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First, go bid them farewell which were at home in my house. And Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Let's pray, dear God, thank you for your word. Thank you for this opportunity. We have an idea here preached. Just ask that you would be with our pastor now. Just strengthen him, fill him with your spirit. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. All right, we are in Luke chapter number nine. The title of the sermon this morning, what I wanna preach on is being fit for the kingdom of God. Being fit for the kingdom of God. And I'm getting it from Luke chapter nine verse 62 where it says, Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. That's what he says there. Now, before I get into the exact meaning of that passage of scripture and the application thereof, I wanna talk about a couple things. People will try to use this passage of scripture to basically teach a doctrine that states that our salvation is based upon the work that we do. And they'll often use this and say, see, if we look back, we're not suitable for salvation. We're not fit for the kingdom of God. And you can kinda see how they would twist that because of the fact that the way it's worded, we often associate the kingdom of God with eternal life, kingdom of God with heaven. So if it says that we're not fit for the kingdom of God, you can see how people can rest that and twist that to mean, well, you know, we're not fit for eternal life. If we're constantly trying to work, or excuse me, if you stop working, if you stop serving the Lord, you're not fit, you're not worthy of eternal life. But you know what, that's not what it's saying at all. You know, the kingdom of God is used in various forms in the New Testament, and yeah, it is used to define eternal life, is it not? And it's used to basically describe, you know, when you talk about the rich man, it talks about, you know, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. At that point, yeah, it's talking about eternal life, right? But there's other times when it's used to describe basically heaven and the importance on focusing on heaven in order to determine how we live our lives here on this earth, right? You know, the Bible says, but seek ye first what? The kingdom of God and his righteousness, and these things shall be added unto you. Obviously, that's not referring to salvation. It's referring to the fact that we ought to set our affections on things above, not on things of this earth. You know, we ought to be eternally minded, seek the kingdom of God, seek seeing people saved, doing the work of God, and worry about food and raiment on another day. You know what I mean? Let God take care of that. We're supposed to be focusing on the kingdom of God. You know, but it's also used to describe the work of God. Okay, when we think about the kingdom of God, for us as Christians, that's referring to the work. You know, the Bible says that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, referring to Jews, and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. It's referring to the work. Why? Because the Jews screwed up. The Jews were not a light unto the Gentiles. The Jews dropped the ball, and you know what? They were not preaching the gospel. They weren't seeing Gentiles saved. Therefore, the kingdom of God was taken from them, and it was given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. The ones who are willing to put in the work in order to see people saved, preach the gospel, and obviously, that's made up of all believers. Now, in Luke chapter number nine, we see it used, excuse me, we see it that it's being used to describe that work that we're referring to. And look, no one is suitable for salvation, amen? You know, there's none righteous, no, not one. There's nothing to do with good. You know, the Bible says there's not a just man upon earth that do with good and sin if not. It doesn't matter how much work you put into it. The Bible tells us not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing, regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. You know, it's not based upon what we do, how good we are, the commandments that we can keep. According to the Bible, it's faith alone in Christ that makes us suitable for salvation. The Bible says that ye are accepted in the beloved. Not just accepted for what you do. No, you're accepted in the beloved. We have the righteousness of Jesus Christ that makes us suitable for salvation. It's not our works, okay? But let me say this, the work that we do makes us suitable for the rewards that we're gonna get in the kingdom of God, you know? Because someone who is saved, obviously, you know, they can go their entire lives not serving God, not going to a Bible-believing church, not sowing, not living for God, and you know what? That person's gonna receive nothing at the white throne, not the white throne, at the judgment seat of Christ. They're not gonna receive rewards. They're not gonna receive a better resurrection. They're not gonna be suitable for the rewards that God has promised to give them because of the fact that they're not fit, okay? And in fact, the Bible tells us, if a man therefore purged himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and what? Me, for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. You see, it should be the goal of every Christian to be sanctified and to be me, to be useful for the master's use. For God to be able to use you, not only to see people saved, because obviously that's the most important, but you don't have to disciple people as well, to be able to lead people in the way of righteousness. And look, folks, we need to make sure that we're balanced in both areas, right? Now, if we're gonna be imbalanced and in the area, let it be in soul-winning. Let us be all about soul-winning, and you know, I prefer a person who does a lot of soul-winning and no discipleship than a person who only does discipleship and no soul-winning. You know, because obviously, you know, what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Right? But here's the thing, God wants us to do both. And in fact, the great commission is both, right? To teach them all things, whatsoever