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Let us pray. Dear God, we just thank you again for the opportunity we have, Lord, to come into your house and to hear your word preached. We just ask you to please allow us to have our hearts softened, God, to be able to take your word and apply it to our lives. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Alright, so you're in Matthew chapter 11. Look down there and we're going to start in verse number 7. And so this is right after Jesus basically tells the guys to go tell John, hey, everything's okay. Great works are being done. Don't worry about it. Don't get offended. So look down there at verse number 7. It says, And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? Verse 8, But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. Verse 9, But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. So we see Jesus asks the same question three different ways, right? He says, you know, what did you go out to see? A reed shaken in the wind? It's like, look, what did you go out there for? Entertainment? Did you go out there just to see a show? Just to see somebody, you know, blowing around with every wind of doctrine? You know, did you not go out there with the right perspective? And same thing in verse 8. You know, did you go out there? He said, well, what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Did you go out to see Joel Osteen in the wilderness? Is that what you're looking for? Were you just looking for a soft message for yourself? Just so that you can edify yourself? Were you looking for somebody that just wanted to tell you how good you are and how great you are and how great things are? And then in verse 9, he says, but what went ye out for to see? A prophet? And he says, yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. And so what Jesus is saying here is don't miss the point, right? There's a right way that we need to seek after the things of God. And the title of my sermon is The Dangers of Entertainment. Now, this sermon's not really geared towards, you know, one specific set of entertainment. I'm not saying entertainment is bad. But what I'm saying is that there are some dangers that are associated with entertainment that we need to be careful of. Because as we see here, Jesus is questioning these people. They're their motives. Like, why are you, what did you even go out there for to see? Because obviously you missed the point. You missed the boat. You did not get the point. And so we want to avoid that. And so the objective for this sermon is to apply that same question individually in our own lives. So for what went ye out to see? So if you were to ask yourself that question, you know, what did you come to Verity Baptist Church to see? You know, a reed shaking in the wind. Did you come here to see a show? You know, sometimes you might get that right. But that shouldn't be the only thing you come here for. For what went ye out to see? You know, just some guy to tell you everything is going to be all right no matter what you say, no matter how you live, no matter what you do. And so we need to think about that as we go through there. Keep that question in the forefront of your mind. I mean, because honestly, if you think you can really grow as a Christian if you can't properly see, if you can't properly understand, because that's what he's saying. He's saying for what went ye out to see? And that's what we're going to deal with today. He's saying we need to have the right perspective. When you're after the things of God, when you come to church, when you open your Bible, when you pray, when you meditate, when you disciple somebody, we have to have the right perspective. We need the right point of view. We need the right attitude. And if we don't, if we put other things in front of that, the Bible says here that, you know, it's going to become a hindrance. And that's why they didn't understand the things that Jesus was saying. That's why you had to ask them three different ways for what went ye out to see. So keep something there in Matthew because we are going to come back to Matthew quite a bit this evening. And I shouldn't go as long today as I did this morning. So I know we got travelers and I went a little over the time this morning. But the first thing that I want to look at, the very first thing I want to point out to you guys is that we have to, if we're going to be able to properly see, we have to be able to protect our eyes. You guys are in Matthew 11. Turn back in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6. Turn to Matthew chapter 6. And like I said, we're going to come back to Matthew quite a few times. So the first thing I want to look at is to answer the question for what went ye out to see. Can you see if there's things that are obstructing your view? And the answer is no. So you're in Matthew chapter 6. I'm going to read for you Lamentations chapter 3 verse 51, which says, mine eye affected mine heart because of all the daughters of my city. You know, when I was a kid and I was in the bus ride and I was, you know, I was in a Baptist church. And I'm sure a lot of you, if you grew up in a church, you probably heard the song, be careful little eyes, what you see for your father above is looking down to love, you know, and then there's, it goes on there to talk about the ears, be careful little