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

All right, amen, so the title of the sermon this morning is called Over the Edge, Over the Edge. I want to spend some time here explaining some things first, and we'll get into what that means exactly here in a few minutes. But we're in Luke chapter 18. If you would, real quick, look at verse number one. It says this, and he spake a parable unto them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint. So by that verse, maybe you've already guessed what the subject of the sermon is, and that's motivation. We're going to talk about motivation this morning and what hinders our motivation. I know for me personally, Wednesdays, a lot of time, my motivation gets tested severely, right? And it makes sense when you think about it, because I'm the pastor, I'm very busy. We take care of my dad, Alzheimer's, all of that stuff. And then I work for a place that says, oh yeah, well, let's make sure you get off on time on Wednesday so that you can prepare and get to church, right? And it almost never happens, right? It almost never happens. And so I just find myself a lot of times struggling Monday and Tuesday just to kind of make sure that I'm ready and prepared. Those are probably the two most stressful days that I have in the entire week, besides actually Wednesday around four o'clock when I have three jobs left and I need to be off in an hour. There's always that as well. But there's different things that affect our motivation. We're all different. We all have different interests. We all have different goals. We all have different things going on. And one thing I'd like to say is that no matter what your goals were at the beginning of last year, chances are there's probably a few, if any, maybe that you didn't accomplish. And I'd just like to submit to you, don't let that bog you down for the following year because that's one thing that can hinder all of us. That can dampen all of our motivation. You need to just toss that up and be like, you know what? What's achievable? What can I look forward to in this coming year that I can actually achieve? Because the problem with goals is a lot of times that we set goals that we honestly can't achieve. They're just a little too far out there. They're a little too high for us, if you know what I mean. But let's say that you have a goal to be, maybe to read your Bible one time in the year, front to back. I mean, this is the perfect opportunity because you're going to get an opportunity to read the entire New Testament in January. You're going to have people holding you accountable. Hey, how are you doing with that? Not to be rude. It's just how the church is. How are you doing with that? What's going on, man? Did you read Luke chapter four yesterday and things like that? Don't take that as an insult. Take that as motivation. Take that as a goading, as a prodding, as an exhortation. The Bible commands us to read, right? It commands us to exhort one another, commands us to pray for one another. And I find it interesting here in Luke chapter 18, verse one, that the first thing Jesus mentions is prayer. And I often notice that that is usually the first thing to go in a Christian's life before they faint. It'll usually start with the prayer and then usually something else. Soul reading, maybe soul winning, maybe church attendance. But one of those other things are just on the cliff, they're on the edge, getting ready to be pushed over. And I noticed it starts with prayer. This isn't a sermon on prayer exclusively, but just keep that in mind. Don't ever give up on prayer. It's just the one thing that the devil wants to attack and your flesh wants to attack. You have to force yourself to do it. And it doesn't take long. You can always be... I mean, you could pray without ceasing. You're always praying, right? You're always praying at the stoplight. Lord, please let my tires grip the pavement this morning so I can get to church. There's all manner of prayer that you can do. But the point is, don't stop because when you stop prayer, I promise you, you will faint. He's not just talking about fainting in regards to prayer. He's talking about fainting in the Christian life. And then after that, you'll notice what he does is he gives a parable because he wants to really illustrate what he's talking about here, which is motivation, which is preventing apathy or a lack of interest, a lack of enthusiasm for the things of God. He gives that parable and then look at verse number seven, he says this, right? So remember he taught us about the unjust judge, you know, finally coming around and saying, okay, well, I'm going to avenge this woman here. And then God's like, hey, look, I'm better than that unjust judge. And in verse seven, he says this, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them. And so here's the second thing that I noticed that'll often hinder our motivation. It's the fact that God doesn't always give us everything that we request right away. You know, I mean, I know people that have prayed for their spouse to be saved for years and years and years and years and years, and he bared long with them. He bared long with him. But the point is, you know, these people that I'm thinking of in my mind, they didn't faint. They kept the prayer. They kept the faithfulness. They kept all these things. And God said, finally, I'm going to grant this, I'm going to make this happen and whatever it is, whatever it is that you need in your life, whatever problem that you have, I'm telling you, if you neglect prayer, you will faint. You won't even be able to get to this point here. You won't even be able to allow God to bear long with you. And he doesn't do that with everything in our lives, right? But the point is, he does bear along with us as a whole. You know, we're being persecuted all the time, mildly right now in this country. But in other parts of the world, it's not mild. Other parts of the world, believers are put to death. You know, and the communist regimes that seem to be springing up and taking over this country, they would love nothing more than to do that very same thing to us. And so it's my job and it's our job to make sure that we're strong enough that we can handle such persecution. Because here's one thing that I've also noticed this year about our church. After we got rid of the nuclear waste in February, what happened? You know, we started getting a lot of people saved. We started doing a lot of good things, but it's turned out to be the year of quitters. You know, we've had a lot of people come in here that had potential and they just faint. They quit. They're not bad people. If they come walking through those doors, we'll receive them with open arms. It's all good. No problem. However, it's a problem and we need to make sure that it stops and then we fix these things. Because I'm telling you, I've seen this a lot and it usually starts with prayer. After you give up the prayer, after you get complacent on that, guess what? You start to faint. Other things go out the window and it's a done deal. Look at verse eight. He says, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on earth? Now keep your place in Luke because we're going to come back to the book of Luke, but go to Psalm chapter number 40. Very interesting statement that Jesus makes there. That should alarm every single person in here right now that he made this statement. When the son of man cometh or when he returns, he says, shall the son of man find faith on the earth? Meaning