Christ has commanded us, that is what we should do. But we need to be me for the master's use. Another way of saying that is to be fit for the kingdom of God. You know, that's why it's important to be fit, to be able to do the work. And look, when it talks about putting your hands at the plow, plowing is hard work. That is hard work. You know, I'm not a farmer, never planned to be one. No, thank you. I'm a city boy. Yeah, admit it, I'm loud and proud about that, okay? I never plan on, you know, doing my own crops until the millennial rain, okay? I'm a city boy, I'm sticking to the streets, all right? I'm sticking to the metropolitan area. But I do know this is that plowing is hard work. And in fact, farmers will typically walk 10 miles to plow one acre. Think about that. That's a lot. You know, it's a lot of work. When someone is plowing, they have that device in front of them. That device is attached to a horse, you know, it's attached to an ox, and you are, I mean, you're doing a lot of work to accomplish, you know, for something that comes in the long run, not necessarily something that you see immediately, right? But let me say this, just as it takes a physically fit person to plow a physical field, it also takes a spiritually fit Christian to plow the fields of the world, right? Because the Bible talks about the world being the field. You know, and we're constantly plowing the field week in, week out, month in, month out, year in, year out, you know? And that's why it's important that we as Christians are fit to do such a task, right? And the Bible tells us in 1 Timothy chapter four that we ought to exercise ourselves rather unto godliness. You see, the person who exercises themselves into worldliness, they're not gonna be fit. They're gonna be spiritually fat. Their heart is as fat as grease, the Bible says, right? They're, you know, they're gonna have high blood pressure. They're gonna have, you know, they're just gonna be unhealthy, spiritually speaking, because they're filling their hearts with the things of this world. They're filling their hearts with the entertainment of this world. They're filling their hearts with possessions and riches and the cares of this life, which the Bible says, choke the word, and what happens to them? They become unfruitful according to the Bible. Whereas the Bible tells us, hey, exercise yourself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things. Look at this, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. You know, when you exercise yourself in reading the word of God, you give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, to godly living, you know, you not only reap the benefits today, because obviously there are, you know, positive ramifications to serving God and exercising yourself into godliness, but you know, you also receive rewards in the eternal, okay? And what type of work are we talking about? We're talking about here, it says plowing, okay? Now, go with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter number nine. Hold your place there in Luke chapter nine. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter nine. Let's talk about plowing, and of course, you know, a plow is an agriculture implement with sharp blades attached to a beast of some sort, and it's used really to break up the fallow ground in order to prepare it to be seeded, right? And we often think of the word of God, and the Bible compares the word of God to seeds, right? And that's what we're doing. We're sowing seeds of salvation. When we go out there and we do sowing, we're out on the mission field, we're sowing seeds. And the Bible tells us that he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, and bringing his sheaves with him. But plowing is a part of that. Because here's the thing, it's not always guaranteed that we're gonna go out there and see people saved, right? I mean, today, we're probably gonna see a lot of people saved, but you know, it could potentially be that you have a bad day and you don't see people saved. But you know what you're doing? You're plowing. Because you're breaking up that fallow ground. And often we go to a city that's very unreceptive, right? We think to ourselves, man, this place is just unreceptive. No people got saved. Yeah, but you plow. You broke up the fallow ground. And look, one of the reasons why Los Angeles is so receptive is because of the fact that the previous generation plowed the field. They broke up the fallow ground, they prepared the ground so that when we came, we reaped, amen? You know, when we go to an area that's just unreceptive, it just means that it hasn't been plowed, it hasn't been seeded. People haven't been working that area. And so that's our responsibility to do so. Look what it says in 1 Corinthians 9, verse number seven. It says, who goeth away a warfare any time at his own charges? Who planted the vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth the flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man, or say it not the law the same also. For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for the oxen? Or sayeth he eat all together for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt this is written, that he that ploweth should plow in hope. And he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. Verse 11, if we have sown unto you spiritual things, it is a great thing, is it a great thing if we shall reap to you carnal things as well? So what is he referring to? He's saying look, when we plow, we're plowing spiritual things, right? And you can see why preaching the gospel is likened unto this. Now spiritually plowing is not only applicable to preaching the gospel, we can apply it to any area in the Christian life, okay? You know, we put our hands to the plow when we raise our children. That's a difficult task. You know, preaching the gospel, very hard task, right? But you know what, raising children, very hard task as well. And parents need to put their hands to the plow and not give the plow to another person, right? You know, to educate your children, you need to put your hands to the plow and not get someone else to plow that field for you. You know, relinquish that responsibility to the public school system or the Christian