over the whole thing, well, it's
about me. It's about me being thanked. It's about me being lifted. It's not about that.
It's about you being willing to do the menial tasks, being belittled, being unappreciated,
as well as appreciated. I don't want to come across as, I don't feel, I feel appreciated
in this church, believe me. But I already know that that's part of the ministry. That
there's people out there just kind of, whatever. And those are the people usually that end
up washing out, that don't stick around and go back to the world. You know, the ministry
is not about the minister. That's why a burn-it-all attitude has to be willing to be belittled.
Because it's a thankless job. It's about serving others, which is something that requires
sacrifice. And that's what Elisha is learning here. That's what he's doing. It says he,
you know, he boiled the flesh of the oxen, he burned the instruments of the oxen, and
he rose and went after Elisha and did what? Ministered unto him. He just went and served.
And did whatever it was that needed to be done. And that's why, you know, a burn-it-all
attitude has to be willing to be belittled. Because, you know, let me just break this
to you too. Is that, you know, the world is going to belittle the servants of God. That's
the other thing. You want to get in the ministry, you better be getting used to being belittled.
Because there's a lot of people out there, especially in the internet land today, that
are just going to have, make it their life's purpose to belittle you. And to try to just
besmirch you and just try to belittle you and just try to, you know, go, oh, can you
believe this guy? Can you believe what he said? And just try to make you, you know,
enemy number one for the things that you said. And look, we can debate whether or not that's
really an attack. Look, if they're just, if people are just repeating what I've said,
are they really attacking me? No. But their intention is to try to, you know, bring, you
know, harassment, you know, to incite an angry mob to come against you. And the world will
belittle you. They'll hate you. I should have had you go to 1 Corinthians, but I'll just
read to you because I want to wrap it up tonight. I know it's been a long week for most of us
and I'm sure everybody would appreciate getting out early, but go to Luke chapter 16. Now
I'll just remind you, in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, what Paul told the Corinthians, he said,
we are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong,
you are honorable, but we are despised. The apostle Paul. I mean, we read about the apostle,
I mean, we think about the apostle Paul, we read about his life, we say, what a great
man. I mean, we say it, I've heard it, I believe it, the greatest Christian that's ever lived,
the apostle Paul, outside of the Lord himself. Powerful man of God. But you know, in Paul's
day, there are people that despised him, that belittled him. He said, even at this
present hour, we hunger, we thirst, we're naked, we're buffeted, we have no certain
dwelling place, and labor, working with our own hands, being reviled we bless, being persecuted
we suffer, being defamed we entreat, we are made as the filth of the world and are the
off-scouring of all things unto this day. You know, they crucified Jesus. You know,
and he said, if they hate me, they'll hate you also. And you know, Paul's proof of that.
He's saying, look, I'm serving God and I made the filth of this world. The world hates me.
So that's why a burn-it-all-out attitude has to be willing to what? Be belittled. Because
that's exactly what the world is going to do. You know, and this is something that I
remember being told before I ever got in ministry, and it's something, you know, I've talked
with others that were there that night at that preaching class with Pastor Anderson,
when he got up, when he was going through some great persecution, he stood up in front
of all those men that were hopefuls there that wanted to be pastors, he said, you know
what, there's some of you in this room that are never going to make it. You're going to
wash out. When the persecution comes, when the devil comes knocking, when the world starts
to put the pressure on and belittle you, you're going to quit. You know, and those words burned
down into my heart. Those words sank down into my ears. And I often think about that,
because I walked away saying, well, how do you know that about yourself? You can't really
know that until you're kind of in the fire. You know, there was another guy there that
was that night, his name's Pastor Jonathan Shelley, he wasn't pastor at the time, but
you know what, he's going through exactly what Pastor Anderson was warning about. They're
going to hate you, they're going to persecute you in this town and cause you to flee from
this town. I mean, he's going through persecution for the last two years that I've never seen
anybody else go through. You know, I'm not at liberty to share everything I don't believe.
