(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, well it's always an honor to get a chance to preach here, and we're in Philippians chapter 3, and Philippians chapter 3 is one of the most exciting chapters in the entire Bible. So it's especially exciting preaching from this. Honestly, I think even a Presbyterian or a Protestant would get excited preaching from Philippians chapter 3. So look at Philippians chapter 3 verses 13 and 14, where the Bible reads in Philippians 3 verses 13 and 14, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Verse 14 is a very famous verse in the Bible where Paul talks about pressing toward that mark. He's talking about doing something big for God. See, Paul was not satisfied just being at this level. Paul always wanted to grow as a Christian. He wanted to get better and better and better. But see, there's a prerequisite for that. In verse 13 he mentions something. He says, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. It's interesting that Paul says this one thing I do, but then he mentions two things. Look at this. He says this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. Now this is not a contradiction in the Bible. The reason why I think Paul says this one thing I do is this. These things are linked together. See, think about this. When it says reaching forth unto those things which are before, what do you reach with? You reach with your hands, right? So if you're going to reach onto what's before, it's kind of hard if you're hanging onto something from the past. And it says reaching onto those things, plural. So he's talking about multiple things. The only way you're going to reach onto multiple things is if you just take both arms and take it. So it's not like you're just hanging on and then hanging onto the past. See, this is what people try to do as Christians. They come to a church like this and they're like, man, I want to start reading the Bible every day. I want to start going soul winning every day. I want to start living for the Lord. But they still want to watch the TV the same amount of time. They still want to watch the same movies, listen to the same music. But see, that's impossible. You can't reach forth to what's before if you're hanging onto the past. You've got to make a choice. And whenever you see people that try to do it both ways, they try to reach forth and hang onto the past, it's going to be like a month or two and they're just doing everything the same. You can't reach forward unless you forget about what's behind. Now the name of this sermon is actually Chasing the Dragon. Chasing the Dragon, you might wonder what exactly does that mean? This is actually a term, and I'm using this as an example, but it's a term given to drug addicts, most specifically heroin addicts. And I didn't think I would do the best job explaining what this meant, so I actually got an article where I'm going to explain what this term means. But the phrase Chasing the Dragon originally was a term that came out of Hong Kong that actually talked about the process, but now it has more of a metaphorical or a symbolic meaning. And so what Chasing the Dragon is talking about, this is what it says, it starts when you have your first high. The world is peaceful, everything is perfect, you're numb, but in the best way possible. So what I'm explaining to you right now before we start the sermon is the process of how somebody becomes a drug addict. See, there's no way you can become a drug addict unless there was a first time that you actually did drugs. And see, the first time a drug addict actually did drugs, they enjoyed it, so they wanted to do it again. You know, you kids that are younger here, you ought not to ever try alcohol, or drugs, or smoking. See, the world's going to tell you, hey, just try it one time and you can quit at any moment. But that's a lie. Because you start these things, you might end up getting addicted to it. See, I am not addicted to cigarettes in the slightest, and there's a reason why. I've never smoked a cigarette. It's pretty hard to get addicted to something you've never done. And you that are young that haven't made these mistakes, don't even ever go down this road. Because every drug addict, they had a first time that they actually did it. And then it says, but soon it starts wearing off. Fast your mind races, you're pulled out of your dream world. You crave the drug more and more, wanting to feel the same way as you did on your first high. You go to the dealer and buy the same amount you had the first time and smoke. Still feels good, but not as good as the first time. So basically, the second time somebody does heroin, they don't enjoy it as much as the first time. See, the first time was the best they're ever going to enjoy it. Every time after that, it's going to get worse and worse and worse. And so they say chasing after the dragon, because people that are drug addicts, they're chasing after that feeling. They'll do anything. They'll sell things. They'll start doing larger dosages. They'll do anything they can to get back that original feeling. But it's completely gone from their life. They're never going to get back that feeling. You know, we can look outside during the day and there's a bunch of people that are chasing after the dragon. A bunch of drug addicts and they can't kick it. They can't get off it. They're never going to be able to get off it. And they're just going to chase after it, but they will never get back that feeling. Now, I hope in this room that, you know, you aren't addicted to drugs. But even if you've never done drugs, there are still dragons that we can chase after in our life. There are still things that we should be getting rid of, we should be forgetting about, and if we don't forget about them, they will destroy our lives. If we meditate about them, we think about them, it's going to end up destroying us. See, like we saw at the beginning, we need to forget about those things which are behind and reach forth onto those things which are before. I want you to turn to 2 Samuel chapter 3. And the first dragon that we need to get rid of out of our life, and I'm talking to people that are married, is past romantic relationships. Now, I hope that if you're married that you're staying faithful to your spouse. But even if you're staying faithful, you need to mortify anyone you had in your past from your mind. And never think about them anymore. That is a dragon that if you choose to chase after it, it's going to make you miserable. You will not be happy. You need to forget about it. Now, you might say, Brother Stuckey, why would you even mention that? Because obviously we're at a Baptist church and no one would ever chase after that dragon. And yet we're going to see a great man of God who did chase after that dragon here in 2 Samuel chapter 3. It says in verse 12, An Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? Saying also, Make thy league with me, and behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee. And he said, Well, I will make a league with thee. But one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring my kelth Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face. David has not fully gotten over his first wife, Michal. You know, he's