school, right? You know, I get so many people criticizing California, they're like, oh, how do you homeschool over there? Easy, what are you talking about? It's easier to homeschool here than it is in most states. Other states, they require so much, you have to check in with the public stupid system, you have to get your diploma from them. Not here, I put my own diploma here. It's easier to homeschool here than it is in other states. You know, and you know what, some people don't like to homeschool and they like to relinquish that responsibility to others because they prefer others to plow that field. But you know what, it's hard work, but it's work that God has called us to do, according to Deuteronomy chapter six. You know, to teach them, to educate them, to show them the ways of the Lord, to train up a child in the way he should go so when he is old, he will not depart from it. That's a hard field. It's not easy, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. But when we're plowing to raise our children, we gotta put in the work. We need to be fit to do so, right? That means, parents, we need to be educated, we need to make sure that we're disciplined, we need to make sure that we are being educated and have knowledge and have something to impart unto our children, okay? Look, some people relinquish that field of plowing for Bible reading to a Sunday school class. Nursery or Sunday school class, you got a lot of churches that do that. They bring their plow to church and they say, hey, can you plow this field for 15, 20 minutes? And by the way, 15, 20 minutes is actually like five minutes of Bible teaching. More like 15 minutes of just singing weird songs and getting them all sugared up and doing all this nonsense, and they don't really do a good job plowing that field. Why, because they're a hireling. And a hireling never does a good job, okay? And so, you know, we plow when we raise our children. Hey, when we grow as Christians, we're plowing a field. It's hard to grow as a Christian sometimes. Why, because growing as a Christian requires for you to add virtue, but also it requires for you to subtract certain habits and repent of your sins, get your life right, you know, the law of replacement, as Brother Ulysses preached, you know, getting rid of certain things of your life and adding things to your life, that takes work. That takes you putting your hands to the plow and putting in the work. It takes for you to be fit. You know why? Because when persecution, if you're not rooted, if you're not working, when persecution arises because of the word, you're gonna fall away, okay? Cares of this life come, you get offended, you know, you go through a tough time and you just fall away. Why, because you're not fit. You're not spiritually strong. You're not strong in the Lord and the power of his mind. It's important to be strong, to be spiritually fit in order to plow the field of our Christian growth. And don't relinquish that responsibility to someone else. You need to grow. Don't relinquish that responsibility to me. You know, obviously you're gonna grow when you come and hear preaching. You're gonna learn something new or you're gonna get something, a doctrine reinforced, a principle reinforced. But you know what? It's your responsibility to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You need to be fit, okay? To grow yourself, to pray, to read the Bible, to study the word of God, et cetera, okay? Hey, when we work on our marriage, that takes plowing, okay? That takes work, folks. And look, guys, it's not like we just get married and it's like, all right, we're good to go. Let's move on to the next task. What else can I conquer in this life? That takes work. If not, your marriage will fall apart. It will atrophy. No, I got it down pack. I know what I'm doing. No, you don't. We learn as we go. And you need to continue to plow that field. I'm not calling your wife a field, but they're basically like a field, okay? Marriage is like that field that you have to continue to plow, work on, and you know what? You need to be fit in order to do that. You need to be fit to love your wife as Christ loved the church. Ladies, you need to be fit in order to reverence your husband and respect him and not talk down on him, not disrespect him. Man, we have to dwell with our wives according to knowledge and you know what, that requires us to learn to be fit in order to know what our wives need, right? Hey, you need to be fit in marriage because you're gonna go through difficult times. And you know, unfortunately, in 2020, too many people, they're so spiritually unhealthy in their marriage, they just want, they take the easy way out. They get a divorce, which is not easy. It actually makes it harder on you and your husband and your kids when you get a divorce and obviously it's sinful. You know, better to just plow through it, amen? Plow through that field, through that season of difficulty, but it requires for you to be fit. How can you be fit as a Christian when you're plowing that field of marriage? Well, you need to be in the Bible. You need to pray, you need to increase your faith. You need to be strong emotionally, man. Don't be a little weakling. You know, don't say, well, I'm just gonna relinquish whatever my wife wants and let her leave the home and let her leave the children. No, I mean, if that's a delegation that you've set forth, okay, but you better be the one steering that ship, though. Okay? When we seek to be more Christ-like, you can apply this in any area of your life. When you put your hands to the plow, it just requires for you to be spiritually strong, spiritually fit in order to do that. Make no mistake about it, you need to be a fit Christian in order to accomplish these things. Now, how do we do that? How can we be fit specifically for the kingdom of God? Well, go back to Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter number nine here at the latter end of Luke chapter nine. We basically see, we have a series of people committing themselves unto the Lord, right? And they're going out there and they wanna serve Christ, they wanna follow him, and we see God, we see Jesus Christ drawing a hard line, right? I mean, he's pretty rough with some of these guys, and there's a reason for that, okay? He's kinda giving them a hard line. He has an expectation of all or nothing. But we can learn some principles here. Number one, if you're gonna be fit for the kingdom of God, you have to count the cost, right? Look at verse 57. And it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee with the strength of thou goest. Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. What is he telling him? Look, this fox has a place to sleep, that bird has the place to sleep, I gotta figure out where I'm gonna sleep tonight. I don't even have a place to lay my head. Are you really willing to follow me anywhere I go? What he's telling him is this, you better count the cost. You know, it sounds noble to say, I'm gonna follow you wherever you go. It's a different story where you don't have a place to sleep at night. It's a different story, you know, when people say, well, I'm gonna come to church, I'm gonna stick it out, and no matter what happens, but then it's a different story when persecution comes. It's a different story when you get coronavirus. Hey, it's a different story when the pastor makes a call on the church that you don't agree with. That's a different story. Oh, pastor, I'll follow you with the strength of thou goest. Okay, well, we're shutting down the church with 10 people at minimum for two weeks. I don't agree with that, I'm gonna go somewhere else. You phony. Yeah. Can't hang. You're saying I can't hang, you can't hang. Oh, I'll follow this church whether so ever it goes, and then you just, you get enthralled with the glamor of this world, with the money, the possessions of this world, and you fall away. You get offended at the pastor. You know, like, ah, I don't like that he said that, I'm gonna go somewhere else. I'm gonna go to an old IFB pastor. I'm gonna go to a different church or whatever, because I don't like what's being done here. Okay, then don't say you'll follow with the server he goes. You know, don't give lip service to your service to God. Count the cost. You know, the Bible tells us, for which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it. This is in Luke chapter 14. Less happily, after he hath delayed the foundation that was not able to build it, all behold it begin to mock him, saying this man began to build and was not able to finish. That's embarrassing, you know. And here's the thing is, when it comes to serving God, we all have sufficient to finish. God has given us the sufficiency to finish the race. He's given us the sufficiency to finish the building, right? But here's the thing, when people make that sort of commitment and say, I'm gonna follow Jesus wherever he goes, I'm gonna serve the Lord no matter what happens, and then you fall away, what happens? The enemies of God begin to mock. You know, all those people you were preaching to and condemning and getting on, they see you not serving God, they point their fingers at you and say, huh, what now? By the way, that's one of the reasons why, even prior to being a pastor, I wanna stick to the fight. Because I knew I had eyes on me, whether that was my family and friends, they're just waiting. Because they would tell me, oh, this is just a phase of yours. You're just going through a phase. You're just, you're just zealous right now, but that's just a season, it's a phase. You'll go back to your old ways, you'll go back to serving, you know, to being in the world and being with your friends. Well, it's been 14 years and I haven't stopped since. You know why? Because I don't want people to mock the Lord. I don't want them to blaspheme the word of God. I don't want them to point at me and say, this is what Christianity is. Yeah. Okay? Can't be fit for the kingdom if you are placing deadlines and conditions on God. This is why a lot of people get disillusioned in the Christian life, you know? They have this, you know, mentality, like, well, I'll be in this church or I'll follow a pastor from here as long as I become a pastor one day, as long as I become a missionary. But what if I tell you no? Whatever you say, no, I'm not gonna redeem you. You have a problem with that? You see, the person who follows Jesus, no matter what, will say, all right, well, maybe you know best then. And that doesn't mean you can't serve the Lord anymore. But some people, they get disillusioned because they have an expectation of they're gonna receive something if they follow the Lord, if they follow their pastor, if they follow the church. And look, there's some expectations that you should have of me that I should be able to preach the word of God, teach you the Bible, lead the church, fulfill my role as a pastor, but there's certain other expectations that you should not have of me. You know, well, if I come to this church, you need to be my best friend. And that happens, folks. Well, people expect for you to be their best friend. It's not gonna happen sometimes because I don't like you. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding, I like everyone here, okay? Some of you, I'm just kidding. People get disillusioned with that. You know, they have an unrealistic expectation of the pastor, of the church, or of other people, right? And they get disillusioned because they don't get what they want. And you know what, they go into the world, they go back to their old habits, they stop serving God, not right. They weren't fit for the kingdom of God. They didn't exercise themselves rather unto godliness. You know, if you're gonna be fit for the kingdom of God, you need to make sure that you count the cost. But also, number two, you gotta make sure you have the right priorities, right? You know, he says in verse 59, and he said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, man, this is pretty savage right here. Let the dead bury their dead. But go down and preach the kingdom of God. Verse 61, another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at my home at my house. Now look, you know, obviously, we're not gonna tell you that. If you're like, hey, let's go sowing. He's like, well, my dad died. I'm like, let the dead bury their dead. Go down to the sowing time. The reason Jesus did that is because he had a limited amount of time in his ministry. He only had