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In 1st Kings chapter 3, so keep your place there. We're gonna be using this story In the Bible for our sermon this evening So this is the story of course 1st Kings chapter 3 about how Solomon, you know got to be so smart You know, how did it where did he get all his wisdom and I think there's a lot we can learn From this story. That's what we're gonna look at this morning as far as you know I mean sometimes I think you know as we as I preach so many sermons I was just I was pondering on this the last couple of weeks and I was thinking you know We talk about a lot of doctrine here, you know, we we really dig into the Bible especially Wednesday nights We really we go verse by verse through chapters in the Bible and we look at every single thing that the Bible has To tell us there, you know doctrine heavy heavy stuff, right? I mean just the the depth of Galatians we've looked at throughout the last few weeks, you know heavy stuff basic stuff We reinforced the gospel here, you know, that's Galatians, right? It was reinforcing the gospel here you had teaching brought into a church that was perverting the gospel and you know Paul is just Reinforcing the gospel throughout Galatians using the Old Testament proving that the gospel has never changed Why would we change it now? It didn't change after Jesus came It was always the same even with the Gospel of Abraham. We preach on all this stuff here We preach against sin here, you know We preach against things that you know, you probably won't hear it a lot of other churches in the Bible We preach against it. We preach against the way the world is going Here, I mean we I mean we talk about you know where we should be Holding when the world is, you know, just heading in the complete wrong direction But I think you know as we look at first Kings chapter 3 this morning, you know the topic I think we need to talk more about is you know our walk with the Lord You know who is God, you know, who is God and how does he respond to us? How are we supposed to respond to him? You know, what what's first second and third, you know? How is God gonna respond to us in our lives? I mean we understand we aren't saved by works But you know our walk with God is very important essentially You're all you know, hopefully you're all saved this morning But essentially, you know you're saved but you still have free will in your life Just like you had free will before you were saved. You still have free will as after you're saved Okay, you know, I mean look We're all saved believers here. Hopefully we're saved by the fact that we have trusted in Jesus Christ Saved sealed. That's it. There's nothing that's ever gonna change that but look We can do whatever we want in our lives And many Christians do just that they get saved they take that salvation and they do nothing in their lives for the Lord and They they feel like they can just go and do whatever they want in their lives They can and not be unsaved. But I mean Then those same people however And this is why I want to get to the story in 1st Kings chapter 3 those same people that get saved By nothing by their works, you know, just by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ those same people They live a life of free will however they want and then they're confused About the events in their lives and how these things are playing out Look down at 1st Kings chapter 3 1st Kings chapter 3 And look at verse number 5 the Bible says in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon and to dream by night And God said ask what I shall give thee and Solomon said Thou has showed showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and an uprightness of heart with thee And thou has kept him from this day kept for him this great kindness that thou has given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day and Now, oh my Lord God thou hast made thy servant King instead of David my father and I am but a little child I know not how to go out or come in. So first of all, we see a great humility by Solomon here he's saying, you know, I I don't know anything He's saying I don't know, you know what I'm supposed to do I'm just a kid, you know Solomon was you know somewhere south of 20 when he became You know King, you know, I don't know. I think he was probably personally probably 12 or 13 or 14 years old He was a teenager and he became king of a kingdom. Think about that All right, think of one of the teenagers in this church run in a nation Scary, right? No, I'm just kidding But I mean, it's a I'd rather have one of the teenagers in this church run in a nation than some other teenager Okay, but look he was humble. He approached the Lord with humility Look at verse number eight and thy servant and is in the midst of thy people Which thou had chosen a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude This is explains what by the way just a side note why you should never do a census on God's people Okay, because you know that the Bible says and God's promises were you know The people will be without number and there'll be a great people and you know by doing a census You're kind of saying is there really that many? You know, are they really that great look at verse number nine. So that's how David got in so much trouble It was a lack of faith in God and here you see that Solomon just has that great faith He just says I know these people are great and I know they're without number look at verse number nine Give thy servant therefore an understanding heart To judge thy people that I may discern between good and bad for who is able to judge this so great people so look Verse number 10 says the speech pleased the Lord It's it pleased the Lord essentially Solomon here did the right thing, you know, he was humble first He looked at the job in front of him and he said he said who am I? He said who am I to do this job turn to 1st Peter chapter 5, so he said, you know, I'm just a kid I don't know what I'm doing. You know, who am I to do this great job? I mean my my father you've obviously blessed my father by keeping the kingdom, you know with his son, but I mean Please help me figure out how to judge these people how to rule these