married to other women right now. At this point, he should completely forget about her. But he obviously hasn't forgot about her because he says there's one thing I require. He's like, I want Michal back. Now, at this point, we see in verse 13, or verse 14, And David sent messengers to Ish-besheth, Saul's son, saying, Deliver me my wife Michal, which I espoused to me for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. And Ish-besheth sent and took her from her husband, even from Phaltiel the son of Laish. And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return, and he returned. Now this is obviously a unique situation because David is married to multiple women, which obviously is something that's wicked. It's something we ought not to ever do. But she is married to some other guy at this point. At this point, he's already got a godly wife. Abigail is a very godly lady, from all indications in the Bible. At this point, it's like, Why are you thinking about someone from years ago? Why don't you just completely forget about them? Now here's the thing. I think it's great if there's two people that are young that love the Lord, that, you know, they meet, they both want to serve God, they like each other, and they decide to get married at a young age. I think that's fantastic. I think it's great if you haven't dated a bunch of other people. But honestly, there's a lot of people that are married that have been married in the past. There's people that are married that maybe they were seriously involved. I mean, people have changed their lives here. Obviously, what you are today is not what you necessarily used to be. There's people that are married, but maybe they committed the sin of fornication before they were married. And see, when you go down that road, those are dragons in your past. And the more involved you were in the past, it might be harder to shake that. Now if you're someone who didn't really date before, then, you know, you probably don't have many dragons that you're hanging onto. But if you're someone who's married that did date a lot before, you might have certain people that you might try to compare your spouse to. You might look at your current spouse and say, Man, I love her, but this person I dated in the past, they were nicer. You know, they were more fun. You might try to compare them. That is a huge mistake, because if you do that, it's going to destroy your happiness with the person that you're married to. You know, the grass is always greener on the other side. You always feel like, Man, I would be happier if I did something else, or if I was with somebody else, or if I was here instead. The grass is always greener on the other side. But what you would find out was there's a reason why you didn't marry them. You know, obviously you married your spouse for a reason. And you know, some people, they look at the past and they just have pleasant feelings about the past, but they don't realize there's probably a reason why you didn't marry them. You know, you have to understand this, too, that once you're married, you start having the stresses of life coming in. You know, being a married guy and trying to provide for a family, it can be a stressful thing. You know, raising kids, that can be a stressful thing. You know, it can be a tiring thing. Of course, when you were single and you had lots of money and lots of time and all you did was go to theme parks and exciting things, of course you had a fun time. But you know, it's not a fair comparison to look at your spouse where you have a lot more stresses and you're busy all the time. I mean, when I was a single guy, I had all the free time in the world. You know, and I had all the money in the world to just do whatever I wanted. You know, and it wouldn't be a fair comparison to compare my wife to someone I dated in the past when I had lots of money and you were just doing other things. It's not a fair comparison. Turn to 1 Samuel 19. And you know, David is thinking about a woman from his past that is probably in heaven, I would say, but she doesn't appear to be the godliest lady. We're going to see that in 1 Samuel 19. I would imagine you that are at this church right now, the people that you probably date in the past, they probably weren't that godly either. And that person that you say, man, I really had a fun time with them. Do you really think that they'd want to sit through the sermons at this church? There's probably a reason why you didn't marry them. They probably wouldn't like this church. They might have said, oh, I love God. But if they were sitting in this church, we'd see pretty soon they don't love God. Because very few people like to come to a church like this. There are people, praise the Lord, that love to hear. We've got a nice full crowd tonight of people that love the word of God, but most people don't love the word of God. Even people that are saved, it doesn't mean that they love the word of God. And even if you dated someone in the past that was saved, it doesn't mean that they would enjoy this sort of church. In 1 Samuel 19, we see that this woman from David's past is not the godliest. Look at verse 11. Saul also sent messengers onto David's house to watch him and to slay him in the morning. And Michael, David's wife, told him, saying, if thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain. So Michael let David down through a window, and he went and fled and escaped. And Michael took an image and laid it in the bed and put a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster and covered it with a cloth. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, he is sick. And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, bring him up to me in the bed that I may slay him. And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed with a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster. This image is an idol. And you've got to ask yourself, why does she have an idol, you know, there? Why does she own that? You know, she's not the godliest lady if she's going around with an idol. I'm not saying she's not in heaven, but Abigail seems to be a pretty godly lady when you see in the Bible. And then all indication from Michael is, she wasn't the godliest. She wasn't necessarily a really bad person, but she doesn't seem to be as godly as Abigail. And I'd imagine that person from your past is probably, would probably not like this church. They probably are not as godly as the person that you're married to now. You've got to be thankful that you have a spouse that, at the very least, loves this kind of preaching. Because that is extremely rare to find someone who likes this kind of preaching and likes soul winning and likes the word of God. Turn to 2 Samuel 6. What we also see with this is he actually gets back together with Michael, and he ends up not being very happy with her. And I would imagine that person that maybe you have some fuzzy feelings that you haven't completely mortified from your mind, I'd imagine if you got back together with him, you probably wouldn't be very happy either. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 6 verse 20. In 2 Samuel chapter 6 verse 20, the Bible reads, Then David returned to bless his household, and Michael the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovered himself. What you see is here, she is waiting to fight. You know, she's just already mad at him, probably because, you know, he's married to several other ladies. But it's like she's waiting to get in a fight, and right when she has the opportunity, boom, she strikes. But you notice David is also waiting to argue with her. All indications are they probably have not been happy since they've been back together. Because all we see is this big argument, and they're both just immediately ready to snap. It indicates they have not been happy together. In verse number 21, the Bible reads, And David said unto Michael, It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore will I play before the Lord. It's a pretty strong statement when her dad is dead. And he's like, Which chose me before thy father. You know, that's a pretty rude statement, you know, to make to your wife. You can tell that David is also ready to fight. Look at verse 21, And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight, and of the maid servants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. You know, he's not trying to patch things up with her at this point. He's just trying to bring it to another level. She starts the fight, and he's like, Well, I'm going to take it to a whole other level. And then notice the result in verse 23, Therefore Michael, the daughter of Saul, had no child unto the day of her death. You say, Why didn't they have any children? Well, the indications are they were never together again after that. You know, obviously they were not happy together. And so you have to understand that person from your past that you might have some feelings towards, you know what, you wouldn't be happy if you were with them. They don't love the Lord, and if they were at this church, you know what, they wouldn't last. And you know, it would not work out for you. You would not be happy with them. You're going to find out that grass is always greener on the other side, and there's a reason why God gave you the spouse that you have. You know, you have to understand also this, that that person that you dated in the past, you probably dated them back when you were a worldly person. You probably dated them back when you watched movies every week at the movie theaters. You probably dated them back when you went to rock concerts or country concerts. You probably dated them when you were a much different person. And maybe the old person might have liked them, but the new person wouldn't like them. I mean, I can't imagine being married to someone that never wanted to talk about the Bible. Or is like, man, we go to church more than once a week. We're going soul winning. I mean, that would be really annoying if that were the case. And you have to realize that person from your past, that you wouldn't like them now. Not only that, when I was married, I remember making the phrase forsaking all others. I don't think that just means that you're not going to cheat on your spouse. I think forsake them in your mind as well. Forsake them and never think about them ever again. And honestly, this is a point that is more pertinent than it used to be because I've heard stories of people that started talking to someone they dated from high school on Facebook 40 years in the past. 40 years in the past and all of a sudden they start striking up a conversation and their wife ended up finding out about that. Now, how do you think your spouse is going to find out when you're talking about someone you dated 40 years ago? And honestly, if you're on social media, you should cut off all connections to that person from your past. You shouldn't keep them, you say, well, we're just friends on Facebook. But you know, you're going to end up looking at their pictures sometimes and say, wow, they seem so happy. I remember those times. You need to just mortify that from your mind. Cut off all connections. Turn to Ruth chapter 1. So the first dragon from your past that you need to get rid of is this romantic relationships, people that you dated in the past. But the other dragon you need to get rid of is this past residences, basically past places that you used to live in. You see, a lot of people at this church moved here from some other location. A lot of people came here to be a part of this church. There's a lot of single guys that moved here, but there's also a lot of married people that decided, you know what, we're going to do everything we can to get our family spiritually strong. We're going to do what we need to do so our family will be spiritually strong. Now, I believe that it is easier for a guy to move to a new place than it is for a lady. That's what I believe. I think it's an easier adjustment. And I believe his husbands, we ought to be long suffering with our wives and realize they might miss family and friends. But I believe this is something that women might struggle with more. But you have to understand that place you lived in the past, that's the past. You don't live there anymore. And you shouldn't just like long and say, man, I just wish I was still there. I'd be so much happier. That is going to cause you to be miserable here if all you do is think about that place that you used to live. Look at Ruth chapter 1. We see in verse number 1, Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons, Malon and Chileon, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. And they came into the country of Moab and continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled there about ten years. And Malon and Chileon died also both of them. And the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. We see in this story that Elimelech decides to move his family, not for godly reasons, because he's moving from Judah to Moab. He's going to an ungodly place simply because of See, everyone who moved here, everyone that was married, none of us moved because we thought we were going to get rich. None of us said, man, this is going to be a great financial decision for us. I'm pretty sure that all of us are like, man, I'm taking a leap of faith to actually do this. And I could be wrong, but I can't think of anyone offhand that when they made the decision that for sure we're moving, already had a job lined up from day one. I know there's some people that started from day one, but I don't know anyone in here, I could be wrong, that actually had their job already, boom, this is where I'm going to start on this date. From what I can remember, everyone just had to take that leap of faith and say, well, I'm going to have to just do this and just try and do whatever I have to to provide for my family. See, people that moved here, it's the opposite of why Elimelech moved. Elimelech moved simply for money. Now, I would imagine that, I would hope that most wives would be happy that they'd have a husband that wouldn't make decisions based on money. I mean, you ought to be happy that your husband is willing to make a big decision for a spiritual reason. See, in this story, Naomi never complains about her husband. You never see her complain one time. The only thing she says at the end, even when Elimelech wrecked her life, this is what he says, she says, I went out full