three years. So he didn't have time to play. He didn't have time for haphazard commitment. It's like, look, and look, this is the only time in history other than what we're gonna see in the future where Jesus walked on this earth. I mean, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, right? To have Jesus, the word of God, in the flesh. You can be with him for three years. You can serve alongside him. I mean, this is the word of God, right? So there's a reason why he said, let the dead bury their dead. Why, because you have the living word standing right in front of you. Now, there's still some, even though, obviously, we're not gonna tell someone that if someone goes through something like that, you know, this has a lot of good application to it, a lot of good things that we can apply this to. And the one thing that we see here is that they just need to have the right priorities. Because they kept saying, well, first, let me go do this. First, let me bid them farewell. First, let me do this, let me bury my father. And Jesus is just basically drawing that hard line, saying, hey, you need to get your priorities straight. First thing's first. And you know what, according to the Bible, Jesus should be the one who has, he's the preeminent one. He should have the preeminence in our lives. He should be first, okay? Before our wives, before our husbands, before our children, before anything, Jesus is number one. That's how it should be. Not first, my wife, not first, my husband, not first, my children, not first, my finances, not first, my possessions, no, first, Jesus. Because here's the thing, Jesus will never let you down, folks. I hate to break it to you, your spouse is gonna let you down. Why, because they're humans, they're sinners. We're infallible people, and you know what, I'm gonna let my wife down, she's gonna let me down, and that's the way life is. But you know what, if we are focused on Jesus, if our main focus is Jesus Christ, if he's the preeminent one in our lives, you know what, we can deal with those let downs. Why, because Jesus will never let us down. And the reason we live, our purpose for living is Jesus, who will never let us down. You know what, if Jesus never lets you down, you can deal with the let down of your friend. You can deal with the let down and the backstabbing of a family or a friend, of a spouse, of the difficulties of this life, because Jesus is first, okay? This is why he says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and these things shall be added unto you. So he's not saying, hey, you can't have these things, he's just saying, you gotta get your priorities straight. And look, folks, we as Christians need to make sure that we base every decision we make off of what Jesus says. And look, if he's not 100% clear, if it's not written in black and white, then what you do is you use the guiding principles of the Bible to make that decision for you. And if you're not wise enough or mature enough to discern that, then you go to someone who is. And you ask them, what do you think I should do in this area? Hey, in a multitude of counselors, there is safety, the Bible says. Lean not unto thine own understanding, the Bible tells us, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. But we're to seek first the kingdom of God, and you know what, we can't do wrong. We can't go on the wrong path if we're seeking the kingdom of God first. If we have the motive of saying, Lord, I just wanna serve you, I wanna see people saved, I wanna raise my family for the Lord, I just wanna do what's pleasing in your sight, can you please just lead me? He'll lead you. If you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and abraighteth not, according to the Bible. We cannot veer off the path if we just depend on God and put him first. If we're gonna be fit for the kingdom of God, we gotta count the cost. If we're gonna be fit for the kingdom of God, we gotta have the right priorities. Hey, church is a priority. Reading the Bible's a priority. Winning souls is a priority. Our family is a priority. Okay, and look, let me just tell you, your family is a priority over the church. Now, if you lead right, you don't have to be put in a situation where you have to choose. Amen? You know, if you lead right, man, you don't have to be put in a difficult position where you have to choose between your family and your church, okay? And that's a sermon for another day. But here's the main point that I wanna make. If you're gonna be fit for the kingdom of God, can't look back. You can't look back. And that's the main point that he drives in this passage of scripture. You know, if a man puts his hand to the plow but he looks back, he's not fit for the kingdom of God. Now, why is looking back discouraged? Well, when a man is plowing, he's using that device that's attached to that oxen, and he's looking back, you can actually cause your lines to be crooked. Because you can cause your beast to veer off and then, you know what, like, oh man, I need to get back on track. But then when you look back, when you're done, you're gonna see that your lines are all crooked and you have to start all over again. You can actually do that, and you know what, the same goes for a Christian. If you're constantly, if you're plowing, you're putting your hands to the plow, you wanna serve God, but you're constantly looking back at your past sins, your past lifestyle, your habits, your failures, oh, the life that you used to live, you know what, your future's gonna be crooked. Your future's gonna be crooked. Your lines are gonna be crooked because you're constantly looking back. The Bible tells us in Matthew 33, for this is he that was spoken, go to Hebrews chapter 12, Matthew 33 says, for this is he that was spoken of by the prophet of Zias, saying the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Look what Hebrews 12, verse 13 says. And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed, the Bible tells us. You know, don't be a lame Christian, stop being lame. You know, how does a Christian become lame when they go out of the way? When their paths become crooked, that's a lame person, okay? The Bible tells us in Proverbs 2 20, that thou mayest walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous. Proverbs 