people look at 1st Peter chapter 5 in verse number 6 The Bible says humble yourself there under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time in James chapter 4 I'll just read it for you verse number 6 the Bible says but he giveth more grace Wherefore he said God resisteth the proud but giveth grace Unto the humble so God first of all God responds to humility in our lives Solomon act asked what really Solomon did was he asked for something and this is what pleased God so much He asked for something that would benefit the people instead of himself He asked for something that was you know for the nation that he was going to be ruling and You know what probably most people would ask for which was you know things for himself turn to Proverbs chapter 28 Essentially what Solomon did here was he proved himself faithful in this moment To God look at Proverbs chapter 28 Proverbs chapter 28 look down at verse number 20 Proverbs chapter 28 look at verse number 20 right in the center of your Bible just past Psalms You'll find the book of Proverbs look at verse number 20 the Bible here says a faithful man shall abound with blessings But he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent look. This is Solomon right here. Okay. This is Solomon Solomon proved himself Faithful, but the opposite of this you know Proverbs is opposites, right? It's saying if you do this this will happen, but if you don't this will happen so in this verse the Bible is saying a Faithful man will abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste he that look he that's just looking for something for himself You know shall not be innocent so the opposite of being faithful is being self-centered and being focused only on yourself And making yourself rich, which is exactly What pleased the Lord that Solomon didn't do God even mentioned it? He said because you didn't ask for a long life and riches He's like I'm gonna grant you all these things So look the the point. I'm trying to make this morning is a simple one Okay, do you feel confused at times in your life? I'm sure many of you. Do are you are you confused on why God is not moving in your life? If this is you if things are not going the way that you plan them to go I mean look as a saved Christian you need to understand this simple Point and look it's it's a shame if you don't understand this Solomon look here's the point. I'm trying to make this morning Solomon was faithful first He was faithful first and then God responded Okay look I mean It's it's it's not a chicken or an egg It's it's faithful first and then God responds. That's how God works That's the whole point of what I want to try to get across This morning and you say well, how can I be faithful if I'm not in a place? Where you know God, you know where I want to be. How could I be faithful? Well exactly That's exactly what you need to do Solomon was not ready to be king here It's important that he recognized that he had nothing that he needed to be king He was just a kid. He was just a kid turn to Luke chapter 16 He was just a kid and he was about to to rule a nation Think about that Look at Luke chapter 16 in verse number 10 This morning I'm telling you let me just apply this story to all of your lives this morning this morning I'm telling you that if you want to have a successful walk with the Lord in your life, you need to be faithful first Look at Luke chapter 16 in verse number 10 the Bible says he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much and He that is unjust in the least is unjust Also in much you say I don't have to be I don't have I just don't have much to be faithful over right now Exactly You say I don't know I don't really have anything to be you know, look if you're faithful in your walk with the Lord You know, look turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Let's just talk about being faithful to the things of God Let's talk about being faithful to God in your life. I Mean, are you faithful with your walk with the Lord? Are you proving yourself to be faithful? Look at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25. We talked about this verse a lot This is a verse that people today. It seems don't want to you know, they just kind of want to delete it from the Bible the Bible says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but Exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching look the Bible says that you should go to church That's what this is saying. I Mean it is one of the most clear clear commands in the Bible It's ironic that we go out every single week soloing and You know one thing that we're finding is that just not a lot of people go to church anymore They just don't go anymore It's just changed You know people don't go to church. It's just I mean, it's rare to find someone that goes to church now It's weird. I Mean he used to be able to find people they go to different churches. They go to false churches, whatever, but I mean, it's rare It's rare to find people just in general I mean if you find somebody today out soloing that says yes I go to this church and I'm going every week or whatever. That's that's strange Today, I actually can't remember the last time that I found somebody that regularly goes to church out soloing But let's look at ourselves here this morning. Are you faithful to the house of God? You know people look people ask me all the time one of the you know I don't really like people asking me this but it's just it's one of those things as a satellite leader That when you visit other places people, you know what the one thing people ask First how many people are going to your church? How many people are going to your church? That's what everybody wants to know and I'll be honest with you. I have no idea It's either 30 or 60. It depends You know what I'm saying? I mean, I don't know first of all, I don't really It's not a metric that I really care too much about because God will grow the church But I mean personally, you know, I don't really know how many people come to church here because it all depends on the week. I Mean do you look for an excuse to not go to church? I Mean that the first question is if you do the question is why? The question is why is