and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. She doesn't blame her husband. She doesn't blame her son. She's like, I went out full. And honestly, I don't even believe Naomi wanted to go. I think she was just going along with her husband, but she never blames him, even when he destroys her life. And she says, the Lord hath brought me home again empty. She realizes it was much better being back home around God's people in Bethlehem, Judah. But she never complains about her husband. Now, you have to understand that the preaching at this church, many people listen to these sermons. Tons of people listen to these sermons, and throughout the week, guess what they do? They complain to their spouse about how lame their church is before they move. Tons of people complain and say, man, our church is miserable. I can't live for the Lord here. I wish we didn't live here. I wish we lived somewhere else. Tons of guys are complaining every week to their spouses, every week to their wives, but they do not have the guts to move. They don't have the boldness. They don't have the faith. They don't have the courage. And I promise you this is true, because the minority decides to move. You know, there's tons of people out there that are going to even hear this sermon and know they should move somewhere, whether it's here, or Faithful Word, or somewhere they can really serve the Lord, but they're not going to do it because they don't have enough courage. They don't have enough guts. They don't have enough boldness. And I'm not saying everybody has to move, but there's plenty of people that say, man, I do need to move. And they just don't have the courage to do it. Now, you ought to be happy that you have a husband that has some guts, that has some courage, that he's willing to move for any reason spiritually. To be spiritually strong, he says, you know what, I'm going to trust that God's going to work it out. Because honestly, that is the minority, even our movement. There's tons of people that listen to sermons, but they do not have the courage to go and move, even though they know they should move. You ought to be happy if your husband does have those guts. And he says, you know what, our family needs to be spiritually strong, and if we want to head the right direction, we're going to make that move. We're going to step out in faith, and God's going to end up providing it. Turn to Philippians chapter 4. And I understand that people can get homesick. Obviously, even as guys, we could get homesick, maybe about various things, but I do think that's something ladies struggle with more. But you know, if you're getting homesick, you know, one thing I would highly recommend is don't go around telling everybody how much better it was before you moved here. How, man, I wish my husband didn't make us move. That's really not a smart thing to do. But you need to learn to get over it, because you have to understand you already moved. It's in the past. You're not going to be able to go back there. It's done. You already made the decision to move. Your husband decided, hey, you know what, we're going to move here to serve the Lord. And honestly, it's a great decision. I'm glad that we decided to move here and leap out in faith. And honestly, at first, it was a financial struggle, because it's amazing how fast money can fly away. But you know, everyone who's moved here, God has provided for them financially. Every single person. You know, maybe you don't have as much money as you used to have, but God never guaranteed we be rich. He guaranteed us food and raiment, and all of us have that here. All of us have raiment. All of us have food. All of us are doing fine. You know, God has provided. And I believe that anybody who would make that move for a spiritual reason, I believe God would provide for them. You know, the reason why Elimelech moved is because he knew it was the best place spiritually, but he was worried about money. So he moved away because he was worried about money. And we need guys that have the guts to move in spite of money. Just say, you know what, I'm going to move because it's just the best decision to do. In Philippians chapter 4, what you notice verse 11 where it says, not that I speak in respect of one, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Now the immediate context of Philippians 4 is referring to money, but it would still apply to a place that you live. You know, Paul says he's learned to be content. You know, you say, I'm not content. I wish I lived where I used to live. But you can learn to be content. And honestly, that's a great promise that you can learn to be happy. Because if you were just destined to be miserable the rest of your life, that would be pretty depressing. But you know, the Bible says you can learn to be content. He says, not that I speak in respect of one, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. We need to learn how to be content. We need to learn how to be happy. And you know, maybe you did move here. Maybe there is something you like more about the past. Maybe you say, man, I really liked, you know, the temperature. I had friends. I had family. But you need to learn to be content. And honestly, if you went back to where you used to live, you would not be happy. See, I think you forgot how lame your old church was. There's a reason why your husband says, man, we need to get out of here because we need to go to a church where we can grow spiritually. A church is actually going soul winning and preaching hard. I think a lot of us have forgotten how lame our old churches was. And honestly, that's the one good thing about going on vacation because you visit some of these IFB churches, I mean, it's a joke. They're not getting better. I can tell you that. It's like they either come to be a part of our movement or they just get worse. And they just put their foot in the ground and then they just keep getting worse and worse. And whenever you go on vacation and you visit these churches, it's like, man, they're so lame. The sermons are a joke. They don't say anything. They don't preach anything. They have no soul winning. It's not exciting. You know, there's a reason why that we decided, you know, people in here decided to move their families across the country. There's a reason why people decided to take that leap of faith. It's because your old church was lame. All of us, we moved because we had a lame church that we went to where we weren't being fed spiritually. And you also have to understand this, that when you come to a church like this, you change a lot. And so you might have missed things when you first moved, but you have to understand, the more you're here, you're changing every single week. When you're hearing real preaching every week and you're going soul winning every week, you're going to start to slowly change. And you're going to realize over time that, you know, if you do visit back where you used to live, you're going to find out, man, I'm glad that I live in Sacramento, California. I'm glad I have a great church like Verity Baptist Church. Because once you start changing, it's not going to be the same back there. Because you become a different person, you would not be happy if you lived back there. And even if you think that you would, the bottom line is the Bible says you need to learn to be content. That's what he says in Philippians chapter 4. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. And if you choose to meditate on just wishing you lived somewhere else that you used to live, it's going to make your life miserable. You will not be happy if you just dwell on someone that it didn't work out with in the past, it's going to cause you not to love your wife. If you decide to just, you know, always think about I wish I lived this place and you just want to complain and you're just festering all these thoughts in your head, it's going to cause you to be miserable here. If you don't just decide I'm going to forget about it and realize we've moved on and realize we have a great church here in Sacramento. Not just romantic relationships though can be a dragon or former residences, but also stages of life. Things that were in our past, you know, various stages that we went through that we might meditate on, that could be a dragon for us. Some of the stages I'm talking about are like being a kid. You know, sometimes, you know, I look at these kids running around after service and I'm thinking, man, it must be nice. No responsibilities, they don't get tired, they don't get in pain. They can literally bump their head into the sharpest corner here and they just bounce back up and I'm like, man, you know, it must be nice to be a kid, just be able to run around and have fun. Or you might say, man, you know, life is so stressful I wish I was single again. I wish I had more free time. Or you might say, man, I wish that we had kids growing up in our house. You say, our kids are out of the house and I'm not happy anymore. Enjoyed it when my kids were here. You know, there's various stages in life and you can make a decision once you transfer into another stage. You can either learn to be happy or you can just dwell in the past and make your life miserable. You look about these things about being a kid. You know, some of the things kids get to do, you know, they play video games, they run around, there's no real responsibilities. I remember when I was, you know, just sometimes when I'm thinking, I'm like, man, I kind of wish I could just take a nap for a couple of days. You know, there's so many stresses in life, I just want to forget about it for a little while. But you know, when you're older you can't do that. You have responsibilities in your life. You know, you can't live like a kid. And obviously kids should serve the Lord when they're young, but it's great that they get a chance to have fun and everything like that. But the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 11, when I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. We need to realize that once we reach that age where we're a man or we're a lady or a woman, we need to forget about when we were a kid. And quit trying to live and act like we're a kid. You know, it seems like every single year there's a lot more toys for grown-ups that are out there, that you need to spend all these hours on. All these video games are getting more advanced and literally grown adults spend 10, 20 hours just playing video games every week. You know, I know people that play video games and their wives are very frustrated, not in this church, but I know people, guys that play video games and their wives are very frustrated that their husband is still acting like a child. And it's like, yes, there was a time you were a child, but you become a man, you've got to put away childish things. You know, I remember that there's, I think this was in Peter Pan, they had what was called Never Never Land where the kids just like never grew up. And I remember there's this commercial on, you know, maybe it's still out there with Toys R Us. Is Toys R Us still a store? Yeah. I remember there's a commercial where it's like, I never, or I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid. But yeah, there's a time to grow up. There's a time to quit just watching your Disney, it's time to grow up, quit playing your video games and start acting like an adult. And it seems like the world is trying to delay the stage forever now. They want you to just stay a kid for longer and longer and live with your parents for longer and not get married. They just keep extending it, but you know what, we need to become men and actually do something with our lives and not waste our time. That was great that we had a chance to be a kid, but once you grow past that stage, you've got to get over it. It's going to be a dragon to you if you just meditate on that. Or you might say, man, my life is so busy, you know, I wish I was single. You say, man, if I was single, I'd have more time to serve God, you know, more time to work out or do hobbies, I'd have a lot more money. But you know, just because there's some advantages of being single, there's a lot of advantages of being married as well. And I remember back when I was married, I just couldn't wait until I actually got married. I had friends of mine, I got married when I was 30 years old because I didn't meet the right person before that. And I saw some of my friends get married before me. And I was happy for them, but there's also a part of me that says, man, I wish I was a person, you know, who got married. I wish I met the right person. And you know, we might meditate on things and say, my life's so busy, I want to have more free time, I want to be able to do hobbies. But you know, once you're married, you have responsibilities. You can't just live the exact same lifestyle you did when you're single. You know, once you're married, you might not be able to do all your hobbies and work out all the time and do everything you wanted to do. You're at a different stage in life. Turn to 1 Corinthians 7. And so what I'm showing you in this point of stages of life, this dragon that we can have in our life, is this. Every stage has advantages and disadvantages. There's things that are great about every stage of life. Every single stage there's advantages to it, and there's disadvantages. Instead of dwelling on the past, you need to take advantage of the stage that you have. Take advantage of that when you have it, and you know, use it for God and use it, and if you just dwell on the past, you are going to be miserable. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul writes, But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how He may please the Lord. But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy, both in body and in spirit. But she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. See, the Bible talks about when you get married, your responsibility is to please your spouse. You know, like pastors preaching this morning, they ought to be your best friend. They ought to be someone you enjoy spending time with. You can't just say, well, you know, I'm just going to spend all my time at the gym like I always have and then just come home, wake up, go to work, and just ignore my spouse. No. When you're married, you need to spend time with your spouse instead of just acting like you're still single. Turn to Ephesians chapter 5, and I can pretty much guarantee that everybody in here who's married, back when you were single, you wanted to meet the right person. There's a reason why you got married because you said, man, you know, maybe it was fun being single, but I want to meet the right person. I want to get married. And once you get married, you're at a different stage in life. You might say this, you know, I wish that we had kids growing up. Maybe you're at the stage where your kids are growing, or maybe they're out of the home, and you say, man, I wish we still had kids at home. The Bible says, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. See, the Bible tells us we should train our children when they're young, and when they're old, they're not going to depart from it. But you have to understand, once they reach that age where they're an adult, they're a different family now. The husband, the wife, you don't make the decisions for them as the parent. You need to cut that umbilical cord once they grow out of the house and they get married, and they get their own place to stay. You know, in Ephesians chapter 5, it says in verse 31, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother. Ephesians 5 31, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. Now, I think it's very apparent in life that parents have a real struggle when this age comes. When basically the kids are out of the home now, they're getting married, they have a lot of struggle with basically allowing them to make their decisions. You know, I love my parents, but you know, the decision of whether or not we vaccinate our kids is between me and my wife. It's not my parents' decision to make. Whether or not we homeschool our kids, whether or not they go to public school, that's the decision for us to make. And you know, you're going to make a huge mistake like Pastor was preaching about this morning, if you allow the parents to make those decisions. You know, one thing I noticed when I was a kid was a lot of people get divorced right when their kids get to college and they're out of the home. I was amazed by it growing up in West Virginia, how people could be married 20, 25, 30 years, and then they got divorced. And I didn't used to understand it, but I actually do understand it now, and I want to read to you this article that talks about this. And it's called, I'm trying to remember what syndrome it's called, but this is what it says in this article. According to statistics, if you survive the first seven years of marriage, you have made it through one of the most difficult phases of holy matrimony. The problem is that surviving the first decade isn't a tell-all that speaks volumes for successful marriage. See, when I was a kid, I figured, you know, if you're married for a long time, of course you're going to stay married. But honestly, that's not really the case. In West Virginia, I saw people get divorced all the time once the kids had reached an age when they were in college. This is what the article says. There is no way to guarantee that your marriage will survive when the kids grow up and move out of the familial home. The divorce rate for couples who have been married 25 plus years hovers at around 30%, which is pretty substantial when you consider the work and effort it took to keep the marriage together this long. Do you throw those years away and move forward with your own life now that it is a real possibility, or do you work to rebuild and add upon the marriage that you once dreamed of having? It says that the percentage is around 30%. Now, honestly, I believe that's a little bit high. I can't imagine that it's that high. But honestly, growing up in West Virginia, it happened a lot. Once the kids reached a certain age and the parents were at a different stage in life, they had trouble adjusting. There's an adjustment for both there, for the people that are younger and married where they need to make their own decision, they have their own family, but also for the parents where they need to let their kids make that decision. But I mean, 30%, that's pretty crazy that you can be married for that long. But the problem is people are at a different stage in life and they don't know how to adjust to it. They dwell on the past and they just think about, man, I wish my kids were here, and it causes them to be miserable and they cannot adjust to this new stage. One of these people in the Bible was Laban. This is what Laban said to Jacob. He said, these daughters are my daughters and these children are my children. And it's like, no, they're not, Laban. I mean, they're your daughters but they're married to Jacob now. At this point, Jacob should be starting his own family. You know, instead of trying to lord over his life, Laban, you should let him go. Turn to Titus chapter 2. Or you might be in this room and you might think, you know, you might say, you know, I'm past all of these stages. Maybe you're a little bit older and you say, man, I wish any of these stages I could be in. I feel like I'm getting on the latter part of life and I feel like, you know, I'm just kind of getting depressed. I wish I was at any of these stages. But I want you to understand something, that I could read this book a hundred times and I still wouldn't be able to provide the information that some of you could that are older than me because you can't really put a price on experience. And if you've been around this world for a long time, it's like, for example, I could read every book on how to raise kids. I could listen to every sermon. But, you know, it still doesn't, you know, replace someone who's actually gone through it. Obviously, we're trying to prepare as much as we can but at the same time, someone that has experience knows a lot of things. And you have to realize that, you know, there is a place for you even if you're past these other stages we talked about. In Titus chapter 2, look at verse 3, the Bible reads, the aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not giving them much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. The Bible says the aged women, and I don't think this is just talking about people that are older or people that have experience. But, you know, if you have experience, you can pass that down. Instead of dwelling on the past and making your life miserable until the end, you should take advantage of the things you have now. You can pass down experience that I don't have. And it doesn't matter how much I read this book, there's just things I don't know because I haven't gone through them. You know, no matter what stage we're in, we need to quit dwelling on the past. That's a dragon in your life. If you choose to meditate and chase after trying to be a kid, you hear people talk about their sports stories about how, you know, back when they were in high school football, they were the fastest receiver. And it's like, that was 40 years ago. You know, and I've never been to a high school reunion, but I'd imagine high school reunions, people were just talking about, man, things were great, you know, back when we were 16 years old, right? You know, 50 years ago. It's like, there's a stage you've got to just move on and quit glorying in the past and actually do something for God now. Do something with your life now rather than dwelling in your past. It's going to make you miserable if you choose to dwell on those things. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11. So the first thing that we looked at that can be a dragon in your life is past romantic relationships. You need to just mortify that from your mind. The second thing we looked at is residences or places that you've lived before. You need to quit dwelling on the past. The third thing is stages of life, but the fourth thing is sin and worldliness. This is something that can be a dragon to us and can drag us down. The example of chasing the dragon is an example of this, of sin. But in Hebrews chapter 11, look at what it says in verse 24. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect under the recompense of the reward. See, the Bible says the pleasures of sin. You know, sin does have pleasure to it. That's what the Bible teaches. It says the pleasures of sin for a season. It doesn't last. You know, whenever you go down a road of sinning, you're going to be happier at the very beginning like we talked about. It's going to just get worse and worse. And see, here's the way it works. The things of the world, they get worse with time. You know, watching movies, you get sick of them. If you're someone who's a drunk, you might have enjoyed it when you started, but pretty soon you're just going through the motions. It's not as fun as when you first started. People that are drug addicts, it's not as fun when you first started. The things of God are the opposite. The things of God, they get better with time. You know, if you're in this room and maybe you've only read the Bible, you know, one or two times, maybe you haven't been saved that long, it might be a chore for you to read the Bible. It might be difficult for you to read the Bible. But I can honestly say, I enjoy reading the Bible. There's so much to learn in the Bible that's really interesting. I enjoy reading the Bible and memorizing the Bible. And the things of God, they start out and it takes a little bit of diligence. You've got to just decide, I'm going to do what the Bible says. But what you're going to find is the more you read the Bible, guess what? The more you enjoy it. Whereas the things of the world, if you watch movies every single week at the movie theater, it loses the excitement. You know, if you live a worldly or sinful lifestyle, it's going to end up losing its value. Serving God, maybe at the beginning you say, man, it's tough to be disciplined and read the Bible. You know, I feel like there's so much in this book that I don't know, but if you just make the decision to read the Bible, you're going to find yourself enjoying it more and more and more. I tell people this sometimes when I go soul-winding, if they get saved, I'll ask them if they think I knew a lot about the Bible when I got saved. When I got saved, I knew zero verses in the Bible. I could not have quoted John 3.16 when I got saved. I did not know anything about the Bible. And when I first started reading the Bible, there was a lot of places that I didn't find the most entertaining. You know, I was really wanting to learn everything about eternal security and salvation because I wanted to be able to answer people's questions. But you know, there's a lot of stuff that, you know, reading Isaiah, I'm like, I have no clue what's going on. Yeah, reading, I still don't know Ezekiel, what's going on in Ezekiel. But you know, there's a lot of books where you're just like, man, you know, I don't understand what's going on. I don't know these characters. I don't know these names. It takes a little bit of diligence. But the things of the world, they get worse with time. The things of God, they get better with time. The more you serve God, the more you're going to enjoy it. That's the way it works. Turn to Exodus chapter 34. And I'll remember, this is a long time ago, but I remember hearing it preached about this same thing that I'm preaching right now, that the things of God get better with time. And you know, it's something I just decided, you know what, I'm just going to take that by faith. I'm going to look at people that really love the Lord and are serving God. And I said, you know, I said, I haven't been saved long. I'm just going to take by faith that what they're saying is true. I'm going to take by faith that they're not lying to me. And I said, I'm just going to make sure I just read the Bible every day, memorize the Bible, and I'm going to do it until I enjoy it. And I do enjoy it. And you might be at a stage where you say, you know, I don't always enjoy it, it's not that fun. You know, if you want to have pleasure in your life, man, put in the work now, because you will enjoy reading the Bible once you see everything, once you understand things. You know, the Bible is an eternal book, you know, you learn things every single time you read it. In Exodus chapter 34, this is what it says in verse 27, And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He did neither eat bread nor drink water, and he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. So basically, Moses is spending forty days and forty nights with God. And look at what it says in verse number 29, And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. You say, what does that mean, that he wist not? He did not realize that his face was actually shining when he was talking to God. He had actually physically looked different when he was with God. He wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. Then in verse 30 it says, And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come nigh him. All of a sudden, they're afraid to come close to Moses, because they can see he physically looks different. Now, am I saying that if you read the Bible a lot for forty days, your face is going to look different? That's not what I'm saying. But this is a spiritual application that shows you that when you physically get close to, physically when he got close to God, he changed physically. When you spiritually get close to God, guess what? You change. You become a different person. You know, I'm not the same person I was ten years ago, because the person I was ten years ago still listened to the worldly music. The person I was ten years ago still watched the movies, still watched TV. The person I was ten years ago was different. But see, when you get close to God, you will change. And notice what it says, the people that knew him best, they were afraid to come nigh him. Isn't that the truth when you live for God? That the people that you used to be friends with, they're like, who are you? They don't want to have anything to do with you anymore. They just say, man, you're so much different, you know, you're always talking about the Bible, you're always talking about the church, they're afraid to come nigh you. They were friends with you back when you were worldly, back when you were a different person. But when you get close to God, you end up changing. You know, I listen to a sermon, you know, I enjoy listening to some of the Preaching Night sermons from the various churches in our movement, and Brother Tony mentioned this in his sermon at Verity Vancouver, and he was talking about how he had really changed since he had gotten saved and started coming to that church, you know, and