4 14, enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men. You know, you look back enough as a Christian, at your old lifestyle, at the things that you used to do, or even your past failures. Eventually you're gonna go into the way of evil men, because you're not focused on what's before you, okay? Now why do people look back? Because that happens a lot. You know, people are going forward and maybe they go through a time of disillusionment or discouragement, and what do they do? They begin to just peek back a little bit. With their hands to the plow, nonetheless. But they begin to just kind of look back and look back at the world, look back at the cares of this life, look back at the life you used to live before you were a Christian. You know, why do they do that? Well, number one, go to Exodus chapter 16, actually. Exodus chapter 16. Why do people look back when they put their hands to the plow? Because they miss their old lifestyle. They miss their old lifestyle. And I'm talking about Christians who, you know, they get right with God. They clean up their lives, they start living a different life. They turn over a new leaf, right? And they start living for God, you know, the newness wears off. And make no mistake about it, in the Christian life, the newness will wear off. That's okay, that's part of life. At that point, you need to learn to develop a delight for the law of the Lord, right? To walk in the Spirit, to learn how to have joy in the Christian life, because these are the things that are gonna keep us going. But sometimes people, they stop growing. What happens? They start missing their old friends, their old sinful habits, their old lifestyle. They're like, oh man, I gotta get up early for church. Like 1030 is really early for church, right? I gotta get up so early for church. Oh man, we gotta go so early. Oh man, I gotta go back to church Sunday night. Oh, I gotta go back to church on Thursday. Oh, I gotta go, I gotta go do all these. And then what? The commandments of the Lord become grievous to the person. Commandments of the Lord are not grievous. It's not a grievous thing to priest the gospel. It's not a grievous thing to come to church. But it is to the person who misses their old life. Oh, I just wanna sleep in. I just wanna just barbecue and just have fun and go hang out on Fridays. I wanna go drink with my buddies. I can't drink and be in the church because then they're gonna excommunicate me. Yeah, you're right, we are gonna excommunicate. So you better stop looking back. Because the more you look at that which you have forsaken, the more you look at that which you've left behind, the more it becomes appealing to you. That's why, you know, I'm sure Brother Ulysses preached on this, you know, you gotta replace your friends. Did you mention that? All right, good, you're doing a good job, man. You know, you gotta replace your friends, right? Because if not, if you don't, let's say you get saved and you're like, I can't hang around with my friends because they're a bunch of weed-smoking drunkards and they just do bad stuff, they live the party life or whatever thing that people struggle with. And you forsake those friends, but you're like, but I don't really wanna get close to anybody in the church, though. I don't wanna be vulnerable, you know? I don't wanna have friends in the church. Okay, well, you know what's gonna happen is you're gonna put your hands to the plow and you're gonna look back to your friends. Because we are a, we're sociable creatures. We need to socially gather, we need a fellowship, we need friendship, we need those things in our life. And if you don't fill that void, that's why people look back at their friends. And look, I've said this multiple times, when I first got saved, what I did is I knew my friends were not good for me, they were a company of fools, and they still are, okay? They're a company of fools, you know what I did? I deleted all their numbers from my phone and then I got myself a new number as well. Just in case I was tempted to look back, I had nothing to look back to. And just in case it was like, okay, well I can't contact them, you know what? They can't contact me either. And if they really wanted to get in contact with me, they knew I was at church. That's all, if you ever wanna find me, you know, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Thursday night, because we have Thursday night Bible study, this is where I'll be. At least they'll meet me on my turf. I'm not meeting them on their turf. Behind their vehicle, drinking, smoking, and I'm trying to preach the gospel to them and teach them the Bible, you know? And I'm the only Christian there. Bring them here. So at least you have your road dogs here, you don't have to back you up. You're not tempted to veer off. Some people look back because they miss their old lifestyle. You know, they find the Christian life boring sometimes. Mundane. And look, the Christian life doesn't always have to be exciting. And just, there's always something new. I don't always have to preach bangers. Okay? Because I know some people here, they're just like, bring the fire down, pastor! It's like, why? I'll do that like in two weeks or something. You need something else. You need your vegetables, you need your fats, you need the things that don't taste as pleasant, because you need to grow as a Christian, okay? I'm gonna read to you from Numbers 11, verse five, it says, we remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. But now our souls dried away. There's nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes. Bunch of whiners. Complaining, murmuring whiners. It's like, what are you talking about? You guys were slaves in Egypt! You guys were whining, complaining about being in Egypt. You didn't mention anything about melons and garlic when you were over there. You're asking God to save you from that. And why are you complaining about the manna? This is a miraculous meal that God is providing for you. Yeah, given it's like a coriander seed and it's the, you know, delium color or whatever, but you know what, it tastes good, it feeds you. God's providing for you. He's showing himself strong on your behalf. Why are you looking back to