going to church here's a better here's a better way to put the question is going to church every Sunday Or Wednesday a decision that you make every week That's the question Do you decide you know? Well, are we going to church today? Look I'm telling you right now. It's not one that I make That is not a decision that I mean, I have some decisions that I make during the week That is not one of them and you all look you all should be glad for that It's not just a decision I mean no matter the week or the circumstance we just go to church That's it. And you say of course, you're the preacher Of course, you're the preacher, of course You don't make the decision But look here's the thing as far as me and not making that decision my decision list for the week That's not on it. But you know what? It's not because I'm the preacher That has nothing to do with it It is not because I mean the reason is because I am gonna be faithful first in my life That's why I am going to serve God no matter what in my life I will be at this house when the doors are open rain or shine even though it never rains here. I Mean, that's just it. I mean look there is you say here. Let me give you a story before I was the preacher here We were going to church It was actually a few months before we left to move to Fresno and we had a situation where in our family One of our kids was going through like a medical condition that made it very difficult to be in church But you know my thinking was and and I Trying to I was talking to my wife about it this morning. We never said like should we go to church or not? We're like we really need to go to church now It's a completely different attitude. It's a completely different mindset. It's completely different heart where you're like, you know I really need to be faithful right now Because I need some help right now And I know look I know how God works. I need to be faithful first Look I'm not talking about salvation. I'm not talking about this. I'm talking about my walk with the Lord I mean, I mean I need some help. I Need some help right now and the first person I'm gonna walk away from is the one person that can help me I mean what in the world? I don't understand this attitude that people have I Really? I mean I look I don't get it That's why this sermon say why the sermon this is why because I don't understand Help me understand. No, I do understand. I don't want to understand but the problem is it's a it's a mindset It's really a hard issue if coming to church or you know, walking with the Lord is the decision that you make on a daily basis You know, there's a problem there You say this is a this is a basic message. Well, why could we have 60 people here this morning or 28? Why I Mean here's here's the answer. It's because some of you make this decision every single week Some of you make this decision every Sunday and every Wednesday, I mean, you know, some of you quite frankly are visitors You know, that's kind of how I look at it If you make a decision every single week on whether or not to come to church, you're a visitor I mean personally, I'm glad you're all here whenever you're here. Don't get me wrong I mean, I'm glad to see but the point is if they you can't make time for God And not only it's not only just church. It's in your life in general It's in your life in general, you know if you can't you know make time to pray You can't make time to pray, you know on a daily basis with the Lord and then you're gonna pray You know when there's an emergency that pops up. I mean look you haven't been faithful first. I Mean these are things look and I'm talking about these things, you know your church life your prayer life your Bible reading life You know just spending time with God every single day and every single week These are things here's the thing about these things. These are things you can do no matter what's going on in your life These are things that you could be going through the most difficult times. Well, if that was a difficult time for us and You can be faithful Like it doesn't look all those things. I mean if you can't make time for God What makes you think God's gonna make time for you? I Mean Solomon look Solomon moved first and then God responded to him But think of it this way turn to Isaiah chapter 1 Think of it this way. It's how God how God moves in your life is an if-then statement It's an if-then statement and it's actually it's in the Bible. It's right here. Look at Isaiah chapter 1 and look at verse number 19 God promises look God promises a lot of things in the Bible Okay He promises you salvation if you believe on and trust in his son Look all the other promises are an if-then statement if you do this, then I will do this all the other promises other than your salvation is An if-then statement if you do this, I will move look at Isaiah chapter 1 in verse number 19 Even how he dealt with the entire nation of Israel The entire Old Testament is an if-then statement on the nation of Israel Look at Isaiah chapter 1 in verse 19 And this is I mean there I could throw out 200 verses like this if ye be willing if ye be willing and obedient Ye shall eat the good of the land But if you refuse and rebel you shall be devoured with the sword for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it Look, this is how God deals with nations right here if you follow me and love me then I Will do these things and I will bless you as a nation and all these things look God deals with nations exclusively on this level right here That's why you know like I mean even like you look at the nation of Israel these people that just believe that the nation of Israel like today is just gonna be blessed no matter what I mean, you're just like what? Are you not reading the Bible? The nation of Israel in the Old Testament wasn't blessed no matter what they were judged many many times. I Mean our nation I mean this I mean this idea that like All we have to do is just agree with everything Israel today does and we're gonna be blessed. I Mean think about this for a second. Here's just a thought experiment for you. Have we been blessed since 1948 as a nation? Think about this if you could have a time machine and go back in the United States of