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

All right, we're in Exodus chapter 21, look down at your Bibles at verse number 1. I'm sorry, before we get into the scripture, I forgot to mention something from the announcements is make sure you, I'd like to encourage everyone to pray for a new building. And we found a building and it's actually located about 11 minutes from here. And it's where the 10 and the 605 meet, okay. So it's not very far from here, actually, you can take Valley all the way down. And I don't know the exact address off the top of my head. But it's a really good building. Now, the building that we're in right now is 4,000 square feet. But it's not 4,000 square feet of usable space, okay. So that would include the little alleyway that we have here, the courtyard. But as far as this space is concerned, obviously, this is not 4,000 square feet right here. And we're running out of space. So the place that we're looking at is also 4,000 square feet, but it's 4,000 square feet of usable space. And it's actually a warehouse that can be converted into basically a church. And we can use that. It's very large. We can, there's a lot of potential in other words. And it's a lot cheaper than what we're paying here, okay. That's a one plus, amen. And another thing is there's 30 parking spaces. You guys know what that is, you know, that's where you're supposed to put your car. You know, we don't have that here, you know, but that's 30 parking spaces. And we went there on Friday to check it out. And it's really, it looks good. And so we just need to get the paperwork done and pray that we get it. And obviously, if that's what the Lord wants us to have, then we'll get it. And if not, then we'll just keep looking for something else. But we're going to be going independent in August. And so we'd like to have a building by then because our lease is up. I think around the end of August is when our lease is up here. And I'm pretty sure the owner wants us to stay here, but we can't, you know, we're going to continue to grow. And so Lord willing, we'll be able to get that building. Now pray that we'll be able to get it because the location is great too, because it's not necessarily surrounded by like a whole lot of neighborhoods, or even stores or anything like that. So if they protest us, you know, they're not going to be able to, I mean, there's nothing there. You only have a freeway. So you know, it's like the freeways literally like right there. People are driving by and stuff like that. So it would work out great. But it needs some work, obviously, it needs some renovations and some things that needs to get done there. But it has a lot of potential. So please pray, put that on your prayer list, pray with your family, pray, you know, just during your prayer time, that God would give us favor, wisdom, and that we'd be able to get that building. If not, get something better, amen. So just keep that in mind. Look at it. Look down at your Bibles at Exodus 21, verse one, it says here. Now these are the judgments which thou shall set before them. If thou buy in Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve thee, excuse me, six years he shall serve and the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be your masters, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges and he shall also bring him bring him to the door or onto the doorpost and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl and he shall serve him forever. And the title of the sermon this morning is creating a reason to stay, creating a reason to stay. Here we see, before we actually get into this actual story, really the topic at hand that I want to talk about is just, when I talk about creating a reason to stay, I'm talking about creating a reason to stay within the will of God, you know. And when we talk about the will of God, I'm not being general, I'm being specific to being in church, staying in your Bible, keeping sin out of your life, not getting involved in the sins that you used to do, you know, prior to coming to Christ or even after Christ, you know, just kind of going forward for God and not drawing back is what I'm talking about. What I'm referring to is not backsliding, okay. And when we talk about backsliding, we think of someone who has backslidden, we think about someone who at one point was faithful to church, at one point they were soul winning, at one point they were just being, they were prospering in their Christian life but for whatever reason, whether it was an offense, it was temptation, it was just the things of this world, it took them out of that, okay. And look, that can happen to anybody, you know. The people who stand take heed lest he fall, amen. And it, staying in the will of God or staying in church, staying in your Bible does not happen by osmosis. What I mean by that, you know, it doesn't happen by accident, it's not like you just come to church and automatically you hear the preaching and oh, I'm good to go, I'm, you know, batteries included type Christian, it doesn't work that way. In order for you to stay in church, in order for you to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord, it has to be on purpose. It can't be on accident, there's things that you have to intentionally do in order to stay in the way, in order to keep God's blessing on your life. And I think everyone can agree here that we want God's blessing, amen. We want God's favor, we want God's blessing on our lives, on the lives of our family, our children, our wives, in our job, whatever it may be, we want God's favor but in order to keep God's favor, you need to stay in the way, amen. You know, there's people in the Bible who backslid, you think of Demas, well the Bible specifically says that Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world and you know what, that's written in the Bible forever. So he has this 2,000 year old testimony of being a quitter. Everyone will forever use him as an example of someone who just loved the world and he forsook Paul, hence forsaking God, right? Why? Because he loved this present world. Go with me if you would, hold your place there in Exodus chapter 21. Go with me if you would to Romans chapter 7. You know, we all have a propensity to draw back, to backslide if we're not careful. If we don't keep our bodies under subjection, you know, and bring it into subjection, let's by any means when we have preached to others, we ourselves should be a castaway. We do not want to be a castaway. We don't want to quit on God. We don't want to quit on church. We don't want to quit on going forward for the Lord but that has to be, that has to take place intentionally, okay? Even if, you know, you say, man, you know, the preaching here is great, the fellowship here is great, but you know what? If you don't actually do something with those elements, you're not going to stay in church. Going to a hellfire damnation preaching church, having great fellowship with like-minded believers does nothing to you if you don't actually do something with it. You know, great preaching can do nothing for you if you don't actually put it into practice. If you don't actually obey the word of God, okay? Look at Romans 7 verse 14, it says, For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not, for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. And you know what? Every single Christian can basically, they feel with Paul in that one. What is he talking