Egypt? All the garlic and the leeks. You know what's funny is that when people look back, they always look at the good old times. You know, I remember the good old days when me and my buddies, we used to go and drink. Yeah, but what about the hangover though? Remember you're throwing up your guts? Remember that? Remember you're throwing up your guts? Remember you got beat up because you're mouthing off because you're a drunkard? You remember you crashed your vehicle or your buddy died? What about the bad things that happened in those times? What fruit had he then in those things were of year now ashamed, the Bible says. You see, what we need to do is if you do look back, look back to all the nonsense that took place in those days. That'll help you to say, man, I don't wanna even think about that. You should look back at the times that, the events that happened in your life that embarrassed you. They'll cause you to say, you know, thank God that I'm saved now, I thank God that I'm in church. Thank God that I'm living for God. You know, I left all that behind. Okay, and obviously I'm not preaching a sinless doctrine because you know what? We need to take heed unless we fall. But you know what? One thing we can do to minimize that is not looking back. Exodus 16 verse three says, and the children of Israel said unto them, woe to God, we have died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full, for you have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill us this whole assembly with hunger. You bunch of whiners, this is a lie. You're not starving. You just want quail. That's what it is. What to God, what are you talking about? You were crying out to God for salvation. Have you forgotten that? People, sometimes they just remember the old lifestyle, the old friends, the old habits and like, man, it was great back then. Not necessarily. You were a loser. You were a loser. And look, anybody in our church who used to drink alcohol, you were a loser, right? So why does a mock or strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise? If you're not wise, you're a fool. If you're a fool, you're a loser. So just remember this, oh, I miss the 40s, tall boys. Oh, you miss being a loser. Amen. Oh, you miss being a wino, a drunker. Is that what you're saying? You see, we need to maximize the terms that we use when we talk about the old life. You know, oh, man, all the girlfriends I have. Oh, you mean the fornicator, because you're a fornicator, you're a whoremonger. That's what you miss? You miss whores, is that what you're saying? Loose women and whores? Well, no, we call it the being a player. Well, the Bible calls it being a whoremonger. Okay. Oh, you miss being a slut. See, then that doesn't seem very glamorous anymore, huh? I mean, password, do you have to say it like that? Yeah, we need to make sin look exceedingly sinful so you don't look back. And when you do look back, you're like, oh, man, yeah, I'm embarrassed about that. Let's talk about future things instead. Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. Demas looked back. He missed his old lifestyle, and that's why he went back. Why do people look back? Well, because they missed their old lifestyle. Go to Luke chapter 17, if you will. Luke chapter 17, why do people look back? Because their possessions possess them. That's why. Number two is because their possessions actually possess them. That's why. You know, what's funny is like, possessions are things that we own, but sometimes people allow the things that they own, own them, you know? And they'll do whatever it takes to have more and more and more. Or they just miss the things that they used to do, the things that they used to have. Look what it says in Luke 17, verse 30. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. This is referring to the rapture. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away. And he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. So he's saying, look, when the abomination of desolation is set up, run. Leave everything behind. Don't look back. Verse 32, remember Lot's wife? That's all he had to say. He didn't have to expound on the story of Lot's wife because everyone knew what happened to Lot's wife. He's like, hey, don't go back to take your stuff. Remember Lot's wife? Pillar of salt. So what is this leading us to believe about Lot's wife? Why does she look back to Sodom and Gomorrah? Because she missed those possessions. She missed her lifestyle there. She missed what she had in Sodom and Gomorrah. She missed the fags and the queers. I don't know how you can do that. She missed her neighbors. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. Don't let things have you guys. Amen. You know, we oughta use this world as not abusing it. We oughta make sure that we use our possessions for the things of God, and I'm not even saying that you can't use things for pleasure, right? We could use things for pleasure and comfort and to get away or whatever it is, but you know what, those things should not have us. And we should be ready to kiss those things goodbye at the drop of a hat. You know, kiss your money goodbye at the drop of a hat. I was given a $100 gift card, like a Visa gift card while we were in Texas. I was like, oh man, cool. You know, so we went out to eat, and then in the hustle and bustle of traveling, I lost it. I told my wife, I was like, man, there goes the $100 gift card. Like, oh. It was nice to be using it while we had it, but it's like, I thought I left it in the rental, so I was thinking to myself, man, the person who cleaned that rental, they got a nice tip. And in fact, I actually told the guy, like I actually left a couple bucks there because we kind of left it messy. You know what I mean, we weren't good stewards of the vehicle, but we had to catch our flight. And I say, hey, I put a couple bucks there because it's a mess, and I'm really sorry about that. He's like, oh no, thanks, thanks. And I'm thinking to myself, man, he got a nice fat tip. And I told my wife, I was like, well, just kiss it goodbye, you know? God, give it the Lord, take it, bless and be the name of the Lord, you know? So what I did was I just forgot about it, just left it. And then today, I'm putting it on my suit