going soul winning all the time. And he talked about how his wife and him decided to watch a movie. They had already made this decision, and they said just five minutes into the movie, he said, man, we made a big mistake, because they didn't enjoy it. They didn't enjoy it at all, and he realized, man, I have really changed, because he said, if it was me a couple years ago, I would have enjoyed it. And see, that's the way we are, you know. You have to understand, this old sin and worldliness that we enjoyed, you enjoyed it back when you weren't a spiritual. Every once in a while, it might pop into your mind, man, I kind of wish I could just go back to doing this and this, but you would not enjoy it if you went back to it now. You're a different person now, and once you change, you're not going to find enjoyment in that. And your sin and your worldliness, that's going to be a dragon, because you think you're going to find excitement in it, but you won't. You're going to end up feeling guilty. You know, it's kind of interesting that when people, you know, come to a church like this, and they'll tell you their story about how they got saved, and things like that, they always say this, and they're kind of surprised how they say, when they got saved, man, my whole family disowned me, all my friends disowned me, and they think that their story is unique. And it's funny when they're telling you this story, because I'm thinking, yeah, that's everybody. Once they live for the Lord, their friends disown them, their family disowns them, I mean, everybody doesn't want to have anything to do with them. And, you know, what's funny too, though, is sometimes they'll tell you this story, and they think that all of their friends and their family changed. It's funny when they tell this story, they don't realize, it's like, no, no, they didn't change. It's like, you are the one who changed. They're the exact same that they used to be, but you are a completely different person. You have to understand, these things from your past, all the things we mentioned, you know, you're a different person now. You won't find the same enjoyment in what you did 10 years ago, and if you do, there's a problem there, because you're not growing spiritually. But if you grow spiritually, your desires are going to change. Turn to Philippians chapter 3. So, the four dragons we looked at that we need to mortify from our minds and cut off all connections are romantic relationships from our past, residences or places we lived, stages of life, and also sin and worldliness. But you say, Brother Stuckey, how do we get over this? Well, look at Philippians chapter 3 verse 13. You might say, you know, one of these points really hit home. You say, that's something I need to get over. That's something I still think about, I meditate on, and I haven't fully kicked it from my mind. Or you say, there's a few things that you mentioned. Yes, I need to get rid of them because I want to be happy. I don't want to be miserable. Look at Philippians chapter 3 verse 13. It says, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind. See, the Bible says you must forget. What that means is that something that takes place in your mind. That means you've got to just not think about it at all. Turn to Matthew chapter 6. See, the world likes to say things like, well, you know, it's not wrong to look as long as you don't do anything. But see, we have to cut things off from our mind. From the very source we need to get rid of it. And see, you might say, well, you know, I'm just meditating on it. I'm not doing anything. But that's going to keep it fresh in your mind, and you'll never get over it if you keep thinking about it. You have to just cut it off from your mind and quit thinking about it. In Matthew chapter 6 verse 21, the Bible reads, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Now, the immediate context of this verse is referring to money. And basically, you know, the things that you spend your money on shows where your heart is, but also the things that you spend your time on. That shows where your heart is as well. But not only that, though, if you focus your time on something, because remember the Bible says you can learn to be content, it can change your desires. Like, for example, I said when you first read the Bible, you might not enjoy it. But if you start reading it, you're going to start caring about it a lot more. The more you spend time on it, the more you're going to care about it. You know, for example, let me say this. If you were to ask me, Brother Stuckey, do you love Verity Baptist Church? I would tell you I do. I love the people at this church. I love the fellowship. I love the zeal for soul winning. I love talking about the Bible all the time. You know, I love Verity Baptist Church. But if you were to ask me, Brother Stuckey, do you love Verity Baptist Church as much as Pastor Jimenez? I would tell you I don't. And there's a big reason why. Because I haven't invested as much time into it. He's invested his whole life and his whole time in seven plus years. I haven't invested that much time. And if you invest more time, I promise you, the people that care about this church the most are Pastor Jimenez and his wife. I promise you that. They care about this church more than any of us. They've invested more of their life, more of their time, and when you invest your time and your life into something, you're going to care about it. It's like if you have a career for 20 years where you really work hard to grow in a company, you're going to care about it because you spent 20 years. But if you just started that job fresh out of college and you lose it after a couple of months, it's not going to hit you as hard. As if you spent 20 years and you're like, man, and then it just went right out from under you. The things that you spent, or for example, if you buy a car that doesn't cost much money and ends up getting in a wreck, you probably don't care as much as if you have a nice, fancy car. You know, the things that you spend time on, it works the same with time. If you spend a lot of time on something, you're going to care about it more. You see, the secret to getting rid of these dragons from the past, it comes in the mind. You've got to choose to forget about these things. And honestly, the things that we talked about, these apply to all of us. Various things here apply to all of us. We all have various dragons and various things that we think about that we shouldn't. Things that we should just leave in the past. And remember what Paul said at the beginning. He said, reaching forth under those things which are before. See, the more you hold onto things from the past, it's going to prevent you to reaching forth and pressing toward that mark for the prize of the high calling. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be in your house this evening and help us to all apply these things to our lives, including myself, God. Help us to get rid of these dragons that we have in our minds or our hearts, God. Help us just to love you more each and every day, to love our spouses more each and every day, God, to just forsake these various things in our mind, God. We just pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.