America in 1948 1949 1950 would it be a better country there morally? Than it is today or would it be worse What somebody from if you could transport somebody from the 50s into today they would freak out They would go crazy. I Mean they would be like what in the world is going on here To say that our nation has been blessed for the last 50 60 70 years boy. Is that a stretch? But look that that aside Maybe you think you know personally let's go back to you personally, maybe you think That you know, you've got this thing on your own, you know, you need God. I mean, I guess that's one way to go You know, I guess that's one way to go But what I'm trying to get you to understand this morning is this idea that we see in first Kings chapter 3 with Solomon This is a methodology Okay, this is a methodology and you know, here's another way we can tell that it's of God because it's written It's written in our hearts because men look I'm telling you men whether they be saved or unsaved All men follow this methodology you say what are you talking about? Look it works everywhere It works everywhere kids. It works with you, right kids Do you want favor from your parents if you're just a disobedient child, you never listen to your parents, you know You're not gonna get much favor from your parents But as a child if you prove yourself obedient you prove yourself faithful Look now you're gonna start having you know, some favor your parents are gonna start moving in your direction I mean it works with children. I mean it works. It works in your work life It works at your job. Think about this. I mean look everybody in your work life is not saved This is how you know that it's just in the conscience of man this idea. This is why starting a new job is tough But getting the job is easy Starting a new job is very difficult Why because of this methodology that we're talking about because I mean it's all about you performing At that point you start a new job. Nobody knows nobody knows who you are Nobody knows what you can do what you can't do whether you're gonna show up or not The resumes and the interviews and all that stuff. It's all fake once you get the job It doesn't matter at that point at that point. They're just looking at you know, hey, you know What is this guy actually about we know what he said he's about what's he actually gonna do now look at a new job It's difficult starting a new job because you have to prove yourself faithful first You have to prove yourself faithful first and look and here's the thing you're under the microscope for those first few months I Mean until you prove yourself Until you prove yourself faithful Then look then come the rewards Right then comes the response From the boss or the company or whatever they added responsibility, right? I mean look at here's the thing if you're not given more. I mean you hear this all the time You know, I've heard it from several people here and other places if you're not given more responsibility. It's your job The problem is you The problem is that you've not proved yourself faithful first. How do I know this? I know this because look a boss would love to have Somebody just take over everything and do everything for him. He could just go golfing and fishing all the time but the problem is the problem that you have with you know business owners or Bosses or whatever is that they don't have anybody that's faithful that can be trusted They can be they can give those things too So the thing is I mean you look at the front of your bulletin The Bible there is telling you that you first have to be proven faithful in the small things and Once you're proven faithful in the small things look, here's the thing. They don't want you wrecking something big God's the same way God's the same way. They don't want you wrecking something big So if you've ever wondered why aren't they giving me more responsibility here? Look the question that you should be asking is You're asking the wrong questions you should be asking. What do I need to work on? What do I need to get better at? Where do you think that? You know, I'm struggling, you know and after this after this and after you fix those things will come the new responsibilities Will come that the more the bigger things that you're gonna become You know get to be faithful at and and then here comes the skills that you're gonna learn Here comes the raises and the promotions and all these things, but you first have to prove yourself faithful And it starts with the small things Turn to Proverbs chapter 31 Proverbs chapter 31 Ladies You say all right give you're really giving it to the guys this morning Well, I mean, it's no different for the ladies. The methodology is all the same Proverbs 31 11 look what the Bible says The Bible says of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 11 the heart of her husband husband does safely trust in her so that so that he shall have No need of spoil Why does this man trust his wife? I Mean think about this. Here's a guy. Here's a guy that he's off doing whatever he's got to do during the day He's running his business. He's working whatever and his his wife this virtuous woman is at home And she's doing all these things in Proverbs chapter 31. I just gave it away right there. She's doing on look He doesn't trust in her because she's good-looking He doesn't trust in her because you know, she wears certain clothes or whatever. He trusts in her because of the things that she does He trusts in her because of the very next verse says she will do him good and Then it just goes off into all the details of all the things that she does and that's how he trusts her But she's proven herself faithful, but she was faithful first and then he trusted her. I Mean does your husband trust you? Does he know that when he leaves? Everything is taken care of does he know that that the school is Gonna run for the kids that the home that the plan that he has and you've worked out together With your family is gonna run like a clock Does he know that look my wife was gone this week and boy was there a missing piece You know, I mean we tried not to touch anything in the house and we tried not to I mean It just all fell apart within just a matter of two or three