about? He's talking about the war of the flesh and the spirit. You know the Bible tells us to walk in the spirit, and ye should not fulfill the lust of the flesh, for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary to one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. And I think every single person in this room has gone through a time when it's like man, the things that I hate, that I do. The things that I should do, I don't do. And it's just a constant battle, a constant war within ourselves, of just either giving into the flesh, or giving in, walking in the spirit. Now notice what he says there in verse 18, he says, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me. What does that mean? He wants to do right. You know, a Christian has a desire to do right. They want to read the Bible, they want to serve God, they want to go soul winning, they want to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. You know, sometimes people have good intentions, but because they don't set certain safeguards, certain character in their life, they're not able to perform that which is good. And what happens? They just keep delving themselves deeper into sin, deeper into their bad habits, not coming to church, not reading your Bible, and ultimately you become a catastrophe. Ultimately you get shipwrecked. You've heard of the term get wrecked? Well, you get shipwrecked. What does that mean? You become a castaway. Okay. But here it says in verse 22, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man. You know, every Christian, saved Christian, does delight in the Bible. You hear the word of God, it resonates with your spirit, you know, you hear preaching or you read the Bible and it resonates with your spirit. You delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, your body, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. This is the constant battle that we have to face day in and day out. And as I mentioned, it's a battle day in and day out. So it's not like you get saved and you're just perfect. You don't desire to sin. This lordship salvation garbage that teaches you if you're saved, you're not going to desire to sin. You're not going to desire to do anything wrong. You're a liar. You know, the thing that you struggle with is lying. The sin that you struggle with is pride, arrogance, you know, you're just a pompous liar if you're saying you don't struggle with sin because you're still in that carcass. Okay. And that carcass desires to sin, that carcass desires to do things that are displeasing unto the Lord. That's the constant battle that we have to face. And look, you can liken it unto a white dog and a black dog. Okay. Have you guys ever heard that illustration before? You know, the one who wins the fight is the one you feed the most. You know, if the white dog would represent the Holy Spirit and the black dog represents the flesh, who wins the battle? The one you feed the most. If you're constantly feeding the flesh, guess what, you're going to give into the things of the flesh. You're going to be a weak Christian, carnal Christian given into the things of the flesh. But if you feed the spirit, then you become strong in the Lord and the power of his might. You're reading the Bible. You're winning souls to Christ. You're leading your family as you need to lead it. You're doing things that are pleasing in the eyes of God. Now this is essentially what is, this is essentially what we're talking about. We're talking about drawing back because someone who draws back, someone who backslides is someone who's constantly feeding the flesh. And let me say this, when you see someone backslide from our church, just know this, they backslid a long time ago. When you see someone leave, it's just like, wow, it's just all of a sudden the imminency of backsliding, you know, well, no, actually they backslid a long time ago in their heart because that is a fruit of what was already taking place in their heart long ago. It was something that went unchecked. They were not repentant of a certain sin. They weren't getting something right to stop reading their Bibles a long time ago. And you know what happened is one month later, two months later, three months later, they're just out of church and you know what, there might be someone in our church that's just like that right now. Yeah you're here. Yeah you're listening. Yeah you may be nodding your head or in agreement, but you know what, you might be backslidden in your heart. You might have already gone back to Egypt as the Bible says, in your heart. You know, and this sermon is to basically put you in check, give you a spiritual slap in the back of the head, like snap out of it. Hey the garlics and the leeks and all that stuff, you know, back in Egypt, it's not good. Okay. We like to, if we're not careful, if we're walking in the flesh, we always think about the good things that we had when we were in the world, right? All the good memories and the music and the friends, but you never think about the heartache. You never think about the consequences of the sin. What about the hangovers, right? What about the tears and the heartaches and the pain and the torment that came from being in the world? Those are the things that we need to emphasize when we're tempted to draw back, right? Now go back to Exodus, go to Deuteronomy 15, excuse me. So what's the solution? Well, the solution is this, is that you need to start creating some reasons to stay. What do I mean by that? Well, obviously those who stay in the will of God, they love the Lord, right? But can anybody really say that they love the Lord all the time? No. There's no one who really loves the Lord every single day of their life. It's why? Because we live in this flesh. So therefore we need to create reasons to stay within the intervals when we struggle loving the Lord, okay? I would liken it unto a spare tire. You know, a spare tire is used when you have a flat tire and that spare tire is supposed to get you from point A to point B until you can fix your flat tire. But you know what? How many miles can you go on a flat tire? Does anybody know? Come on. 60 miles? For the Perry. I have no idea. Okay. Sorry about that. You're getting me to look like these people are wrong, they don't know what they're talking about. And he's like, I have no idea. What is it? Does anybody know? Sarah, what was it? Remember when we got that flat tire? Can someone look it up? No, I'm just kidding. So basically you can't go very far. Someone on the YouTube comments is going to comment. What? Thanks Chad. It varies by tire, okay? So let's say, let's just say, you know, you can go 20 miles, okay? And sorry if I'm wrong, but no one else in my church knows either, right? Let's say you can only go about 20 miles on a spare tire, okay? That's what it's for. So you can't put a spare tire on your vehicle and expect to just use that as your regular tire. It's only meant to be there so you can get to your next destination and fix your problem. You know, because ultimately that's going to go out too. You know, you run on your tires, but then when those things get flat, when you get discouraged, when you become discontent, disillusioned, when you go through a hard time in your life, then you know what? Get the spare tire. You know, you get the spare tire until you can get to your next destination, which is delighting in the law of the Lord once again, where you're strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. You enjoy being in church. You're enjoying the fellowship. You're strong, but in times of weakness, you need to rely on the spare tire. But here's the thing. In order to rely on the spare tire, you need a spare tire. You know, it's just like, I got a flat and you go in the back and it's just like, I don't even have a spare here. You stopped loving the law of the Lord. You stopped loving the Lord and then you're looking for that spare tire and it's not there. You know why? Because you forgot. You forgot to create a reason to stay, you know, and today that's what we're talking about is just creating a reason to stay. And look, that's a, that's a really shallow illustration because I'm not saying that these reasons that you're creating are like a spare tire in the sense that they have no value. No, they have a lot of value. Okay. But obviously the greatest thing you could do to stay in the will of God is just love the Lord. Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. But when that wanes, when that falters, you need to rely on the other things as well to get you back to that point. Okay. So what is the doctrine that's being taught in Exodus 21? You're in Deuteronomy 15. What we see taking place here is the year of release where those who were in debt or maybe someone who wanted to purchase something but could not afford, they would sell themselves into servitude. Okay. They would sell themselves to another Hebrew brother that they can work for until they can pay off that debt or until they could accumulate the resources necessary to purchase that which they want. And they would serve them for six years and on the seventh year they were allowed to go free. They were released. Okay. Now we see that multiple times in the Bible. I think of Jacob, right? Who served for, served Laban. Well, he did it for 14 years, but you know, seven and seven, that's why he got two wives. Right? So look at Deuteronomy 15 and verse number one. It says at the end of every, every seven years, thou shall make a release. And this is the manner of the release. Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbor shall release it. He shall not exact of it his neighbor or of his brother because it is called the Lord's release. So this is not something that would be a lifelong service where if they were in debt, they would just stay in debt forever. No. In fact, at the end of those six years on the seventh, regardless of what the debt was, God says you can release them. Okay. Let them go. Let them be free. They are liberated from that. Now, what to God that we have that in the United States, amen, you know, this is a good way. In the entire 50 years, the entire land would be released and it was almost like a reset button where people who were in debt were no longer in debt and people who lost their land in order to pay off their debt, they were actually given permission to return back into that land again. I mean, this is a great way of doing things here in God's economy. Skip down to verse number seven. It says, if there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shall not harden thine heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother, but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him and shall surely lend him sufficient for his deed and that which he wanted. Now, let me make something very clear that this poor person is not returned. There's not referring to the crackhead who's asking for money off the 710 freeway. You know what I mean? He is not referring to the 18 year old able body off the 710 freeway exit because he wants to buy beer with his money. That's not a poor person. That's right. Okay. That's a delinquent is what that is. When we talk about poor person, someone who basically is not capable of working, they're disabled for whatever reason, for whatever reason, they're incapable of actually working. And when I refer to disabled, I'm referring to, for example, my father-in-law. My father-in-law had a, um, what's called an AVM where one of his veins in his brain popped and it created, it caused brain damage to the point where he's not able to walk. He's barely able to talk. You know, they're bringing them back. Finally, after five years, they're bringing them back home, but he's not able to take care of himself. This is a person who we would, what the Bible would consider as being poor. He's not able to work. He's not an able body. Okay. Now, look at verse 12, it says, and if thy brother, a Hebrew man or in Hebrew woman be sold unto thee and serve thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shall let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shall not let him go away empty. Now in Exodus 21, we see that if they came in empty, in other words, if they didn't come in with anything, they basically are going to go out with nothing as well. Why? Because that's actually referring to a person who was in debt. So if they're in debt, they paid off their debt, they leave with nothing because they came in with nothing. Okay. Now look what it goes on to say in verse 14, thou shall furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy floor and out of thy winepress of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, shalt thou give unto them. So God is being very gracious. He's like, look, if he's, the year of release, you're not just going to let him go. I want you to be a blessing to him. I want you to give him of your flock, of thy floor, of thy winepress. And he says liberally, which means generously. Bless him, be a blessing to this is your brother. Okay. Verse 15, and now shall remember that thou was a bond man in the land of Egypt and the Lord thy God redeemed thee, therefore I command thee this thing today and it shall be if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee because he loveth thee in thine house because he is well with thee. Then thou shall take it all and thrust it through his ear unto the door and he shall be thy servant forever and also unto thy maidservants thou shall do likewise. So if a Hebrew brother was indebted to another or simply couldn't pay off his debts or his or her debts, they had the option of selling themselves to a master to pay off that debt. Now if the servant after those seven years are over, they're like, man, I actually have a pretty good with my master. He's given me a wife. I have children now. I have a great relationship with my master. He's been gracious with me. He's not only given me a job and now he's given me of his winepress. He's given me of his goods, of his floor. He's being kind to me. I love my master. He can, he has the option to say, you know what? I'm not going to go free. I'm going to stay. I want to stay and I want to be your servant forever is what he's saying. And what they would do is the master would take him before the judges of Israel, take it all, which all here spelled AUL, but in modern terms it would be spelled AWL, which was basically a tool to put a hole through like a piercing. Okay. He would take an all and he would put them against the door and just basically pierce his ear. And what that was, it was basically symbolic of the fact that when he would go through the towns or the cities, people would see that and say, Oh, he's a lifelong servant. So basically he chose to stay is what that's saying. Okay. So he's not going to work for anybody else. He's not going to do his own thing. He's chosen to stay with his master. Why? Because he loves him. Okay. So