ears, what you hear and stuff. It's a good song to teach kids what not to be looking at, what not to put in front of their eyes, what not to put in front of their ears. And that's basically, you know, straight from the Bible. Jeremiah here, he's saying that my eye affected my heart. What does that mean? What you look at affects your heart. And in turn that affects your mind and affects your actions and it is a hindrance. And then is it going to be asked of you? Is it going to be asked of me? Is it going to be asked of us? For what way do you have to see? Are we going to miss the whole point? Are we going to not be able to see the deep things of God because we are focused on the wrong things? And that's what this is about. So you're in Matthew chapter 6. Look down at verse number 22. Verse 22. We're talking about the eyes. We've got to protect our eyes. Look at verse 22. It says the light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. So he's saying, hey, if your eye shall be single, if your eye will be focused on God, not bouncing around, not all over the place, not on the wrong things. He says your whole body shall be full of light. Now look at verse 23. It says, but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? Verse 24. No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot serve God and money. You cannot serve God and worldly entertainment. You cannot do both. One is going to win. And you know, these types of churches here will really point that out. I mean, over time I've seen numerous people quit church. And why is it? It's because somewhere down along the line, they decided to put something else as a priority instead of the things of God. And then the question came to them one night, for what way ye ought to see, and they couldn't answer correctly. So we need to protect our eyes, what we put in front of our eyes. So you guys turn to Matthew chapter 22, and I'm going to read for you Psalm chapter 103. I'm sorry, 101. Turn to Matthew chapter 22. So like I said, what you see affects your heart. You know, and what affects your heart, it's going to affect your learning. And also, we've got to remember this. What we see, God sees. That's a sobering thought. I mean, think about that. The Bible says that God knows the amount of hairs that are on your head. You see, a lot of people in our churches will be like, yeah, I quit watching TV, I quit doing all this stuff, I quit doing that. And then they go on YouTube when no one's looking, you know, and start flipping through things, you know. I'm not saying that to anybody here. I have no idea. I'm just, I'm just preaching the Bible here. I'm just, I'm just simply saying is that don't think that you can keep pockets of sin in your life and that not get exposed somehow. Because God will expose it. God will manifest it because he cares for you and he wants us to grow. And the only way to grow is to have the right perspective. So you're in Matthew chapter 22. Look at verse 37. Matthew 22 verse 37. It says, Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And then he says in verse 38, he says, This is the first and great commandment. So then the question becomes, how can we do this? How can we follow this first and great commandment with all our soul? Right. Or with all our heart, with all our soul and all of our mind if we don't have the right perspective, if we have something more important than God? And the answer is you're not going to be able to. You can't serve God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind if you miss the boat, if you've got something else in your mind when you come to church, if you come to church for the wrong reasons, if you read the Bible for the wrong reasons. And that's what we're learning today. So turn to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. Like I said, we'll come back to Matthew later. So keep something there so you can get back to it quickly. But turn to Romans chapter 12. So what are we talking about? We're talking about protecting our eyes so that we can properly serve God, so we can have the right perspective, so we can learn the deeper things of God. Romans chapter 12. Look at verse 1. Romans chapter 12, verse 1. Very popular verse. We're going to break this down. It says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. So let's talk about this for a second. He says, I beseech thee. What does that mean? What does it mean to beseech? It means to ask someone urgently. Paul's telling the Romans, he's like, hey, look, this is urgent. I'm begging you, please listen to me. Listen to what I have to say. And then he explains why. He's saying, look, now is the time. I beseech you now, not later, not tomorrow, not next week, not next year. Now, I beseech you now, therefore. And who's he talking to? He's talking to brethren. He's talking to save people. He's not talking to the average guy down the street because we're not saved by doing the things that I'm going to talk about here in a minute. We're saved by grace and faith. It's a free gift. It's not something that you earn. That's why he says brethren there. And he says, mercies of God. Remember, God is slow to anger. God is the God of second chances. And that should be an encouragement to every single one of us. And Paul is strongly urging the Christians because of salvation here. He says, look what he says. He