I'm sure I don't know everything, but I'm telling you something, folks, that guy's going
through the fire right now. But you know what, he's not quitting. Because he's somebody that's
willing to be belittled for the cause of Christ. You know, and I wish there was something more
I could do for him that we could do for him as a church, but you know, really, at the
end of the day, all you can do is pray, and that he sticks by the stuff and goes through
it. But you know what else I can do? Is I look to somebody like that as an example and
say, I hope if I ever go through what he's going through, I have the character and integrity
to maintain the cause for Christ and to not fold and to not buckle. Because there's plenty
of people out there that would. There's plenty of other people that were in that room that
night years ago that if they were in that position would have quit before the heat even
began to get cranked up on them. And I'm preaching this because hopefully, again, there's people
in this room that want to go into ministry. But I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm not
going to sit here and say, yeah, it's great. I mean, it is. It's very rewarding. It's the
most rewarding work I've ever done. But you know what, it comes at a price. And I don't
believe I've even begun to pay that full price. And I've known others that have. A burn-it-all
attitude is willing to be belittled. But not only that, but burn-it-all attitude bears
a burden. That's my last point. It bears the burden. You know, that was, Elisha was kind
of pre-qualified for this. You say, why Elisha? Why did he go to him and not that first servant?
Because the first servant, they got to Beersheba. He's like, just stay there. He's like, okay.
Oh, you know, Jezebel's after me. She's going to take my head. Why don't you just stay here?
Okay, sure. Is that what Elisha was like? You know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but
you go to 2 Kings 2, when Elisha's finally passing off the scene, Elisha says the same
thing to him. He says, why don't you just stay here, and I'm going to go and be taken
up in heaven. He says, I'll never leave you. He said, I want a double portion of your spirit.
You're going to have to, a fiery chariot's going to have to separate me from you. I'm
going to be with you. I'm not staying at Beersheba. That's what I mean by stick-to-itiveness.
You know, and that was something that you see, you say, well yeah, you find that out
later about Elisha. No, you see that Elisha, or Elisha, that was something that was part
of his character from the first time we meet him. He was pre-qualified to do what? To bear
a burden. You see, because he's in there what? He's in there with the 12th. You know, he's
a good fit for the ministry because he's somebody who already knows what it's like to sit there
and just bear a burden. To do just some thankless task, to do something that others might consider
humiliating, to just be like a big dumb animal, to just be, you know, a servant. That's something
you already had in him. And look, that's something that we all have to have, especially if we
desire to be in ministry. Where'd I have you go? Luke 16? Go to Luke 14. I'll wrap it up
where we were. Luke 14. He said in Luke 14, this is part of that same passage that I was
reading earlier, where he talked about how whosoever doth bear his cross and come after
me, he cannot be my disciple. He goes on in verse 28 and says, for which of you intending
to build towers sitteth not down first and counteth the cost? Whether you have sufficient
to build it, lest happily after he laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all
that beholden begin it to mock him, saying this man began to build, but was not able
to finish. He couldn't finish to work. Why? Because he didn't sit down and count the cost.
This is what I'm saying, and I saw him close, and this burn it all attitude, it bears a
burden. That's what I'm trying to get across. There is a cost to being in the ministry.
I'm not saying that to try to get sympathy. I'm just saying that because that's the case,
because that's the truth. And I know other men of God that have borne a much greater
burden than I have. I feel like I've got it pretty much made in the shade, ironically
in Tucson. Figuratively speaking, of course. I really haven't had to go through it, but
look, I'm still well aware of the fact that there is a cost to be paid. You're going to
build that tower, you're going to bear that burden, you better mark it down, that's going
to cost you something. So before you decide you're going to go out and try that, or see
if the ministry is for you, you might as well just give up, just quit then. If that's your
attitude about ministry, well maybe it'll work, just don't even bother. It has to be
a burn it all attitude. I'm all in, all the way, 100%, whatever it costs me. Because you
know what, if you don't count the cost at the beginning, what happens? When the cost
starts to come home, and the bill comes due, and you go, oh I can't pay this. Others begin
to mock. Oh, yeah, I thought you were going to be this great preacher. I thought you were
going to start a ministry. Oh, I thought God could do anything. Oh, I thought you were
willing to do that. People will mock. Make fun of it. And I'm not trying to scare anybody
away from the ministry, I'm just trying to be realistic, because the fact is, and I promise
this is the last passage, go to 2 Peter 3, 2 Peter 3, we'll close there, is that, again
I'm not trying to scare anyone away, but there is a burden that has to be, that comes with
the ministry. But let me just say this, it's a burden that must be born. It's a burden
that must be born. How do you think we got to where we are today? I mean, how do you
think that there's just been this non-stop continuation of Christ's church, of just the
gospel being preached, of just church after church being started, churches starting and
rising and falling and other ones coming? How is it that Christendom just has this unbroken
line all the way back to Christ? It's because with every generation there were people that
stood up and said, I'll bear that burden. Because there's a burden, they understood
there's a burden that must be born. They said, I will pay the price, I'll burn it all, I'll
follow him, I'll wash the hands, I'll do the menial test, I'll do whatever it takes, because
they understood there is a burden that must be born. So burn it all. They said, I don't
know, I don't know about that, I don't know if I'm willing to give up this or that to
serve God. You know why you should burn it all? Because it's all going to burn anyway.