the piercing of the ear would alert people that he was a lifelong servant, that he loved his mastery and want to stay with him for the rest of his life. Now what is the interpretation here? Well, remember this is that when you read stories in the Old Testament, you know, you have to basically interpret it based upon the New Testament teachings of certain things, but not the entire story is going to fit into that. Okay. You have to basically get and extract from that what the New Testament teaches. Now this is symbolic of the glorious liberty of our bodies, which is referred to as what? The resurrection or the rapture. Go to Romans chapter eight, if you would, Romans chapter number eight, Roman chapter number eight. And a lot of these liberties that we see in the Old Testament, the year of release, that's what it's symbolically referring to is the resurrection of our bodies. Because just as the servant was subject unto the master up until the year of release, and then he can go, he basically was free, he was liberated, right, his body was liberated, he could actually go to his inheritance in like manner. This symbolically basically is talking about the liberation of our bodies, the redemption of our bodies, as the Bible will refer to it as. Now when we get saved, our spirit is saved, but our bodies are not. Our bodies are still subject to sin, right? They're still in bondage to sin. Look at Romans eight, 20 says, for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to it, the redemption of our body. And in fact, you have something called the feast of trumpets, which that's actually referring to the trumpet in the Bible is not only in reference to liberating someone, but it's actually a tool or excuse me, an instrument that was used to declare war, right? And the feast of trumpets is symbolic of, we're not going to get into end times Bible prophecy right now, but basically it's symbolic of the abomination of desolation that's set up because when that's set up, what happens at that time? You have the antichrist making war with the saints, okay? Then you have 75 days later, the redemption of our bodies, the rapture taking place, Christ coming back, okay? And in fact, you can prove that by looking at Leviticus and Numbers chapter 10, where the Bible tells us in verse number nine, if you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Again, we're waiting for the salvation of our bodies at that time. That's why the Bible says, they that endure until the end, the same shall be saved. And that's referring to the body, okay? So that is the application that we see there. And that is the spiritual interpretation, excuse me, that we see there is that at that year of release, it's referring to the redemption of the body, all right? Now go back to Exodus 21, if you wouldn't, Exodus chapter 21. Let's look at another application of this. Look at verse number five of Exodus 21. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, verse number five, my wife and my children, I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges and he shall also bring him to the door or unto the doorpost and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl and he shall serve him forever. Now think of this, okay? This is a very painful thing to, I mean, to experience, right? I don't know how big the hole was, but it's obviously something that was noticeable for everyone to see that this person has chosen to stay with his master. But you think of it of a piercing, right? Who was pierced in the New Testament? Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross. He received piercings in his hands and in his feet. Mark chapter eight and verse 34 says, and when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. So when we think of the piercing, we think of the crucifixion of Christ and what that means for us, aside from our redemption, the Bible tells us that we need to take up our cross daily. What does that mean? We need to die daily. So what this servant in the Old Testament was doing to his master is that he was dying to his own ambitions. He refused to go to his own homeland to live his own life, to do what he wanted to do. Why? Because he chose to stay with his master, even though his master gave him permission to go. You know, when we get saved, we have the option, don't we? To either go to church or not. We have the option to serve God or not. Either way, we're free. You know, the people that we want to the Lord, we went to the Lord on a weekly basis. They have the option. They can either come to church. They can grow in the knowledge of the word of God. They can learn how to go sowing and reap rewards at the resurrection to have a better resurrection, or they can just stay home and just not live for God at all. Either way, they're still liberated, right? But they have that option. And what do we have today in our church? A group of people who have chosen to stay with their master. Obviously, that's not everyone though, right? Now, this is what this is referring to here. Let me go, let me read to you from Luke chapter 14 verse 26. If any man come to me and hate not his father or mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Now notice that in the Bible, in order to be Jesus Christ's disciple, what does it say that we need to continue in his word? What do we hear the word of God with? Our ears. Okay? So, symbolically, in the Old Testament, we see the awl being pierced through, seeing the awl piercing the ear, it's basically referring to the fact that the servant is saying, I'm going to now take heed to the instructions of my master forever. I'm making the decision to listen to the instructions of my master forever. And in fact, the Bible tells us in the New Testament, Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, that the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of son or soul and spirit joints in the marrow, and is a discernment of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Go to Luke chapter 6, if you would, Luke chapter 6. So why was the servant bore through with an awl? Well, it was symbolic of the Christian who decides to be a disciple. And a disciple, in order to be one, has to continue in the word. You know, you find these liberal Christians, right? I'm a disciple of Jesus, brah. But are they even adhering to the word of God? You know, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. You know, true disciples of the Lord are those who are actually bearing fruit, they're seeing people saved, who are actually, they love the word of God. They're not making excuses, they're not making excuses to the world why the Bible says this, you know? And the disciple just says, that's what it says and you better just like it or lump it. You know, we side with God, we want to adhere to God's words, obviously we're not perfect, but we made a decision, we've borne the awl through our ear to basically say, I'm choosing to be a lifelong servant of Jesus Christ. I'm choosing to adhere to the word of God, you know, for the rest of my life, you know? And as a whole, as a congregation, we do it Sunday morning, Sunday night, Thursday, amen? But on your own, you should be doing it every single day when you read the word of God. You're basically saying, I'm choosing to surround my life with the Bible. The Bible is my light, it's my standard, it's an intricate part of my life, this is what I'm adhering to, this is the most important thing in my life, is the word of