says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice. Right? Notice he says living sacrifice. Not saying to kill yourself or to sacrifice your kids to Moloch or to burn them in the fire. Nothing like that. He's saying, present your bodies a living sacrifice. But what does that really mean? What does that really mean? You stay there. I'm going to read for you Ephesians 4 22. Paul told the Ephesians that he put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lust. You see, all of us here, you're saved. You've got the new man. And I preached about this a month ago. You have the new man and you have the old man. Right? And every single day you have the option to either walk in the old man or walk in the new man. And that's what Paul's saying here. He's saying, hey, I beseech you, put on the new man. Do right. Present your bodies a living sacrifice. And he says, holy, what does holy mean? That means sanctified. That means separated. That means dedicated unto God. And it says acceptable unto God. Back in Romans 12 one, he says, which is your reasonable service. What does that mean? Reasonable service? Well, it means fair, right? It means logical, rational or well-founded. And what is service? What is that referring to? That's referring to work, right? Your reasonable work, your reasonable service. That's a reasonable thing. Now, turn to Acts chapter two. Go to Acts chapter two with this in mind. Reasonable service. We're going to take a look. Go to Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two, verse 22. Acts chapter two, verse 22 says, you met of Israel. Hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you. As ye yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. So keep that in mind. Jesus was crucified and slain. Now look at verse 24, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death. Do you understand that Jesus Christ went through a very painful crucifixion? And then when he went through that, it didn't stop there because where did he go next? Where did he go next? Let's look at the next verse. Right? He says he loosed the pains of death in verse 24 because it was not possible that he should be holding of it. Verse 25, for David speaketh concerning him. I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope. Now look at this. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Do you understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross and went to hell so that we wouldn't have to, so that we could get this free gift? And it is a free gift. You don't have to do anything for it. You have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. And that is not a work, by the way. That is not a work, by the way. Look at verse 31. It repeats it. He has seen this before. Right? Talk about David. He has seen this before. Spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did seek corruption. Now go to Mark chapter 9. So go back in your Bible. Go back to the Gospels. So if you kept something there in Matthew, it should be pretty easy to get to. Mark chapter 11. I'm just trying to show, I'm trying to highlight the importance here of what Jesus did for us. Because that's going to really put into perspective what is a reasonable service. So go to Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9. Look at verse, let's see, let's start. Verse 43. 943. Mark chapter 9 verse 43. It says, And if I hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Keep this in mind because if somebody out-solving needs clarification on hell, how bad it is, keep Mark chapter 9 in the back of your mind or write it down in your Bible. Know how to get to this quickly because this can be very valuable. Look at verse 44. Where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. And if I put offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. This is the second death that Jesus died. I mean, God, Jesus died and went to hell. Jesus is saying here, hey, look, it's better for you to have to not even have two feet than it is to go into hell. But he went there himself for us. So look at verse 46. Where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes be cast into hellfire. Where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. Go over to Revelation chapter 20, verse 13. Revelation chapter 20, verse 13. So what did we just read there? We just read about a place called hell. And it doesn't seem very pleasant. It doesn't seem very pleasant, does it? So last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. Look at verse 13. It said, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man according to their words. Now I want you to notice here what this verse says. It says, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. See, when someone dies and goes to hell, they're dead. Right? They're still conscious, obviously, but the Bible calls them dead. They are dead. Jesus died for us. Jesus died for us. Now go to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. I just want you to see this, because a lot of times, to get the right perspective, to get the right motivation, you gotta just look at these things. You gotta meditate on these verses and just really get it into your mind what Jesus did for us. So look at Revelation chapter 1. Look at verse 18. Look at what Jesus said. He says, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. So go back to Romans chapter 12. So the reason why I had you