there's probably not going to be a whole lot of Bible believing Christians left when he comes back. What is it between December 27th, 2020 to whenever this takes place? What happens in between there? Well, obviously a lot, wars, rumors of wars, great strong delusion that's coming upon the earth. There's going to be a lot of different things, but one thing is for sure, and that is apathy. What you're seeing right now in the world is death by apathy. I'm telling you, when we go out, it's like we get people saved every single month. They're excited. They seem enthused. I mean, even yesterday we didn't get anybody saved, but I talked to at least two different ladies at different times and they were excited that we were there. This is such a great thing. You're not a Jehovah's Witness. You're not a Mormon. You're not this. You're not that. Wow, this is awesome. They have a little bit of enthusiasm for about five minutes and then it goes right away. It's the same thing with a lot of people that we get saved out in the community, isn't it? They get saved. They're excited and they really are. They take it to heart. I believe a lot of these people are honestly genuinely saved and then that's where it stops. That is where it stops. You know what? That is setting up the future generations to come. That is what we are also battling, a generation full of apathetic people that don't really have the interest in going beyond the free gift. That's what we have today. Now I want to show you something here in Psalm chapter 40, which is David's attitude. David's attitude here. You know that David was a man after God's own heart and so I often like to go to him to figure out what makes him tick. Why was it that he was able to endure so much, I mean, just life, just battles, like real battles, fighting, you know, fighting himself, all kinds of people, and yet still maintain his bearing. What was it that caused him to be able to do that? And you're going to find the answer here in a moment, but look at verse number seven, Psalm chapter 40, look at verse seven, it says this, then said, I lo, I come in the volume of the book. It is written of me. Verse eight, I delight to do thy will. Oh my God. Yay. Thy law is within my heart. Now verse number eight there, those first few words, I delight to do thy will. David was not a person who had apathy regarding the things of God. Everybody can see that, you know, especially if you've been listening or you've been coming here to Sunday nights, you know, you're going to start to see that very soon when David comes on the scene, I mean, even after he sends with Bathsheba and all that, you're going to see that he never loses his zeal or his love for God. He maintained this attitude his entire life. I delight to do thy will. That is what we need to be like. The Bible says in Romans chapter seven, that if you're saved, the inward man, the new man does delight after the things of God, but we have to battle this old guy out here that wants to do other things, right? And that's the key. That's a picture of the world. Now, go to Psalm chapter number 14, go to Psalm chapter number 14, and I'll read verse number nine. So after David says, I delight to do thy will, you know what he does next? He says this, he says, I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. So he says, hey, I just want you guys to understand and to know this, that I delight to do the will of God. I love to do the commandments. I love the things of God. And then he says, I've preached righteousness in the great congregation. I've gone around, I've preached the right things to do, and I've taught my neighbor and I've asked my neighbor, do you know the Lord? Just like it's written in Hebrews chapter eight. David was a soul winner. He was a kingdom builder. But how did he get that way? What was it about him that separates him from other people, like Saul? Well, the answer is found in Psalm chapter 14. Look at verse number one. This is what David says also. He says, the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none that doeth good. I don't recommend this, but I was out soul winning one time, it was across the street, and there was some ladies on the other side of the street. A guy came out and said, you know, I'm an atheist. And she goes, you know what? The fool said in his heart, there is no God. That's what she told this guy. And you know what? He wound up getting saved. I'm kidding. But some of you dudes can't pull that off. Okay. I don't think I could pull that off in most circumstances because my tact level is not quite that high. She made it work. I'm just telling you. Just a little commercial break there. But it's true. I mean, she spoke the truth and it worked. Let's move on here. Verse number two. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. Okay. Look at verse three. They are all gone aside. They are altogether become filthy. There is none that do with good. No, not one. Does that sound familiar? Does that sound like Roman chapter three in verse 10? Absolutely it does. So what was it about David that caused him to say in Psalm chapter 40, I delight to do thy will. And then in verse nine, I preach righteousness to the great congregation. What was it? And the answer is here in these verses, look at verse number two. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any that did understand and seek God. What that's saying is that there's nobody that wakes up and rolls out of bed and just automatically by osmosis says, you know what? I need to be saved. I'm going to crack open the Bible. I'm going to read the Romans wrote and I'm just going to get saved. Oh, I got saved. And then they start to live a good godly Christian life. If anybody tells you that that's what they did, they're lying to you. You have to be preached these things. Faith to faith is what the Bible teaches. That is what it says. Okay. But notice what's really being said here. David is saying, Hey, the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men and realize that there's nobody that's good. So he saw a need. That's what's different about David. That's why he was able to say, I preach righteousness unto my neighbor. I go around and try to make sure that my neighbor is actually saved because he understood verse two that the Lord looks down from heaven and says, Hey, there's nobody of their own accord just rising up and seeking after me. There is a need. Right? David was a person who saw a need. And I'm telling you right now, there are a lot of people that hear the need. They show up and sure. Okay, I get it. Yep. We got to pray. Yep. We got to read the Bible. Oh, yep. Yep. So many. I get it. But they don't see it in their inward mind. You get what I'm saying? You need to learn to see with your heart that God has given you. Not that old thing that was spoken about in Jeremiah. Right? We know that the heart is deceitful and desperate, really wicked, who can know it and all that. I get that. I understand that. But you know what? You do delight after the law in the inward man, the Bible says, in your inward man sees a need for people to be saved, for people to be prayed for, for the word to be read to you, for you to meditate upon these things. And so what I'm just trying to tell you, go to Luke chapter eight, is that one thing that you can guarantee if you lack motivation, if you're in a period of apathy right now, you need to look for a need. You need to look around and find something that needs to be done. I mean, there's souls to be saved. There's