coat, and lo and behold, I pull out the, oh, it's right here, sweet! You know, and I told my wife, I say, see, we just gotta be ready to kiss things goodbye, and it's almost as if God's teaching us something like, all right, here you go. Now, sure enough, I'm gonna lose it today again, okay? But if I lose it today again, guess what? I'll kiss it goodbye. Money comes, money goes. Possessions come, possessions go. And let me just remind you, you're not taking any of it with you. So you might as well just use it so it can be used no more. That's why our van looks the way it looks. That's why it runs the way it runs, because I'm just gonna crash that thing to the ground. Run that, not crash it, I'm gonna run it to the ground. Because I'm using it, okay? Don't let possessions have you. You know, when possessions have you, you just grow anxious, you're unsettled, you can't think about the word of God, you can't think about the things of God, because you're so temporal-minded, okay? Now look, if my vehicle gets stolen, that's stressful. It's like, man, ah, these idiots. You know, when they stole our van. But you know what? My life is not, the joy of my life is not determined based upon whether I keep my van or not. My joy stems from God. My joy stems from the word of God. My joy stems from coming to church, being with God's people. This is the source of my joy. My joy comes from watching my children grow, from, you know, fellowshipping with my wife. This is the source of my joy, not possessions, okay? Go to Hebrews chapter 12, and this is the last portion of the scripture, the last point. Why do people look back? They look back because they missed their old lifestyle. They look back because possessions have them, they possess them. Last thing, number three, they look back, and this is the most basic one, because they're not looking forward. You know, we're not chameleons here, where you can look back and look forward. People often look back because they simply took their eyes off of the path. They're not looking forward. I'm gonna read to you from Philippians chapter three, verse 13, it says, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Proverbs 4.25 says, Let thine eyes look right on, let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left, remove thy foot from evil. You know, those who plow physically are actually encouraged to focus on a specific point in the distance in order to keep them straight. So they're actually encouraged to look at something way off in the distance and just focus on that, because that'll keep your lines straight. Can we see the spiritual application there? Look what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, verse one. Wherefore seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is before us, looking unto who? Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. So what is he saying? Look, look unto Jesus, just as Jesus looked to the joy that was set before him. So if he's saying that he looked to the joy that was set before him, what is he stating? Jesus is our joy. So we ought to look to the joy that is set before us, which is Jesus, okay? That should be our focus point. And look, if you just focus on the Lord, you just focus on him, you think upon him, you serve him, you can't go wrong. Look at verse three, for consider him that endured such contradictions of sinners against himself, lest he be wearied and faint in your minds. What is he saying? Lest you not fit for the kingdom of God. If you're wearied, you faint in your minds, it's because you're not focusing on the Lord. Here's the thing, folks. When we're plowing in this life, it gets tiring. You can grow weary. You can grow tired, discouraged, but you know what, if you just look on Jesus, he can renew your strength. He can help you get past today. He can help you get past this week. But you know what, if you're constantly looking back, you're gonna veer off, okay? One of my favorite songs when I first got saved, you know, is, I think it's, I will follow Jesus, right? Where it talks about the world behind me, the cross before me, the world behind me, the cross before me, the world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back, no turning back. You know what I guarantee you that you just won't turn back? Just gotta look at the cross before you. Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. It doesn't take a whole lot to be fit for the kingdom of God. It just takes these basic principles right here to help us to understand, you know, I'm not a perfect Christian, but I'm just gonna keep plowing going forward, and I'm just gonna focus on the Lord. I'm not gonna look back. There's nothing for me back there. And look, folks, there's nothing for us in the past. Don't turn back. Hey, don't no one join you? Don't no one join me? Still I will follow. Well, you know, I don't have my family with me. I don't have my siblings with me. I don't have my parents with me. You know, I don't have my friends, people who I used to know. They all forsook me. Well, you know what? Don't no one join you? Still follow. No turning back. No turning back. Be fit for the kingdom of God. He that put his hands to the plow looking back does not. Amen? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. And thank you for so many saints in times past who have plowed the fields that we're plowing today. And Lord, they're a testament that they didn't look back through difficulty, through betrayal, through tribulation and trials. They kept going forward because they looked unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Help us to do the same. And Lord, you know, I'd be lying if I didn't say that sometimes the old life doesn't call back to me or I'm reminded of certain things. But Lord, you help me to stay on track by just keep looking forward, creating a reason to stay in the will of God, whether that's a wife, that's children, that's people, that's souls. It's seeking first the kingdom of God. And I pray, God, that you'd help us to continue to do so. Help us to serve you all the days of our life and help us to be spiritually fit to plow the fields for the kingdom of God's sake. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen, song number 19, there is a fountain, song number 19.