flip through all those verses is to show you the importance, to show you the details and the stuff that Jesus had to go through for us. Look, he went to hell for us, and we have a hard time going soul hunting sometimes, don't we? We have a hard time going to church. We have a hard time reading the Bible. Look, I don't wake up every single day like, man, I'm glad I get to read the Bible. Some days I'm motivated. You know what? Sometimes I'm not. Sometimes the flesh gets the best of me. It happens to all of us. And you know what's gonna help you with that is to just realize that we all go through it. Just look at the guy next to you, the gal next to you, all of us are gonna go through that. Nobody feels like going soul hunting 24-7, 7 days a week, all the time. Yeah, those type of people, you know what, they tend to fade out real quick, right? Because there's more to life. You gotta have the right balance. So anyways, go back to Romans 12, look at verse 1. Let's read that again. With that, what we just read in mind. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies the living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. So look, Christ died, went to hell for us, so it's reasonable that we should read our Bibles every day, right? I mean, it should be a reasonable thing that we pray every single day. It's a reasonable thing to go soul wedding at least once a week. It's a reasonable thing to study the Bible. It's a reasonable thing to apply these principles in our lives every single day. I mean, you know what? You know what's a reasonable service? It's putting away the filth out of your life. You know what? When somebody comes up to me and they're like, hey brother Joe, I cut my cable off. You know, I quit watching cable. I'm done with it. You know what? That is a reasonable thing, amen? That is a good thing. I mean, hey, Christ went to hell. The least I could do is try to improve myself and live for him and do the best I can. And the same should be said about every single person in this room. That is reasonable. That is a reasonable service. That is a reasonable thing. That is a logical thing. That is fair. I mean, actually, it's not fair, right? Because all of us deserve help. God bailed us out. Think about that. God bailed us out. So when you hear a preacher come here every week and they tell you, you know, they're ripping on whatever sins it might be, you know, when it hits home, just remember, it's a reasonable service to just go ahead and do it, right? If it's in the Bible, if it's true like I spoke about earlier, let's just do it because that's a reasonable thing, man. That is a great thing. That is awesome. That's the least we could do. Now look at verse number two. So you're in Romans chapter 12. Look at verse number two. It says, And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now let's break that down. What does it mean to be conformed? It means to be patterned after, molded after, identical, right? Similar. We don't want to, you know, we shouldn't live our lives in a way where people are like, man, I wonder if that guy's a Christian. I wonder if Canaan is really a Christian. You know, I mean, I don't know. Maybe we should ask him or I can't tell. He's a good kid. He does good. But you get what I'm saying, right? There should be difference, right? And please understand me. I'm not saying that you that there is not that you're not saying. That's not what I'm saying at all. That's another sermon for another day. What I'm saying there is what the Bible is saying. Be not conformed to this world. Look, we should always be striving not to pattern our lives after the world, not to pattern our entertainment after the world's entertainment. He says, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Be changed. Let these things change you. We turned there earlier, but turn to Philippians chapter two. Just real quick. Go to Philippians chapter two. Remember Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Go to Philippians chapter two. We looked at these verses this morning, but we're just going to look at them again real quick. Philippians chapter two. So Philippians chapter two. Look at verse number four. We're talking about renewing our minds. We need to renew our minds. Philippians two four says, look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Now look at verse five. It says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. You know, allow that. Allow that mindset that's in verse four to be in you, to be in all of us. And look at the back. Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. When we're watching out for each other, when we're taking care of each other, it's kind of hard to be selfish, right? It's kind of hard to really fulfill the lust of the flesh when we have others on our minds. When we esteem others better than ourselves, it really does become difficult to wear the old man. And that's key. That's key. That's why Paul says here, hey, let this mind be in you. If you are saved and you're in this room, you have the option to have this mindset in you. All of us do. And that's what's going to make the changes. That's what's going to grow us. If you could lose your place there in Philippians and turn to Numbers chapter 33. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, go to Numbers chapter 33. So number one, we saw that we need to protect our eyes, right? We have got to watch what we put in front of our eyes. Number two, we need to have the right mindset. We need to renew our minds. And it's a battle, man. It's not easy. Look, these things are not easy at all. It's work. It's hard work. And that's how I know that we're not saved. I mean, thank God we're not saved by doing these things. Turn to Numbers chapter 33 and look at verse 50. So we're going to take a look at next is the next step. So if we are going to renew our minds, if we are going to keep our eyes pure, what do we have to do? We have to drive out the inhabitants. We have to drive out these little sinful inhabitants in our lives and these things that surround us every single day. So look at verse number 50. Numbers chapter 33 verse 50 says, And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan to the land of Canaan, then ye shall drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their pictures and destroy all their molten images and quite pluck down all their high places. Now, I think it's interesting here that the Bible uses the word picture. I might have forgot, but I think this is the only time in the Bible where you're going to find the word picture here. And in fact, I'm pretty sure that's what it is. It's the only time you're going to find the word picture in the Bible and notice that it's associated with the land of Canaan. Do a study on the Canaanites sometime and you'll see the importance and why God wanted them to get the pictures out of the land. But another thing I want you to notice here is that God is sending them to this land. God sends the children of Israel to the land to see these pictures and destroy them. I mean, think about it. When they went in there, they were commanded to look at the pictures and throw them down and tear them down. That's what it says. It says and destroy all the pictures so they would have actually seen them. So there you are going to how does that apply to you? How does that apply to me? You're going to see bad things in this life. When you're out soloing, sometimes you might see something bad when you're at work. People are going to try to show you stupid little videos on their phone or say bad things and you shouldn't hear. You know what? That stuff's out there. We live in the world. We are going to get exposed to the Canaanite pictures of this world. But there's a formula here. There's a formula here. We'll keep reading. It says it destroyed all their molten images and quite plucked down all their high places. And look at verse 53. And you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell there and for I have given you the land to possess it. So when we actually carry out what God says and we actually destroy the things that we know we should be doing in our lives. Then when we're in the workplace, we see the garbage. It's going to annoy you. It's going to anger you. It's going to get you mad. You're not going to get excited about seeing that. You're not going to get excited about hearing that stuff anymore. It's going to change your perspective. Right? For what went she out to see a re shaking in the wind. Look at verse 54. And you shall divide the land by law for an inheritance among your families. And to the more you shall give the more inheritance and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance. Every man's inheritance shall be in his place where his lot falls. According to the tribes of your fathers, you shall inherit. Look at verse 55 says, but if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come to pass that those which you let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides and shall vex you in the land where in you dwell. Verse 56 says, moreover, it shall come to pass that I shall do unto you as I thought to do unto them. Keep in mind, these are God's people here. God, just because you're saying just because you're a Christian doesn't mean you're going to be without chastisement. God said here in verse 55 that if they didn't cast out everything, if they didn't destroy all the pictures, if they didn't get all the garbage out of the land, then it wouldn't be pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides. I mean, think about that. He said it would become pricks in your eyes, right? Do you think you're going to be able to see clearly with pricks in your eyes? The answer is no. You know what a prick is? Something that's sharp. He's basically saying, hey, wrap your head in sticker bushes and then go try to walk 50 feet. It's not going to be very pleasant and you're not going to be able to see very well. Well, the same thing applies spiritually. When we fill our lives with garbage and junk, you can't see the deeper things about it. In fact, to be honest with you, you're probably not even going to see the basic things of God in the Bible. They're not going to be pleasant to you. They're not going to be entertaining in a spiritual sense to you. It's going to be harder for you to make the right changes and to actually do the great exploits that God wants us to do and that God commanded that we would do. So you can lose your place there. Go back to Matthew. Go back to Matthew. And you know what else I noticed from reading Numbers chapter 33 is that those weren't just lessons for leadership, right? That's not just for people that want to be pastors, deacons, missionaries or evangelists. That was for everybody in Israel. And I'm telling you, it's the same thing today. God has high standards and it is our reasonable service to live up to those standards. And so go to Matthew chapter 11. We're going to take a look at where we started this evening. Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. The question now is, what are we going to do about all this? What are we going to do about it? You know, are we going to get the worldly pictures out of our life? Are we going to get the Canaanite junk out of our life? So, Matthew 11, look down at verse number nine. We'll start verse nine. It says, we'll read these again. But what waiting you out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. Now he's going to begin to explain the importance of in the deeper things of John the Baptist. Look what he says. He says, For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent taken by force. Look at verse 13. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come. And look at verse 15. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. So, remember the last question that Jesus asked, which was in verse nine, right? He says, but what waiting ye out for to see? A prophet? And yea, they did. They went out to see a prophet. That is correct. And he says, yea, I say unto you more than a prophet, right? What he's saying here is we got to come to church ready to have the right value, find the right value in what's being preached. You know, for what went ye out to see? Did you come here just because you had to or out of guilt or out of obligation or because you wanted to please somebody? Or did you come here because you wanted to learn and grow, to get the deeper things? You see, they missed the boat. Everything that Jesus said between verses 10 and 14, they missed. The multitudes missed. That's why you had to ask them three different times, three different ways. And we ought to have that same attitude. We ought to be able to come to church and say, hey, you know what? I'm going to get something out of it. Even if I don't like brother Joe or Kaden or Kenley or anybody you know, I'm going to come to church with the right attitude to seek value. That's what I'm trying to say. So you can, you can lose your place there and go to First Peter chapter two, First Peter chapter two. So we want to come to church, right? We want to come to church to take away, to take away and apply. We want to have the right perspective. We want to have that right attitude. And that's the biggest danger of entertainment. If entertainment, I'm not saying it's bad. Look, this church is probably going to have a lot of fun. There's going to be a lot of exciting activities coming up in the future. There's going to be, you know, all sorts of things. I don't even know right now, but you know what? We're not going to let that take the place of the Word of God. We're not going to, we're not going to cancel Wednesday night service or Sunday night service just to go fishing. There's a time and a place for entertainment and it's not to take the place of the things of God. And that's the whole point here. So, so you're in Second Peter. Just stay there. Just, just listen to this here. First Timothy 6, 17. I'm going to read this verse for you. It says, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. So lastly, I just wanted to mention that, you know, entertainment does have its purpose. There are things to enjoy, you know, don't get bogged down by thinking that you have to do more than everybody else. See what I'm saying? Because look, I've seen it over and over and over again. New people come to church and they start going to all the services and you should go to all the services because that's your reasonable service. But then they say, I'm going to go soul winning two times a day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, all the way through Sunday. And then six months later, they're gone. It's because they got burned out. You know, they got burned out. And in First Timothy chapter six, the last verse it says, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. There's a time and a place to enjoy things. We've got to have that right balance. There's nothing wrong with doing activities, you know, but on the other side of the coin, am I going to go to a girls volleyball game on Sunday? No, I'm not going to. In fact, I'm not going to go to a girls volleyball game at the beach anytime because I don't want to set any wicked thing before my eyes. Right. I don't I don't I don't need that. We've had it in our life. Look, when you decide to make the decision to do right and to get the right perspective, to follow the commandments, you know, to actually grow as a Christian, you start getting that right perspective. Guess what? The world's going to come after you. Your friends are going to come after you. Your family's going to come after you. You're going to be like, hey, come to the pool party this Sunday. We've had that in our family. Right. People calling us up. Hey, you need to be at so-and-so's birthday party at the pool. Right. You need to be there on Sunday. It's going to be on Sunday. And the answer is going to be no. You know, when that happened to us, we had to say, no, we're not going to do that. Well, why not? Are you in a cult? That seems to be that seems to be like the go to answer. Oh, you're in a cult. You're in a cult