work to be done. There's prayer that needs to be made. There is always a need for the kingdom of God. There's always something that we can do to further the kingdom. But the thing is, you have got to look with your eyes. You need to be able to look with the new man and identify those needs and be willing to submit to them, to be willing to actually go forth and conquer those needs, just like David did. That way someday you can say, hey, I delight to do the will of God. I delight in his commandments. I delight in the Bible. I delight in truth. I delight in all of these things. Otherwise you're going to be like some of these single guys that just bounce out of here. All right. So what we're going to do now is we're going to compare a story real quickly in Luke chapter eight and Luke chapter four to get the bottom line for the sermon this morning. Now you guys understand the story here, the story about the guy who was possessed with the legion. Jesus cast these demons out of him. Look at verse 31. It says this, it says, and they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. So he's like, you know, what's your name? We are a legion. Kind of a weird story in the Bible, huh? You know, and they're like, Jesus, don't send us out into the deep. Not talking about the water. Okay. They're talking about revelation nine deep, revelation 20 deep, i.e. Lake of fire deep, eternal damnation, right there. That's where these devils are going to go. Obviously, they don't want to go there yet. They know who Jesus is. They've seen this miracle. They're smarter than every atheist on the planet. Look at verse 32. It says this, and there was there unheard of many swine feeding on the mountain, and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them, and he suffered them, meaning he allowed them, right? So this legion, these devils are like, you know, well, there's a group of pigs. Jesus, send us into those. Let us possess them, right? Because what you have to understand is that these devils are always looking for a host. They're parasites, if you will. Always looking for somebody to take over and to cause destruction. That's the main lesson here. Look at verse 33. Then went the devil out of the man and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake and were choked. Now go to Luke chapter number four with that in mind. Luke chapter four. So you get the story. After he's talking with the legion here, he casts them out, lets them go into the swine. They run down this very steep embankment right into the lake, over the edge, into the water. Now Luke chapter four here, so before you get to this story, read something very interesting that has to do with an edge, has to do with a cliff. Now the first sermon, if you will, that Jesus preaches is what's taking place here in Luke chapter four. Now look at verse 16. So it says this. It says, and he, talking about Jesus, he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And look at this. It says, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. So what kind of a person was Jesus? What was his custom? What was his manner like? Where was he at? He was always in church. He was in his place. You know, every once in a while I'll get a phone call from a brother in another church like ours and be like, hey, you know, sometimes we'll talk about like maybe people leaving or quitting. And, you know, I had somebody ask me recently, well, you know, does it bother you? It does bother me a little bit, obviously it bothers all of us, not just me, it bothers you. Do you get used to these people that come in here and you start to learn about them, you care about them? And then they're just, they just faint out, you know, it hurts us all. I get that, you know, but I was telling them, you know, like, here's, here's the deal, man. You know, I can't let that get me down. You can't let that get you down because that kind of stuff is contagious. Look, there's a reason why God told the Old Testament children of Israel, hey, look, if anybody's scared here before we go to war, then get out because your fear is contagious. You know, and that is so true today. It's the same thing today. But notice what the verse says that what was his custom like? You know, Jesus, no matter what happened, his place was to be in that synagogue on the Sabbath for to read. That is what we need to take from this really quickly and just realize you need to establish a custom because when you make church attendance, your life, your routine, you know what, you're not going to wash out because it's just what you do. I'm not saying you can't take a vacation and go places and don't be like, oh, you know, you know, you got to tell, you know, you got to tell the pastor where you're going to. I'm not your dad. Have you guys noticed this? Like when people are gone, I don't call you. I don't get mad. I'm not like, where did you go? I don't care. I mean, I care. But you know, it's like, I know, I know what my custom is. I know where my place is. Our family decided a long time ago, our place is in church. And that's it, right? I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And that gives me confidence. I know what our mission is. I'm going to march on. I'm going to move on regardless of the situation. Not to mention Pastor Meneth says, hey, no matter what happens, I've always got your back. I've always got a job for you. So, you know, there's always that too. And don't read into that. That's just is what it is, right? Look down to verse number 17, it says, and there was delivered unto him, the book of the prophet, Esaias. And when he opened the book, he found the place where it was written. He found the place where it was written. Remember, they didn't have chapters and verses outlined back then. So what does that tell you also, in addition to his custom, he didn't just go to church. He didn't just go to the synagogue and just flounder, right? He actually paid attention. He actually studied on his own. And obviously this is Jesus. He's fully man, fully God. I get that. But these things are written for admonition. We are supposed to look at these things and say, oh, wow, that's how I'm supposed to be. Because what does the world say today? You don't have to go to church. It's not a requirement. Jesus didn't come here to get people to go to church. Is that what Andy Stanley said? Yes, it is. A lot of people say stuff like that. Show me the Bible where, you know, Jesus wants us to go to church. Well, where was he on the Sabbath day during that timeframe? Where the word of God was. Church. That's where he was at. That was his custom. And so it goes on to say in verse 18, so he finds a place in his eyes and he finds this passage here. It says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he goes on to say that, hey, these things are fulfilled right now before your ears. Now, jump to verse number 28 for sake of time. Look at verse number 28. So he preaches this message and it offends these people, right? Isn't that what happens to us today? Sometimes when we go out and we preach that salvation is a free gift, we offend people. Sometimes just our presence offends people, okay? Look at verse 28. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things were filled with wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him onto the brow of a hill where on their city was built that they might cast him down headlong. So the first sermon, the first message, the first truth that he preaches in the Bible, the people in church want to kill him for it. And they want to throw him over this edge. What did we read about in Luke chapter eight? What was it that the devils wanted to do? They wanted to possess something and in that case, it was a herd of swine to run them over the edge into the water to be choked. You see that? You see both of these stories have a steep place. Just call it an edge. Call it a cliff. Call it what you want. It's a steep place. But notice what happens here in Luke chapter four. They push Jesus to the edge and then what happens? He walks through the midst of them and back and goes on and fulfills his mission. So here's the bottom line from those two passages and that's that when you follow Jesus, he will bring you to the edge. When you follow the world, it will bring you over the edge. But here's the thing. Here's what that means and what we're going to spend time looking at this morning. Most people don't realize that you know what? When you decide you want to be a disciple, there's a cost to that. There are times where Jesus is going to bring you up to this edge. And most people, my friend, they do not realize that. They don't understand that. And when he brings you to that edge, some people, in fact, I would say today, most people get offended. They get apathetic and they bounce. That's what it is. So you see, there's no guarantee that when you get saved that your life is going to just be this grand old blessing, right? People turn on their TVs and they watch people like Joel Osteen or TD Jakes or Joyce Meyer or Beth Moore or any of these other loser false prophets and they think, wow, why don't I get that kind of treatment? That's what we're dealing with today. See when you follow Jesus, you need to realize there are times where he will bring you to that edge. But here's the thing. He's always going to bring you through the midst of those people. He's always going to preach you back through them to show the world that they have no control over God's mission and over his people. But when you decide to follow the devils, which is a picture of the world, what does it do? It takes you over the edge, into the water and chokes you. Right? Look, I always say this, and this is so true and you see this all the time. I believe 100% the most dangerous position in modern day Christianity is to be a single young man. Change my mind, seriously. Mark my words. Mark them down. I can't tell you how many, and look, we love them all, but how many have we seen dip this year? Think about it. Think about it. It's a very dangerous position to be in because young men, the Bible tells us, struggle with pride. That's why Paul told Timothy, hey, you know, you better tell these young bucks to squash that pride because pride takes over their lives oftentimes and I don't need to pray about the situation. I've got it. I'm tough. I've got the answers. And then what happens? What did Jesus say in Luke chapter 18 verse one? They faint. You give up on the prayer. You're done. 100% you are done. It's a done deal, man, and the next thing you know, they get yoked up with that crowd headed with the world. Don't even realize it, and then they go over the edge and the world will choke you every single time. That's what that picture is. Why are these things in the Bible? Why do we need to read about these devils possessing these pigs and running over the edge? Is that to teach us like the Hebrew Israelites teach us? We can't eat bacon? No, that's ridiculous. In fact, we'll cook some bacon later just because. No, there's application here. Something we need to realize. Those pigs, that legion is a representation of the world. The world is basically, I mean, obviously God's ultimately in charge, but the devil's running the place, which is why when we get saved, we step out of the world. We become an ambassador. Our citizenship no longer belongs to this world. We just function here in that role of ambassador to basically preach the acceptable year of the Lord and to tell people, hey, better get on board. You better come to the edge with us with Jesus because he's going to bring us back through you. He's going to bring us back through that crowd and you will someday watch us in our success, whether it be at the great white throne judgment or be in your own personal life. You better understand this and you better get this because Jesus said in Luke, I'm sorry, in John chapter 16 verse 33, you shall have tribulation, right? You shall have tribulation, meaning when you follow him, you need to just be at peace with this and realize he will bring you to the edge. And when you know that and when you expect that, guess what, you're going to be okay because you see that coming. Then your prayer is going to be in order, right? You know, I believe that's why I get brought to the edge a lot of times on Wednesdays, right? It's because I think God's like, hey, you need to continue in prayer. You know, you need to be doing these things, you know, don't get complacent. Don't think I'm just going to, you know, don't think the world's got your back that there, you know, this agreement that you have with these people is going to stand because they will always push their agenda. It's always going to be like that. The world takes care of their own, okay? So let's see here. Luke chapter four, let's just get point number one out of the way here. So again, real quickly, look at verse number 28 with all that in mind. Luke chapter four verse 28, and when all the end of the synagogue, when they heard these things were filled with wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him onto the brow of the hill, whereupon, I'm sorry, whereon the city was built, that they might cast him down headlong, but he passing through the midst of them went his way. Say, what in the world? What led to this? Well, I just told you it was the message, it was the truth that he preached, which was what? It was a risk. It was a risk. So here's point number one. The world pushes unnecessary risks and the word of God pushes necessary risks. See, here's one thing that you need to understand as a Christian, just as a person. If you want success, if you want to grow in life, if you want to maintain high level motivation, you need to be regularly taking risks. I'm serious. You have to be willing to take a risk. You know what that New Testament challenge over there is? That's a risk because some people, in fact, a lot of us in here have to give up something in the world in order to accomplish that. You're taking a risk. You're taking a risk of losing something that you hold near and dear, where it's your video game time or something, a little bit of overtime, you're going to have to give something up to accomplish that. And you're taking a risk. But that is a necessary risk that holds eternal value. That's the idea here. You need to base your risks on whether or not they have eternal value or not. Simple enough, right? The world pushes unnecessary risks. The world says you don't need to read the Bible because we don't know if that's true. Scholars are constantly digging up new things, man. And how do you know it's true? Wish I could slap these people. You say, well, I don't retain very well. Well, I don't either. That's why I put that wallet there. It's not just for you, it's for me. So I can remember what I wrote. So I can look back there like, oh man, I came up with that? What the heck was I talking about? Who came up with that? I need to work on that. You know what I mean? It's for all of us, right? But you know what? That's me taking a risk because I keep up with that stuff. You know? Do you think they're going to like it? Do you think it's going to benefit? Do you think it's going to profit the church? You see what I mean? And here's the thing. If I fail, when we fail and we took a risk, guess what? We learn from that risk, don't we? So you really don't lose. If you take the right risks, guess what? You're either going to gain or you are going to lose. Some people say, you know what? I don't know the Romans wrote. I don't know these verses very well. So I don't know if I can really be effective at so-on-ing. You need to take a risk and just go. You just got to take that risk. You got to give up something. Say, well, it just doesn't feel right. Of course it doesn't feel right. You've got this struggle inside of you. You've got that old and new man battling for territory. And that old man who's attached to the world is saying, hey, that's an unnecessary risk. But the new man in the Bible and God and church and all your friends are like, hey, no, that is a necessary risk. And you know what's true and you know what's right. You say, you know what? Here's an application for you. It's kind of like the AA thing, right? Sometimes we just need to take a risk and admit we have a problem. And that can be risky to our egos, right? Because we like to live in this world where we think that everything's just fine and dandy. Don't we? We don't like to admit when there's problems. But maybe we haven't been the best husband. Maybe we haven't been the best wife. Maybe we haven't been the best teenager. Maybe we haven't been the best child. Maybe we haven't been the best church member. Maybe we haven't been whatever. Take a risk and admit, you know what? I need improvement in this area. Just take that risk because you know what? You're taking that risk in order to benefit yourself and other people around you and guess what's gonna happen? You will gain. You will gain, yeah, you might. You might take a little bit of a bruise to your ego. Happens to me all the time on a weekly basis, right? Don't get too comfortable. Don't get too complacent. If you are living your life right now, I'm just telling you this, no matter what it is you're doing, if you're not regularly taking risks, you're gonna lose your motivation for everything. You know, my dad was the type of person in his generation, they were the types of people that did not like to take risks. I'm serious. Dad just got his good government job, wanted to come home, sit right on the couch in front of TV and just, that's it. I don't wanna do any yard work. I don't wanna invest a lot of time in you because I might get sick, I might not be able to go to work, whatever. It might interfere with this little bubble I have of just you, me, your mom and our dog in the white picket fence. And I look back to that and I always wonder, like what was it? How could my dad ever excel in the workforce? And I realized it's because he wasn't willing to take a risk. That's serious. You know, I worked at the same place with the federal government that my dad did and run into people, hey, did you know my dad? And they're like, pfft, yeah, you're gonna just turn their backs. Like, man, okay, that's interesting. Just show up, sit down, do his job. He was a hard worker. He was, he was a hard worker. You know it, but he wasn't willing to take a risk. So I saw that. When I got there and I was like, man, I don't wanna take that chance. I don't wanna be like that. And I started taking risks. I started asking for jobs that I wasn't totally comfortable doing. I started asking for responsibility that I wasn't comfortable having. And sometimes it was too much. Sometimes, you know, I got a black eye here and there. But I came to work every single day and I volunteered for overtime and I worked as hard as I possibly could and God rewarded me for it. I'm just telling you, you need to take risks. You have got to take necessary risks in life, okay? Now turn to Philippians chapter number two. Philippians chapter number two. You know, somebody once said, I don't know who made, I didn't make this up, but somebody said, you gotta go out on a limb once in a while because that's where the fruit is. It's true, right? I mean, when you go out soul-winning, you're going out on a limb. You know, because you have no idea what these people behind these doors are gonna do. And it's a little nerve wracking. You know, yesterday, knocked on a door. No answer, but I could hear the footsteps. Like, all right, well, you know, whatever, knocked again, you know. All right, well, maybe they're not. And just as getting ready to back up, door opens. A guy with a ponytail and a mask on. What do you think happened? What do you think, what do you think happened? Nothing good, okay? Tell you that right now, nothing good. But you know what? There was a risk. It's an eternal reward because, you know, guess what? Shield of Faith Baptist Church was at your door, ready to present you with some truth, the gospel. And you don't think he ain't gonna reap that later on in life? Well, he will. Mark my words, he will. You know what, you study this subject out through the Bible. I mean, look, David took risks. Jonathan and his armor-bearer, we just learned about this last Sunday night. They took a huge risk. And what happened? They jump-started the economy. They jump-started the nation, didn't they? They caused an unrepentant, prideful king to actually get victory. Think about Esther, right? She didn't want to approach Ahasuerus. But she took a risk and listened to Haman. And what happened? The Jews' lives were saved. You can find this principle throughout the entire Bible. Because when you take the necessary risks, you are exercising your faith, which is what we are called to do. Faith without works is dead, not talking about salvation. Now let's take a look here at somebody else who took risks. And I just want you to notice what surrounds this guy. Not a lot mentioned in the Bible, but his name's Epaphroditus, right? And Paul talks very highly of him and talks about how needful it is for him to even be around. I just want you to listen to this. Philippians chapter two, real quickly, look at verse number 25. So he says this, "'Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, "'my brother and companion in labor and fellow soldier, "'but your messenger and he that ministered to my wants.'" Look at all these things surrounding Epaphroditus. Not a lot said about him, right? But he's a companion, so he's trustworthy. He's obviously highly motivated. He's a fellow soldier, right? He ministers to people. He puts other people's needs above his own. This is somebody who has high-level motivation. What makes him tick? Verse 26, "'For he longed after you all "'and was full of heaviness, "'because that ye had heard that he had been sick. "'For indeed he was sick, nighing to death, "'but God had mercy on him, "'and not on him only, but on me also, "'lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.'" You see the effect of people that have high-level motivation on the people that surround them? When you're a trustworthy person, you're a companion, you're a fellow soldier, that rubs off on other people. You need to understand that. Right, what are we doing? We're battling apathy. We're battling this attitude that people have today that just, it's just a lack of interest, a lack of enthusiasm in everything in life. From the word of God all the way down to your individual duty as a parent, or as a child, or as a follower, as