God. And here's the whole to prove it, basically. You know, I'm taking up the cross, I'm following him every day, and look, the difference is here is that in the Old Testament, it was done once, and then he was a lifelong servant, whereas with us, it's a daily decision that we need to make. Because you can be, you can have that all, you can have that piercing today, but it's not going to happen tomorrow, right? I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, but you know what Paul also said? I die daily. So you have to make a decision every single day to adhere to the word of God. You can be a spirit-filled Christian today and be the most backslidden Christian tomorrow. You know, it's a daily decision that you have to make. Look at Luke 6 and verse 46. So the servant in the Old Testament is basically subjecting himself to his master's will. You know? In other words, if the master says jump, what does the servant say? How high? If the servant says do this, the servant, or the master says do this, the servant is supposed to say, yes sir. You know, he's basically his Lord, because Lord means boss. Now look at verse 46 of Luke 6, it says, And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth and doeth not is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth, against which the stream beat, did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great. So go to John chapter 8 if you would. You know, we want to make sure that we're the ones that are adhering to the word of God, or making that decision to do that. And look, when we talk about adhering to the Bible, we're talking about the King James Bible. We're not talking about some daily devotional by Paul Chapel. We're not talking about some NIV rendition, some HIVESV rendition of something, talk about the King James Bible. Oh yeah, but this one kind of says, I don't want something that kind of says something to the King James, I want what exactly what it says in the King James. And so I'm not painting this with a broad picture to any Christian, that you just read your Bible, and that's how you feel that you're going to follow God, that's fine, no. King James Bible is the only word of God. Now look at John 8 31, they said, excuse me, then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So we see here that this is voluntary. You know, we would, I would love for every person that we went to Christ to just start reading the Bible right away, to start coming to church. You know, get that all, amen. Come to church, hear the preaching of God's word, and that all of the preaching just pierces right through their ears. Why? Because he that hath an ear, let him hear. You know, let them make the decision to be a lifelong servant of Jesus, a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ. And in order to do that, we need to delight in the law of God, but we also need a reason to stay. Now, let me see here. Let me read to you from Exodus 21, you don't have to turn there. Go with me, if you would, to Mark chapter 12, Exodus 21, verse four says, if the master hath given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons and daughters, the wife and her children shall be your masters, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free. Now what's the first thing that we see that compelled the servant to stay with his master? His love for him. He just loved them. He said, I love my master. He didn't say first, I love my wife, he didn't say first, I love my children, he said, I love my master. And by the way, this is a good order here, okay? We're to love God before anybody, even those who are the closest to us. More than your children, far more than my children, more than your wife, more than my wife. Look what it says in Mark 12, verse 29. And Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, master, thou hast said the truth, for there is one God and there is none other but he. And to love him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. Just remember this, loving God is the most important thing. Your investment each week should be to increase your love for the Lord. To delight in the law of God. Don't come here and don't dress right, look right, talk right, do right, because you want to please others. This is something that we do because we love the Lord. So your motive should always be in the right place, amen. It's because we're serving Christ, we're serving the Lord, we love him, we want to do this out of a love for God. So he loved his master, but he also loved his wife and his children that his master gave him. And the reason it took place here is that the servant was with him and his master basically gave him a wife, he was able to have a family, he was able to have just a normal life. The master was gracious to him. And let me say this, that's a testimony of a lot of people who have come to the Lord. They get saved and they meet their wife in the Lord. That's what happened to me. I was able to meet my wife after I got saved. She wasn't my wife then. No one got that. You know, I had to marry her first, okay. You know, she was my, she became my wife. We have children. And you know what they become? A reason to stay. Now when I first got saved, man, I love the Lord. And my love has grown for the Lord over the years. But after that, what happened is I got a wife, I have children, and they have now become a reason for me to stay. They become a spare tire. That sounds bad, but you know what, not really. Think about this though. Is it bad? Because in order for me to continue to lead them and love them, I need to continue to delight in the law of the Lord. And they are the people that helped me to get from one flat tire to a new tire. You see what I'm saying? They become a reason for me to stay. It became the reason for the servant to stay. He said, I love my master, but I love my wife. I love my children. I don't want to go anywhere else. Okay. So in like manner, we need to create reasons to stay in the will of God. And I mentioned that. Let me see here. Go to Ephesians chapter three. Your love for the Lord will wane. You will get tired. You will get discouraged. You will be offended. Someone will offend you. You'll become disillusioned because these are just natural things that take place in life. Okay. You'll grow tired. You will grow weary of the Christian life, of soul winning, of coming to church, of waking up early, which, you know, you don't have to wake up that early, like 10 30 guys, you know, you know, you'll grow weary of these things. But when that takes place, the answer is not, well, I'll just take a break and I'm just going to just get out of church for a while. I'm going to go to the world for a while and then I'll just come back when I'm ready. That's not the way it works. You know, you need to make sure that you remain steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Be not weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. We need to make sure that we stay in church and stay in the will of God, stay in our Bibles. But when our love wanes and we don't love the Lord as we should, we need to rely on these spare tires, so to speak, in order to help us to continue to go forward. Look at Ephesians three verse 16. It says that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Look, when you first get into church, even if you've been saved for a long time, because being saved for a long time and being in church are basically two separate things. I've known people who've