because you don't you don't want to go to the pool because you think it's wrong to look at girls in bikinis. Look, any dude in here doesn't look. No dudes in here need to be looking at girls in bikinis. OK, it's not going to edify you. It's going to become a prick in your eye and a thorn in your side. And that's why we that's why we decline. You know, we're like, look, we're not going to go to your pool party. I don't care if it's family or not. You know, I'm going to put the things we've got as priority in my life and do right. But you know what? That doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the things, you know, different things in life. But there's there's simple things and there's things that aren't simple. And I'll tell you what, going to a girl's volleyball game at the beach, you know what? That's that's a no go. That's that's just going to become a prick in your eye and don't be like, oh, my husband, he can handle it. No, I can't. No dude in here can handle it. And if you can, you're getting thrown out. All right. Which, by the way, proves that this is not a cult. OK, because cults keep people thin. We throw people out. This isn't a gang. This isn't a cult. Anyways, what did I return? First Peter chapter two. Look at verse nine. First Peter chapter two, verse nine. It says, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, unholy nation, a peculiar people. I don't have time to go back and read the whole chapter, but he's talking to believers. He's talking to Christians. Says, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, unholy nation, a peculiar people. Right. He says that he should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Now that that there should speak volumes to all of us. Right. We shouldn't be afraid to show forth the praises. And like I said this morning. Right. When God does something great for you, we should be able to tell people that we should be able to go to our brother and sister and say, hey, look at what God's done in my life. You know what? But do you think you're going to have those stories? Do you think you're going to have those testimonies if you're putting other things above God? Probably not. You're probably going to fade out and you're not going to have you're not going to have that blessing. And he's saying that we should do that. Titus chapter two, verse 14. You don't have to turn there. It says, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. That's my prayer for all of us in here. That we would be that peculiar people zealous for good works. Look, get that zeal. But I'll tell you what, there's only one way you're going to get that zeal. And that's if you can keep the right perspective. Keep doing the thing. Keep making the improvements. Apply these things in your life. Get the sin out of your life. Every single service. Every time somebody comes here, you're learning something new and you have one more thing to build on. You have one more thing to apply. One more thing to change. We all do. I do. My whole family does. All of us do. There's all of us. None of us are perfect. But you know what? All of us can get better. And so, in conclusion, I just want to say, for what went ye out to sea? What went ye out to sea? That should be the question that every single person in here asks of us, asks ourselves on a daily basis. And the title of my sermon was The Dangers of Entertainment. The Dangers of Entertainment. And we saw several different dangers, right? A lot of bad things can happen when we decide to put other things above God. And you know, we've become a visually stimulated society. I mean, think about this. If you have the choice to listen to an MP3 of a sermon or watch the YouTube video, most of us are going to choose to watch the YouTube video, right? It's because we grew up with TV. We grew up with images flashing all the time. But you know what? We ought not to be like that. And just beware. Just be careful what you set in front of your eyes. Be careful what you let dominate your time because it will come back on you. It will come back on all of us. God wants his peculiar people. And he's going to make sure you're here today, you have an opportunity to become part of that peculiar people. And you have an opportunity to become zealous of good works. And look, let's just keep motivating each other and keep helping each other grow. And you know, just building each other up. Because you know what? This city needs it. Look, these people, all of you, all of us in here today, this is Boise's last hope. I hope you realize that. None of the other churches are out knocking doors. Except for the false ones, like the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons. You know, that's probably it. I've never seen other Christians out knocking. Well, sometimes they'll do. They'll go knock on doors and be like, oh, come to our barbecue. But like I said this morning, those people aren't safe. That's just a health factory. So the title of this sermon was The Dangers of Entertainment. Let's bow our heads and have a word of it. Lord, thank you for this opportunity to preach. We just pray you keep us all safe as we all go our separate ways, Lord. And I pray you bless this church and help us to all grow and learn. And please bless the fellowship to come and please bless the preachers next week. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.