whatever it is you are in life. Verse 28, "'I sent him, therefore, the more carefully, "'that when ye see him again ye may rejoice, "'and that I may be less sorrowful.' "'Receive him, therefore, in the Lord, "'with all gladness, and hold such in reputation.'" Verse 30, "'Don't miss this, "'because for the work of Christ, "'he was nigh unto death.'" Not regarding his life, to supply, your lack of service toward me. Paul never pulled punches. You notice that? I mean, the letter to the Philippians isn't terrible. It's not like the Corinthians letter, right? But Paul's like, hey, you know, Epaphroditus? He was highly motivated. He was not apathetic. He was a person that understood risks, taking necessary risks. He understood that the world says, hey, you putting other people before you is wrong. You need to have time for you. You need to be concerned about you and only you. That's what Dr. Phil will teach you. That's what Oprah Winfrey will teach you. That's what Joel Osteen will teach you. That's what Joyce Meyer will teach you. God's not mad at you. This is my day. I've seen these churches with thousands and thousands and thousands of people upon, you know, inside of them, just chanting, this is my day. This is the day that the Lord had made, and it's for me. I'm attractive. Yeah, I've seen it. This is what these people are saying, okay? They chant these things at Osteen's church. I'm wonderful. I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Well, it's true in the womb. So you get out and start being a dirt bag and a piece of crap, then it's a different story. Oh, I don't like this. It's a little harsh. Look, Epaphroditus understood putting other people above his own self. Made sure that he was gonna have to pray, which squashes the pride issue. And guess what else you see with Epaphroditus? He was like David. He could actually see a need, not just hear a need, but hearken, internalize those needs. That you say, well, what makes somebody more successful than the other one in the workforce? It's somebody who can see a need. It's somebody who can show up to work and say, oh, I see all this work that needs to be done, and they just go and do it. That is what a successful person does. They see a need, they identify a need, and they go do it. They don't have to be swatted in the backside to go get it done. And you know what? A lot of times we get into these ruts, and God's like, okay, get your butt out there. Go to Matthew chapter 23, Matthew chapter 23. So again, when you follow Jesus, he will bring you to the edge. When you follow the world, it will bring you over the edge. I mean, think about it. When Jesus read Isaiah the prophet and he gave application, that was a risk that he took. And what did it do? It brought him to the edge. But what happened? He went back through the midst of the people. It was a necessary risk with eternal value because now today in 2020, date February 27th, Sunday, 1030 a.m., we are allowed, we are able to reap the benefits of that event. Don't tell me that that didn't have eternal value, that that didn't have everlasting effects because it does. See, the new evangelical, they can't talk to you like I'm talking to you this morning because they don't believe that the book that they hold in front of them has power. They're a joke, a sick, disgusting, twisted, pathetic joke is what they are. Matthew 23, look at verse 10. And we'll move on here with the second point. Look at what Jesus says here. Neither be called masters, for one is your master, even Christ. There goes pretty much all these Bible colleges. You need to have a master of divinity in order to get ordained. Verse 11, but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Verse 12, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased. And he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Point number two is this, the world pushes pride, but the word of God pushes humility. Very simple to understand, I think we all get that. Crystal clear, where did you get that from? I got that from Jesus Christ himself. Look at verse 12 again. I'm not letting anybody leave till you understand this. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased. You wanna lift yourself up, look, I'm telling you, you will self-destruct it as a guarantee. You can mark it down as a 100% guarantee. You have got to watch this attitude because it is so, it's embedded in the old man, it really is. All of us, all of us have potential to do this. And from time to time, we all do it, including myself. This is a dangerous one here, I'm telling you. You have got to be careful. None of us are above our master. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased. And he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. So you say, what is the key to maintaining long lasting motivation like David or like any of these other great men and women of faith in the Bible? You know what, it's squashing pride. That's what it is, it's squashing pride. It's being able to recognize, I've got a problem with pride. And you know what, we all do, all of us do. But when we take that risk and realize, you know what? Dang, I've got a problem with pride. You're on the right track to success. You're on the right track to stay motivated in a high level forever. I mean, think about all the feats that David did. Think about all the feats that Paul, that Peter, that John, that all the apostles did. Obviously they had their issues, right? I mean, Jesus was constantly battling pride with Peter. Look, you're not as tough as you think you are. Put that sword away, you couldn't even cut his head off, man, you got the ear. Your aim's off. You weren't born for this purpose. I didn't fashion you for this purpose. Those days are over, right? All of us, look, nobody hears about Peter. We're all human. But the idea is, can you take the risk to admit you have a problem? You know, there is some truth to that philosophy. Go to Philippians chapter number one, Philippians chapter one. You just need to realize, the world pushes pride, but the word of God pushes humility. This is a big one. This is why the single guy has such a hard time in church. I'm telling you, I'm not trying to be rude, but look, I'm gonna tell you the truth, and it is true. Call up any of these pastors and ask them that, and they will tell you the same thing. When Pastor Menes comes here next month, ask him what he thinks about that. Just do it. It's just start laughing. Be like, yeah, it's true. This is what we see, these are the results, and it stems from pride. I'm gonna read for you Matthew 16, 24, which says this. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me again. This all points back to the bottom line, to the key thought. You have got to realize when you follow Jesus Christ, you will be brought to the edge. It's just the way it is. It's a fact. It is meant that way to build faith, to build character in you, which has everlasting consequences. When you get to heaven, you will look back and say, I am so thankful that I hearken to the word of God, and I went to the edge with Christ. You will, you will be glad, you will be excited. You will not be sorry. Philippians 2, three, you don't have to turn there. But Paul says this, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. We need to work on this attitude. And I think our church does a very good job at this. You say, yeah, it's because it's small for now. And that's true. But if we're all good at this now, you know, when people trickle in here, little by little, little by little, guess what? We'll be able to infect them and get them on the right track, right? And they'll get molded in. And then as we grow slowly, we won't have this issue where we've got half the church over here with one mind and the other half over here with another mind. That's how we started this thing out. But now we have a great opportunity and we've been capitalizing on this to move forward. All the nuclear waste is gone. The trash has been taken out. Thank you, Lord, very much. Philippians chapter one, look at verse 21. Paul says this, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. A lot of people hear that with their ears. They see that with their eyeballs, but they don't really hearken unto the message. They can't go beyond that. You know why? Because that's a risk. It's a risk to have that attitude for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If you're caught up in pride and guess what? The world does, they push pride, which will lead you over to the edge and the world will choke you. You're gonna have a hard time subscribing to that verse. You're gonna have a really hard time because you're like, I don't wanna give up this life. I'm having too much fun, right? Look at the next verse, verse 22. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I want not, meaning I perceive not. People that get caught up in the world, they can't even perceive the lake that they're about to get swallowed up into and choked and died. They can't, just caught up in all random different things. They can't tell, they can't discern anymore. It's like when you run into some of these guys that have been in here for a while and you see them out in town at the gas station, you talk to them real quick, you can just tell they're just scrambled. I mean, their brain, I mean, they're just, they don't know what to do. Do I run from him or do I shake his hand or, you know, like, don't be that guy, don't be that gal, don't be that person. Put your pride aside. You know, and I say this a lot too, because it's true, the world pushes, you know, this instant gratification type attitude. And it's so easy in our day to get caught up in that, isn't it? And that's why sometimes I tell people, you know what? I think that every single day you need to do something hard. You know, if it's five o'clock, you know, I think at five o'clock, you need to look back and say, have I done anything that has made me uncomfortable today? Have I done anything that has put me outside of my comfort zone today? I'm serious, because we live this pampered life. You need to regularly be challenging yourself. You need to regularly be doing things that make you uncomfortable. And you say, well, prayer makes me uncomfortable, then do it. Force yourself to do it. You know, just stop and just write down a few people that you know and pray for them. Do something outside of your comfort zone. Take that risk, because that's gonna help squash that pride that we all deal with, okay? Very, very important. Now, last but not least, go to Ecclesiastes, chapter number 11, chapter number 11. Ecclesiastes chapter number 11. And we'll move on here to point number three. So remember the first point, the first point. The world pushes unnecessary risks, but the Word of God tells us to push necessary risks. The world says, you know what? You need to play it safe. You better not go to church. You might get the sniffles. You might get a cough, man. Might get you a fever. Might get strep throat too, you know what I mean? But you know what, you might get ran over by a car. There's all kinds of things. We shouldn't live in the mights. We shouldn't live with, oh, if I go to the store today, somebody might beat me up in the parking lot. Nobody says that when it's dinner time, right? I'm going to get something to eat. I don't care what happens. Look at verse number four, Ecclesiastes chapter 11, verse four. And so again, point number two is obvious. It's about pride. The world pushes pride. The Word of God pushes humility. This is key to maintaining your motivation and ridding yourself of apathy. So let's move on to point number three. Ecclesiastes 11, look at verse four, it says this. He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. Now, what he is not saying there is that you should just live completely reckless, okay? You know, that's not what he's talking about there. But there's a tendency in all of us to make excuses, especially when we see the need and we got a little bit of pride trying to prevent us from doing that need. And we understand, you know what, Jesus is going to bring us to that edge. This is uncomfortable, right? It's easy to say, man, look at the clouds, look at the wind. You know, yesterday, brother Dylan, the Vancouver villain came to visit us before soul winning. And we were just talking about the weather. You know, like, man, it's kind of cold. It's kind of cold yesterday, you know, kind of wet. And it just got done snowing and it turned to that rain. And it's like, man, you know, but I didn't hear anybody say like, we should cancel the soul winning or anything like that. Like nobody has that mind frame here, right? People are just like, just mentioning the weather. Like, I'm mentioning the weather, but with the obvious that's going to happen, we're going to go knock some doors regardless. You know, like nobody in this church has that attitude. Like, oh, you know, it's too cold. I saw some hoarfrost on the trees outside. Now we'll be honest, you know, some of you ladies, you got these babies and stuff. Like I totally get it, different story, okay? I'm not talking about being reckless and bringing your newborn, your babies out there, you know, in some of these freezing temperatures, okay? But I remember when this church first started, I don't know if it was the first time I came here or the second time I came here. And it was a sunny Sunday afternoon, right after the morning service. And this guy, he's like, I'll bet we're canceling soul winning because there's a threat of snow later today. Get out of here, dude, no, I don't care. You know, when I was in Japan at Yokosuka Baptist Church, you know, they would say, hey, on Friday evenings, if it rains within one hour of the soul winning time, nobody show up. If it rains within one hour of soul winning, just don't show up. That's like the clue for the church. Because most people there don't have cell phones at that time, you know, it's just kind of weird. You go to a foreign country, you get in a cell, you know, it's just, not everybody had cell phones, so that was just the blanket rule. If it's rained within an hour of six o'clock, don't show up. Because the odds are when it rains, it pours. That's basically the philosophy. But going back to his first year, he that observeth the wind shall not sow. He that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. The person who regards an excuse is not going to get the fruit. The person who will not go out on the limb and take the risk and put aside his pride will not get the fruit. You will not go to the edge and be able to be brought back through the midst of the people. Point number three is this. The world pushes excuses, but the word of God pushes action. We need to be a people of action. It's a true statement. Faith without works is dead. And we're not talking about salvation type faith here. We're talking about, oh, be warm and filled. You know, I see these people all over this community, go into their homes and fix their appliances, and stay dry. And like, I