been saved for years, decades, and they still haven't grown up spiritually. You know what I mean? There's still babes in Christ. Why? Because the way you mature is by being in church. Hey, the way you're growing your social skills is by being in church. The way you get spiritual friends, the way you make the most important relationships in your life is through church. Church is important. Don't minimize the importance of church. Don't ignore forsake not the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. I'm so sick and tired of hearing that verse, but it's important. There's a reason why he's telling you not to forsake it. Why? Because the institution of church is important. Oh, that's fine. I could just watch it on YouTube. You know, watching on YouTube is great to get to teaching, but that's not church. That's not church. Amen? Church is when you actually come here. Church is when you actually join yourself to a body of believers. When you can actually get the saliva in your face as I'm preaching. Amen. It's when you can actually shake the hands of your brethren and fellowship. This is important. If you're not careful, you can just grow accustomed to hearing preaching online and thank God for that. Amen. Thank God for online preaching. Thank God that we have that option and that avenue, you know, if you're sick or you're dying or something like that and you have to watch it. But you know what? At the end of the day, you need to be in church. It's imperative that you come to church and look, you ask anybody who has difficulty coming to church because of the distance, they'll tell you church is important. Amen. You know, we wish we could be here so much more and we can't because of the distance or whatever it may be. You know, they'll tell you how important churches and the fellowship is. Okay. If you want to cultivate a greater love for the Lord, you do it through church. You do it through church. Why? Because of the fact that there's no such thing as a Ronan Christian. Does anybody know what a Ronan is? Glenn, the Japanese guy in the back. Way too cliche. Okay. A Ronan Christian, a Ronan is basically a samurai who just didn't have a master. He was just kind of doing his own thing, you know, and that doesn't exist in the Christian life. You cannot be a successful, prosperous Christian by yourself. You need the local New Testament church. Why is that? Because let's say your heart has grown cold towards the things of God. You know what helps with that aside from reading the Bible is being around fiery Christians. Now I admit if you're in a watered down church where everyone, no one's on fire, then yeah, you're basically done at that point, you know, yeah, at that point you need to move on. Okay. If your pastor is like weak and he doesn't preach hard and he's not teaching doctrine and he's just compromising left and right, yeah, you, okay, I get it, I get it, you're done. Okay. But at that point, go look for a church where it's not like that. Okay. And look, if your heart has grown cold, don't get out of church, come to church and start talking to people who are on fire for the Lord and you know what that does? That rubs off on you. It will rub off on you. I don't think someone is that important. Get around some people who think it's important and it will become important to you because you know what does it, it begins to just kind of convict you a little bit like, man, I need to be out there. So I need to make sure, man, this person loves souls and this person loves this. You know, you get around that and it will influence you. But you know what? In like manner, if you want to be a lukewarm Christian, you get around lukewarm people. Lukewarm Christians produce other lukewarm lukewarmies, little lukeys. Sorry. Wait, I think we have a kid here named lukeys. I don't mean you, Lukey. I'm talking about lukewarm Christians, okay? And that's the way it takes place. You know, a lot of people, they're like fire extinguishers, you know, they're not on fire for God. They get around someone who is and they don't like that and they basically extinguish their fire. You know, you need to be around people who are on fire for God, who are passionate about the things of God. That's why I always emphasize, don't just leave right after church. Hang out for a little bit. Make some friends, you know, because that's going to help you get your fire back. That's going to help you get passionate again. That's going to help you continue to develop your love for the Lord. You know what helps developing a love for the Lord? Being around other people that love the Lord. You know, you get around that, you start talking about the Bible, doctrine. You know, after church, we don't really talk about sports. And if people start talking about sports, we just get really silent. I'm just kidding. They don't like that. They don't talk about sports every once in a while. The major subjects, to be honest with you, is like Bible stuff. Soul winning, Bible, doctrine, you know what that does? That does something to your heart is what it does. And it helps you. It's like the soil for a plant that helps cultivate growth is what it does. You know, and then the preaching is just the water. It waters you and then you begin to grow and become passionate about the things of God. Now, Matthew 13, you don't have to turn it says, but he that received the seed in stony places the same as he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it, yet hath he no root in himself, but doeth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by, he is offended. A lot of Christians like that. They get on fire for God, but then what happens? Because they're not rooted. They're not in church, they're not reading the Bible, they get offended because of their family who begins to persecute them because they listen to Pastor Anderson or whatever, you know, and then they're offended to get out of church. But you know what? When you're in a church within a congregation that's strong, that can encourage and exhort you, you're able to go forward. You know, if I guarantee you, if you lack boldness in your Christian life, being in our church will increase your boldness. Being around both Christians will increase your boldness. Hey, if you're shy, I guarantee you, being in our church will help you with that. Because look, you know, it's okay to be shy, but when you can't, we don't really have the luxury of being shy all the time because we got to like tell people they're going to hell and stuff. People you've never met before, you got to tell them that, you know, and that requires a, you know, boldness is what it requires. So whatever area you lack in, you can actually increase that area in your life by just being in church. Why? Because you have different people in our church with different personalities, different strengths, boldness, they're, you know, just an array of different Christians with different strengths and gifts that can help you with those areas. You understand? It'll help you to love the Lord more. Okay. Now, let me say some things here as far as creating a reason to stay. For those who are married, your spouse should be the reason why you stay in church and why you stay in the way. Okay. Your spouse should be a reason for that. And you know, I'm talking to the wives, but I'm also more so talking to the husbands. Okay. Husbands, stay in church, stay in the Bible, be on fire for God, even if you don't feel like it, stop being lazy. Take on your role as a man in your household. Why? For the sake of your spouse. You know, my father-in-law used to say this, don't discourage your encourager. Who's your encourager? Your spouse. When you're down in the dumps and you're not just feeling like you want to go forward, the one who encourages you to go forward is your spouse. Your best friend, your spouse should be your best friend. You know that, right? That should be the person who's closest to you. But you know what? If you discourage your spouse, if you discourage your husband or your wife, you know what? When you're discouraged, they're not going to be able to encourage you to go forward. So why do we stay in the way? What's a reason to stay? Well, our spouse is a reason to stay. When we don't feel like going to church, which I don't have that luxury, amen, if I don't come then the word of God doesn't get preached, but you don't feel like coming, come for your spouse's sake so you can be the proper leader, so you can be the proper man to help your family continue to go forward. You're the pastor of your home. Take responsibility, amen? We need to get out of this Peter Pan culture mentality where the men don't want to grow up. Be the example. Get a job, work, be faithful to church. You know, I'm not saying don't show weakness, but you know what? You ought to be the pillar of your home, where you're the example of your home. I'm talking to those who are married right now, okay? You know, your spouse should be the reason why you stay in the way. Why you continue to grow in the Bible, why you continue to pray, why you continue to go sowing for the sake of your spouse, but another reason is your children. Your children should be a reason for you to stay, and if they're not, then you know what? You need to get right with God. Why is that? Because we're responsible for our children and the future of our children, and if you are just this selfish, you know, immature Christian male who just, you know, doesn't want to come to church or doesn't want to just do the things of God or whatever it may be and you have children, you're selfish. You got to get right with God. Why? Because God has entrusted you to teach your children in the ways of the Lord, and you know what? Children will look at your example. You cannot expect your children to be what you are not, okay? You need to make sure that you're the example, that you're teaching them, that you're being – look, the church is here to help, amen? But we're not the ones raising your kids, though. Sorry. This is not a babysitting service right here. Okay. You know, that's how it was, you know, other churches that I've been to where it's like the Sunday school, they're the ones responsible for teaching the kids, and if they didn't turn out right, it was the church's fault. No, it's your fault. It's your fault, Dad. Well, my wife, Dad, it's the Dad's fault. Amen. Okay. Well, it's just that my wife knows more Bible than me. Then fix that. Yep. Amen. Fix it. What am I supposed to do? Read the Bible more? What else do you need? What do you want me to tell you? Read the Bible more. Become more knowledgeable in the Word of God. Yeah, but she's been saved longer than me. Then catch up. That's good. Sorry. There's no like, you know, I'm sorry about that. It's okay. No. Read more Bible. Amen. Become more knowledgeable because you're responsible to lead your household in order to help them to remain in the way, but they are your reason to stay. Your children. Look, for spouses, for people who are parents, the reasons to stay should be your family. So when you don't feel like doing the things you want to do, you do it because of the sake of your family. I don't feel like going to church today, but if I don't go to church, I'm setting a bad example for my children. You know, if I don't, if I don't read the Bible today, I'm setting a bad example for my children. Okay. The Bible says in Genesis 18 verse 19, God is saying this of Abraham, for I know him that he will command his children and his household after him. And they shall keep the way of the Lord and do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him. I mean, that's a great testimony right there. God is saying of Abraham. No, it's okay. I know him. I know he's going to train his children. I know he's going to train them in the way this should go, that they're going to keep the statutes and the judgments of the Lord. So that's for those who are married. How about for those who are widows, divorced or incapable of having children? Because you say, well, how can I partake of that? You know, I don't have a spouse or if I'm divorced, I'm not, I'm not going to remarry, you know, or what if we're just incapable of having children? What about us? Well, you still need to create a reason to stay. Okay. And what's the reason you can create? Well, how about just the next generation in our church? Yeah, but they're not my children. But you know what? You can still be an example unto them. We're talking about creating reasons to stay. Okay. And you can still be an example unto the next generation if you're divorced, if you're a widow or if you're incapable of having children. And you should have the mentality that you want to be an example to other people. Now look, I want to be as sensitive as I can when I'm about to say right now, okay? But you need to take it in the spirit that I'm giving it. Okay? If you fall in these three categories, it basically means, it doesn't mean your life is done, obviously. But what it does mean is that there's certain opportunities that are gone, right? You're gone. And that's just how life is. It's, you know, for whatever reasons, maybe it's the bad decisions that you made or it's just your lot in life. Some decisions are just over and done with. Here's what you need to do. Instead of dwelling on those things of what could have been, you need to make the best of what you have. And the best of what you have are the next generation in our church. Why not take the mistakes that you made and help the next generation not make those same mistakes? Or how about this? Maybe you're divorced or you're a widow, but you have children. You know what? You should look after their generation and seek to give to your children what you couldn't have. Right? Amen? Yeah. Seek to give to your children what you forfeited or what you could not have. Because when you're long gone, they're going to be here. And a way that you can succeed is through your children. You can be a successful person through your children because you can raise successful children. That could be your reason to stay. Don't be selfish. Don't say, well, I'm only affecting myself. No, you actually affect people in our church when you get out of the will of God. Because whether you know it or not, people look up to you. But here's another reason for those who may be widows, divorced, or incapable of having children. Here's a reason to stay. Create spiritual children. What do you mean by that? Winning people to Christ. You can be a great soul winner. Read 1 Corinthians chapter 7. That beloved chapter that these dipsticks like to use to claim that you could remarry after you've been divorced. That's not what it's teaching. Really the main teaching there is this. If you are a widow or unmarried, you should be as Paul. Give your time unto the Lord. Why? Because you're able to serve the Lord without distraction. You're able to do a lot more. How do you know