It's all going to burn anyway. You know, we came into this world with nothing, we leave
with nothing. So I'm not going to sit here and make my life about money and possessions
and wealth and things and fun. There's nothing wrong with those things. They're useful.
God has given us all things to enjoy, I get that. But that should never come at the expense
of serving God. Saying, I'd serve God, but you know, there's just too many other things
I'd rather do. I'd rather just do something else and say, you know what, then go do that,
but just understand that someone else is going to have to bear that burden, because that's
a burden that must be born. And I count it a privilege, I count it an honor to bear that
burden. And hopefully somebody else feels the same way, and let me just, you know, it's
kind of a bit of a downer of a sermon, let me just go ahead and try to encourage you
by telling you it's all going to burn anyway. It's all going to burn anyway. So these
might as well just start burning it now. Just burn it all! Because it's all going to
burn. Look at 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10. The day of the Lord shall come as a thief
in the night, and in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with a fervent heat. He's literally speaking about how God's going to engulf this
whole world in flame. He said, I thought he promised he's never going to destroy the earth
again. Yeah, with water. That's why he put his bow in the clouds. Yeah, I'll never do
that with water. I'll never again flood the earth, but I'll burn it to the ground. And
that's what he's going to do. He says, I'll melt it with fervent heat that the earth also
and the works that are therein shall be burned up. All these great arenas, all these museums,
all these great edifices, the works of man, are just all going to be ash. Including all
of our toys and everything that we covet and hold so near and dear to our hearts. It's
all going to burn anyway. So my message is, you know what, you might as well just strike
that match now. And just burn it up. If it's getting between you and serving God, you might
as well just burn it now. It's already ash, according to God's word. That's what Peter's
trying to get across here in 2 Peter chapter 3. He's not just telling us about end times
prophecy so we don't go, wow, it's going to be awesome. He's not just trying to blow
our minds. Right? That's what he says in verse 11, seeing then that all these things shall
be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.
He's saying, because it's all going to burn, you should live your life understanding that.
You should live your life with the knowledge and understanding that God's going to burn
it all. And all I'm saying tonight is, hey, if God's going to burn it all, let's just
go ahead and kindle that fire now. If there's something that's getting between me and serving
God, you know, I just want to dump a gas on it and light that thing up to where there's
just, you know, it just goes off and it's just concussive. Boom! And my eyelashes roll
back and there's a smell of burnt hair in the air. That's what I'm saying, burn it all.
Be willing to bear that burden because it's a burden that must be born. Let's go ahead
and pray. Dear Lord, again, thank you for all of the men of God, the servants of God
that have come before us. Lord, the unnamed multitudes of people who are lost to history
but are known in heaven. And Lord, I pray to help us to live our lives so that we can
be counted as one of them. Lord, servants for you, who might have been belittled by
the world, Lord, but will have the praise of God in due time. We ask these things in
Christ's name. Amen. All right, we'll sing one more song before we go tonight.
That was less than 45 minutes, 24 minutes and 31 seconds. Which is shorter than average?
56 when we all get to heaven? Or no? We can sing that one. What's the last one we're singing?
I got it here. You know? You don't know. That's in here somewhere. Bringing in the sheaves,
3.79. Bringing in the sheaves.
We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves.
We shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.