don't expect them to give me anything. I have everything I need to stay dry and all this and that. But it's just their Mormon pompous attitude. Because they tell each other this all the time. Oh, we're so caring, we're so loving, we've got this community under wraps, this is our town. That's basically their attitude, right? This is our place, this is our town. Be ye warm and filled. Look, what that saying is, hey, you know, don't tell a brother who's in need. Get well when you have the means to help the dude out. You know what I mean? Somebody is broke, you got extra dough. You know, and they're like telling you about it. You know what I mean? Don't be like, well, be ye rich. You know, be ye not in debt anymore. You know, be ye fulfilled and not take action. That's going to lead to pride. That's going to lead to not taking risks. That's going to lead to the other edge and over the edge that you don't wanna go. That's point number three. The world pushes excuses, but the Bible pushes action. We need to understand this. This is very important. Look at verse five. Is thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child, even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. We don't always need 100% clarification for everything we do in order to work for the Lord. We have the word of God that is sufficient for you. That is sufficient for us. We walk by faith, not by sight. Some people are like, well, I don't wanna do that cause I don't know the exact outcome. Okay, you're a person that won't take risks, that's got pride and that is not willing to do action. And guess what? You're gonna follow the swine over the edge into the lake and get choked. That's what's going to happen. Look at verse six. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand, for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Hey, do it all. Pray, read your Bible, do that challenge. Get out and get somebody saved. Go out on a limb where the fruit is so that you can be profitable. You know what? Go soul winning on it. Well, what's the best day? The best day is the day that you go, okay? That's the best day. Well, more people get saved on this day than that. How do you know? We don't know the exact specifics of the spiritual battle. You cannot go outside the walls here and see the demons that are fighting against us in these neighborhoods and in these communities. But you know what? We go regardless. We don't need 100% perfect clarification for confidence because we walk by faith, not by sight. Okay, verse six again. In the morning, sow thy seed. In the evening, he says this, withhold not thy hand. Do it all, work all, work hard. Do it, have faith. You know what? Do what Jesus said in Matthew chapter seven. Ask, you ask by prayer, you seek and you knock. That is a good recipe right there. Ask, seek and knock. And you know what? When you do those things, you will have motivation. We need to be a people that is highly motivated because what I'm seeing around this world right now is nothing but apathy, a lack of enthusiasm regarding the things of God, regarding a lot of stuff, to be honest with you. You can't even go to Taco Bell over here on Overland and get a simple order today because they're just like, oh man, you ordered three tacos, oh man. What am I gonna do? You can't put three tacos in a bag. It's gotta be two. I'm serious. These people are weak. There's a reason why people are loving this shutdown stuff. Apathy, they're lazy. They want mommy and daddy and Uncle Sam to take care of them. Look, a lot of these public school teachers are weak and extremely wicked, just so you know, and I see them regularly. I've been to several homes around here and they're public school teachers and they're just loving it. They're like, look, I just get on there. I'm supposed to be on there for like 40 minutes. I just do a 20 minute little deal, give them an assignment and I'm out. And my tax dollars are paying for that. And you're destroying people's minds. It's wicked. It's wicked as hell is what it is. So I'm gonna wrap this thing up here. So just remember this, look. When we follow Christ, he will bring you to the edge. You have got to understand that. In this world, you shall have tribulation, but you decide, you know what? I'm gonna go the way of the crowd and I'm gonna follow the swine. It will take you down that steep embankment. They're gonna take you over the edge. And then what? You're gonna go the way of everyone else who's followed the swine out of here and be choked in the cares and false promises and riches of this world. And you say, what do we do about it? Well, you learn to take some necessary risks. Put your pride aside. It's a risky thing. It's a risky thing to your ego to do that. But you have to do this. You have to. You have to get outside of your comfort zone. You have to push yourself. See, most people today have never been in situations that really require you to dig down deep into your gut and say, you know what? I could do this. I could get through this. I'm serious. It's a big problem today in our culture. I mean, worldwide too. This is a worldwide problem. And you know what? We need to commit to finishing our goals. Need to set some goals this year that you know that you can achieve. I wanna be a millionaire. But you make men aware. You know what? Sometimes that happens to these people, but I wouldn't seek to be rich. You know what? Paul said, seek that which is sufficient for thee. David spoke about this in the Psalms. Not being rich, but not being poor. We wanna be right down that middle of the road if we can, comfortable. You know, pray for that. But I'll tell you what. You're not even gonna get to that place if you're not willing to take a risk, a necessary risk. You know what? It's not gonna put you over the edge. It's gonna put you to the edge, right? But what did Jesus do? He walked through the midst of the crowd. See, the world's looking at us and they're mocking you every single day, right? You need to go that way. That's what everybody's, everybody's taking that Vat team. Right, everybody's taking that vaccine. And then you see on TV, some nurse pass out and countless others that are injured on a daily basis that the media is covering up, being choked in a cocktail of poison. That's a risk that the world will tell you to take. But Jesus said, hey, he's not a physician. I'll risk that. I'll risk the ridicule of the world because I know that Christ is gonna parade us back through the midst of them. And they will one day look at us and say, dang, those people, right? Happens all the time. Like when the Barney Fife of the community tries to kick us out of the neighborhood. Hey, don't knock on his door. And then we do it anyways and wind up getting people saved. You know what? That's Luke chapter four. That's following Christ to the edge. And he says, okay, I've got you. I'm not gonna let you fall. And I'm gonna bring you back through the midst of them. And they have to watch us get another person saved. I'm telling you, understand this. When you follow Christ, he will bring you to the edge. But when you follow the world, it will take you over the edge and you'll be choked. You will be unprofitable and you will no longer be in God's house. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, again, for bringing us these truths of your word. I just pray you keep our motivation high, Lord. Pray you keep taking care of our church and just pray for those that are out, unable to make it today. You can just pray you'd be with us,