that? Well, hmm. Paul? Yeah. I mean, how much was Paul able to do? A lot. He was able to bear spiritual children. And look, if you cannot have children or if you're a widow or if you're divorced, seek to disciple those in our church who are the next generation. Bear spiritual children. Help them along. Disciple them. Be a blessing to them. That can be your reason to stay. Like, man, you know, I'm just discouraged with life and I just think I'm not going to go to church. No, why don't you create a reason to stay and say, you know what, there's people here who need me. And there are people here who need you. They need your knowledge. They need your wisdom. The next generation needs you. But you know what? If you forfeit that as well, then you're not going to have anything. Create that reason to stay. John said this, the elder unto the well beloved Gaius whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee even as that walk is the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. He's not talking about literal children, he's talking about spiritual children. Okay? Seek to bear spiritual children if this is you in this category. The souls of men. You can still be a great soul winner, amen? He said, what about for those who are single? You know, you went over those who are spouses, you went over those who are divorced widows or you know, who are in that situation, they can't bear children. What about, what if you're not, what if you're single, you're not married, what if you're not in those situations but you're just a single young man or a single young lady? What can be the reason for you to stay? Well, you have a broader reason to stay. What is that? For the family that you will have one day. Don't screw it up. If you have a clean slate and nothing's, nothing, you have not made the mistakes that people have made in times past, you have a great opportunity. You have a bright future ahead of you but listen to me, young people, you can mess that up with one bad decision. You can completely destroy your future with one bad decision. Your opportunity is so vast and so great and the potential that you have to be successful and have a bright future is just, it's great but you could really mess it up with one bad decision. Fornication, drugs, just getting out of church. You know, the reason you should stay in church, oh, there's no one in our church to marry. I'm so sick and tired of hearing that, not that we hear it here, sometimes I do, I do. You know, just remain in the way, okay and look, don't think that God can't send someone here who you can meet and get married with. Don't make bad decisions, young people and look, one of the ways you can remain in the way is by listening to your parents. Give heed unto your parents. Don't be this pompous, arrogant, obstinate, stubborn, recalcitrant teenager who doesn't want to listen to their parents because you think you know more than them. You know what your parents are trying to do, they're trying to save you from destroying your life. I know more Bible than they do, doesn't matter and who's paying the bills, who's putting clothes on your back, who's putting food on the table, they are. Who's protecting you from the wows of Satan and the people who want to destroy your life, they are. Listen to your parents, you know, put that all in your ear, amen and be a lifelong learner of your parents. Even after you get married, you can still learn from your parents, amen. They have wisdom and they can still help and look, your parents have made mistakes that you don't have to make. Your parents have gone through destruction and errors and all kinds of things that you don't have to do. You can learn from their mistakes if you listen, if you give, if you take heed to that instruction but a reason that you can create to stay is your future family. How about this, just your potential. Someone who is single, who's not made these mistakes have a lot of potential. They're like arrows in the hands of God. You know what an arrow does, it goes a lot farther than what you can go. Parents, your children are arrows, they can go further than you can ever have gone but you got to stay in the way and this is the reason you need to create singles to stay. Don't get discouraged because you haven't found a spouse yet. Don't get all, you know, don't get, don't get all flustered and what's going to happen, oh woe is me, you're good. Just keep reading your Bible, keep serving the Lord, stay in the way, don't get discouraged, don't do anything stupid. Listen to your parents and enjoy being single for now. Enjoy being single and when you're single you can like eat pizza late at night and stuff and stay up as late as you want. I do that sometimes still though, just kidding. So even after that you can still do that sometimes. What am I saying is, what I'm basically saying is this is that these are only my ideas and the options that I'm presenting to you of reasons why you should stay. You need to create some reasons though. I'm just saying look, here's a spare tire or you can use this spare tire, you can use this type of spare tire, this one's red, this one's pink, this one's blue, this one will get you this far. Just choose something though but you need to have a spare tire because when you stop delighting in the law of the Lord you need to put in that, put on that spare tire to get you to the next destination. Create a reason to stay. Don't be so proud to think, well I don't need a spare tire, I love God, I'll never get out of church, not me, I know me man, I'm just like, I'm super spiritual and I'll be fine and nothing's, no, everyone needs a spare tire, everyone needs a spare tire one time or another. The only time you don't need is when you're dead because at that point you've already reached your final destination, you're good to go. But now you need it. And look, I hope that throughout the lifespan of our church that everyone who's in this room stays in church, stay in the will of the Lord. But unfortunately, realistically it's not going to happen that way because there's people here who probably listen to this and they still will not find that spare tire in their life. And at a time of tribulation, a time of trouble, they will fall away unfortunately. But you have an opportunity to change that, amen? Hey, be like the servant here, I love my master, you know, I love my wife, I love my children, I'm not going to go, I want to be a lifelong servant of Jesus, amen? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, thank you for saving us Lord, thank you for being so gracious. We think of the fact that the master gave him liberty but he also gave him much more than that and just reminds us of you, of how you've given us life and life more abundantly. And we're so thankful for that Lord. I pray God that we take advantage of that, that you would help us to just be a lifelong servant of our Savior Jesus Christ. Help us to create reasons to stay within the will of God and the main reason should be that we love our master but because we're sinful, you know, we make mistakes, that will wane every once in a while and so therefore we need to create other reasons to stay until we can get to that point where we can delight in the law of the Lord once again. And I pray God that you'd give us wisdom to do so, help us to look towards the future, the future of our children, the next generation and to create a purpose for us to stay. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.