days It's to the point where it's like we got to go camping. We got to get out of here But here's the thing your husband wants to trust in you there is no better feeling There's no better feeling and I've had this feeling for years and I'm so thankful for it There's no better feeling than just knowing that whatever look whatever I have to deal with out in the world Whatever I'm dealing with at work Whatever I'm dealing with with with people or problems or whatever. I just know that everything's taken care of at home There I mean if there's a better feeling in the world, I don't know Because I mean just just having that piece because that look that's the important thing That's the important thing whatever I'm doing to try to wrangle a paycheck every single week There's nothing more important than knowing that the kids are taken care of the knowing that the house is taken care of the knowing that The kids are getting an education. They're getting a biblical worldview instilled in them So they'll be able to deal with this garbage when they grow old and they'll go in the way that they're supposed to go there's nothing more important than that and That's why that feeling is so important that's why that husband he safely trusts in her He safely trusts in her and he has no need of Spoil if I had to take I mean I would need spoil in like another week because I mean we were dying there Trying to take care of ourselves and baby. Look it's the next generation is dependent on it The next generation is dependent on Proverbs 31 The next generation is dependent on these kids being trained up properly And as Deuteronomy chapter 6 says it's an all-day process It's when they rise up in the morning to when they go to bed at night. That's what it takes But this woman Proved herself faithful first and that's why her husband trusted in her So does your husband I mean does he know that when he leaves Everything is taken care of does he know that you know, look he wants that feeling I guarantee it He wants that feeling So you say you say, you know, I see what you're saying but you know things aren't working out in my life in general You know, I don't like you know, look this sermon is why I? I Mean you think that I mean look God can do anything that he wants for you in your life I used to be this type of person before I was saved when people would say well the Lord's just leading me in this direction And the Lord's just doing this I'd kind of roll my eyes at those people I mean that wasn't even saved at the time, but I was like, you know what God's not really involved in this thing I used to think this way when I was younger, but it's not the case God can move anything in your favor that he wants. This is not a prosperity message This is a point that look if if you're trying to try it would just try to do what you're supposed to do first Try I mean try being obedient and faithful for more than five minutes in a row in your life And then and then look maybe God will move in your life But look it takes more than five minutes it takes more than five days You see, you know you say I want God to move first I mean you you see people you're they must think that They must think that that they just want God to move first in their life You say I just want I want God to do this for me. And then when God does this for me, then I'll do this Well, you know, here's the thing. You're a spoiled brat You Know just like it would just be like a child saying that a child that comes up to their to their dad and and you Know they're just like, you know, dad I want the keys to the car and I want to go drive around and every single time that they've been given the keys in The past they wrecked the car And they're like, well just give me the keys and let me just no no no you prove you can drive First you prove that you can you can be faithful first There's no reason that I mean you're spoiled brat if that's the case I Never obeys his parents and Expects his parents just to give him, you know, look they have zero trust in a child like that. That's the problem And what are we entrusted with think about this? What are we entrusted with aren't we entrusted with? I mean think about like a parent trusting their child with something or a business owner Trusting, you know their their employee with something, you know business owner Just putting his most irresponsible employee in charge of the operations day to day of a really important business Think about that I mean think about this guy that like maybe has like a shipping business where things are just coming in and out constantly and if things get messed up things go to the wrong place and it'll literally where like the customers like the trust the Trust is super important And if they if they wreck things one time with a customer Then the business will just go south immediately think about a business like that and then just taking the most irresponsible Employee and putting them in charge of the business and just going golfing Or whatever. It would be a disaster. You know what the most important business God has on earth. Is this local church? The most important I mean you are part of you are part of the most important local business that God has on earth And what are we entrusted with? We're entrusted with the gospel getting it out to Fresno getting it out to the outer parts getting it out to everywhere That's what we're entrusted with So you think you know, you think that you know, God's just gonna take like some irresponsible, you know party I mean look that's why there's all these qualifications for the ministry. First of all, I Mean you can't just take the most irresponsible person that shows up to the business once every month and be like, hey You want to run the place? This is God's most important business I mean number one, you know It's tough to be one foot in in a church like this. I get it But the reason for it is because it's the most focused thing that God has here It is our responsibility to I mean look 99% of the people out there. Okay, you're an optimist 98% of the people out there are going to hell and It's our job to preach the truth. Look it's it's the truth of it And if people don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ if people don't get the truth When there's plenty of people spreading a false truth Spreading lies out there. That's the business of this church so I mean if you can't take the most important thing that God has seriously, I mean It's his business It's his business if you can't be trusted I mean with the most important that he'll never give you more But think about it think about the the main look this I mean My wife and I were talking about this on the phone earlier, but you're this last week But it's just I just want to be able to do something with the short time that I have on this earth And it's sad to see people even saved people that you know, just they're just not going to use their time They're just they're gonna take that salvation. They're not going to use That time and you know They're just gonna waste it all But the Bible talks about especially James chapter 2 in other places in the Bible about how you'll profit No one other people are gonna suffer for that You'll still get your salvation, but other people are gonna suffer for that go back to first Kings chapter 3 Go back to first Kings chapter 3 Look at verse number 11 of first Kings chapter 3 Look I fear I fear that some people you know, this is I mean, is this a complicated message this morning? But I just fear that some people are just never gonna learn this and that's why I thought maybe I need to I need to Hit this this morning, but look don't be that guy Because if you can prove yourself faithful in your life in your Christian walk God will respond to You for sure look down at verse number 11 and look what God says to Solomon. He says and God said unto him Because thou has asked this thing and not asked for thyself a long life neither asked I asked riches for thyself There's Proverbs chapter 28 right there nor has asked the life of thine enemies But I've asked for the thyself understanding to discern judgment behold I have done according to thy works and lo I have given thee a wise and understanding heart So that there is none like thee before thee neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee and I've also given thee that which hath not thou had thou hast not asked both riches and Honor so that there shall be not any among the Kings like unto thee all thy days and if thou shalt walk Thou will walk in my ways now right back into the if then statement To keep my statutes and my commandments as as thy father David did walk I will lengthen thy days So he gives them everything. He's like I'm gonna give you wisdom and judgment that no one's ever seen before That's how God can move. He moved more than anyone had ever seen God move in this area before to this point Then he tells him, you know, you didn't ask for a long life But look, I'm gonna give you that too as long as you do these things You keep these statutes and then look here's the thing and then no, here's the thing after you prove that yourself faithful God will move in your life But then you have to continue in the Lord. You're like, oh, man Right, not only do you have to prove yourself faithful get moving God will move with you and then you have to continue through that that's where Solomon fell short And that's where many people fall short. You're like this sounds like a lot of work. It is a lot of work It is a lot of work It's not a lot of work to get to heaven that's free but walking with God because you know proving yourself faithful to the God that saved you and Then walking an entire life. Look most people failed at it in the Bible Most people look I mean I did a chart one time of the Kings that started out good and ended good It's like it's like 4% of them You had a lot of them that started out well But most of them ended bad doesn't mean that they weren't saved or that they didn't go to heaven but look the point is I mean Continuing your whole life is a lot of work You get saved you're like, oh man, this is great. It's all new but you know You're gonna get to a point in your life We're a walk with God and soul winning and preaching the gospel and having people not want to hear it slam doors in your face All this is gonna seem like it's gonna seem like work at times You're like the church is fun. I know I can't imagine why people don't like to come to church. I love it I can't even remember the last time that I was like, ah church. I mean what in the world? It's a hard issue. I Mean this was like the perfect weekend. It's like fishing on Saturday camping and then church on Sunday. It's like boom It's like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae But here's the thing a Walk a walk with the Lord throughout your life is labor and it's gonna feel that way at times and that's normal But you have to just make that decision that you're gonna do it because God gives Solomon he moves for Solomon He moves here and he just gives him everything right away, but Solomon didn't continue That's why we have the book of Ecclesiastes Is because Solomon didn't continue in his life We you know, he continued for a while and then he just fell off the cliff and then he gives us the book of Ecclesiastes Saying don't waste your whole life Because that will be what you will look back at You know as Solomon did at the end of his life and you'll say you know what? I took this salvation and Look at all the things that God did for me And I wasted the whole thing You know that the water your life is like a glass of water being poured on the ground Your life is like a vapor The little time that you have here and you could waste you could waste it all You can waste it all so look You have to be faithful first If you're wondering why things aren't going the way that you think that they're going try just being faithful first Try it Try being faithful in the things of the Lord try being faithful with everything that the Bible everything that we preach here Try being faithful in those things tell yourself. You know what if it's in the Bible, I'm just gonna do it I don't want to do it, but I'm gonna do it because it's in the Bible and see what happens Watch God move in your life You know, this isn't I mean this isn't you know a prosperity gospel this is just how God works right here Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer