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

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Go ahead and take out your hymnal and turn to song number 415, Victory Through Grace. Song number 415, Victory Through Grace. Let's make sure we sing nice and loud. Let the Lord hear your voice. Song number 415 altogether. And still to conquer, right at the king in his mind. Leading the host of all the faithful into the midst of the fight. See them with courage advancing, clad in their brilliant array. Shouting the name of their leader, hear them exultingly say. Not to the strong is the battle, not to the swift is the race. Yet to the true and the faithful, victory is promised through grace. Conquering now and still to conquer, who is this wonderful king? Whence are the armies which he leadeth, while of his glory they sing. He is our lord and redeemer, savior and monarch divine. They are the stars that forever bright in his kingdom will shine. Not to the strong is the battle, not to the swift is the race. Yet to the true and the faithful, victory is promised through grace. Conquering now and still to conquer, Jesus our ruler of all. Thrones in their sceptres all shall perish, crowns in their splendours shall fall. Yet shall the armies thou leadest, faithful and true to the last. Finding thy mentions eternal, rest when their warfare is past. Not to the strong is the battle, not to the swift is the race. Yet to the true and the faithful, victory is promised through grace. Amen. Good singing. Let's pray this word of prayer. Dear Lord, we just thank you again that we can come here together to hear the preaching of your word. I just pray you bless Pastor Shelley and fill him with your Holy Spirit to edify the people here today. We love you, Lord. Just please continue to bless our church and the so many efforts so we can reach our neighbors, this community and the world with the gospel. We love you, Father, and we pray these things in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Next song is going to be 449 Dwelling in Beulah Land. Song number 449. Song number 449 Dwelling in Beulah Land. Sing it all together at the top. Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling. Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand. Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling. None of these shall move me from Beulah Land. I'm living on the mountain underneath the cloudless sky. Praise God, I'm drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry. Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply, for I am dwelling in Beulah Land. Far below the storm of doubt upon the world is beating. Sons of men in battle long the enemy will stand. Safe am I within the castle of God's word retreating. Nothing then can reach me. Tis Beulah Land. I'm living on the mountain underneath the cloudless sky. Praise God, I'm thinking at the mountain that never shall run dry. Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply, for I am dwelling in Beulah Land. Let the stormy breezes blow there. Cry cannot alarm me. I am safely sheltered here, protected by God's hand. Here the sun is always shining, here there's naught can harm me. I am safe forever in Beulah Land. I'm living on the mountain underneath the cloudless sky. Praise God, I'm drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry. Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply, for I am dwelling in Beulah Land. Viewing here the works of God I sink in contemplation. Hearing now His blessed voice I see the way He planned. Dwelling in the Spirit here I learn of full salvation. Gladly will I tarry in Beulah Land. I'm living on the mountain underneath the cloudless sky. Praise God, I'm drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry. Oh yes, I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply, for I am dwelling in Beulah Land. At our midweek service can receive either ice cream or a couple pieces of candy. On the inside we have our service and soul winning times as well as our church stats. I'm going to get a count for any soul winning numbers to be reported for the last few days. Was there anything from Thursday? Anything from this past Thursday by chance? Okay, what about Friday? Was there anything from Friday? What about Saturday? What about yesterday? Anything from yesterday? Okay, we got one, two, three. Looks like five for Saturday, okay. And then today I know the van had five. What's outside the van? The three looks like we had nine today. Praise the Lord on that. Keep up the great work on soul winning. Also on the right we have our list of expecting ladies. Please keep them in your prayers as well as our prayer list. Other upcoming events, we have August 8th, Brother Deacon Oliver Gonzalez. And we'll be having a luncheon and really be a good week if you want to invite somebody. Maybe we can make some special invites or something. But if you want to invite family or friends, Brother Deacon Oliver is a really good preacher. And we'll be having lunch right after the service here at the property. Also September 11th we have our Shreveport Louisiana Soul Winning Marathon. And then October 6th we have our Firebreathing Baptist Fellowship. And so lots of great activities are planned and coming up. That's pretty much all I have for announcements this evening. Let's go ahead and sing our third song. Brother Duncan is going to lead for us. It's going to be song number 10. Right at the front of your hymnal there. Near the cross. Song number 10. Near the cross, song number 10. Let's sing it all together. Jesus keep me near the cross There a precious fountain Free to all the healing stream Flows from Calvary's mountain In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river Near the cross, a trembling soul Love and mercy found me There the bright and morning star Sheds its beams around me In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river Near the cross, O Lamb of God Bring its scenes before me Help me walk from day to day With its shadows o'er me In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river Near the cross, I'll watch and wait Hoping, trusting ever Till I reach the golden strand Just beyond the river In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river Amen. Great singing. As the offering plates are being passed around, please turn your Bibles to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. John chapter 6, the Bible reads, After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up to a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that were set down, and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that profit that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. And when even was now come, his disciples went down into the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum, and it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I, be not afraid. Then they willingly received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other both there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone. Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberius nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks. When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. They said therefore unto him, What sign showest thou then, that we may see and believe thee? What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert. As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father gave you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me, draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God, every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How could this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. These things said he in a synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying, who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, That this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the Spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believe not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, That no man can come unto me except that were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this chapter and for our church and our pastor. I pray that you fill him with your spirit now and help him to deliver his message for us. Help us, Lord, to really pay close attention to it as well so we can apply it to our lives. We pray that you protect our church and continue to help us serve you to the best of our ability. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Amen. Let's look back at the Bible where it says in verse number 67, Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Now this is an interesting question that Jesus Christ asked to his disciples. And that's really what I'm getting the title of my sermon from is this verse here. It says, Will ye also go away? Now in the context of this chapter, Jesus Christ is preaching about how he is the bread that came down from heaven. How he really is the son of man. He's the son of God. And essentially, if you take what he's saying here as far as spiritually understanding it, you have to accept that Jesus Christ is God. You have to accept that he's the son of God. You have to accept that he's eternal life. You have to accept that salvation is only through him. I mean that's what he's really teaching and a lot of people were greatly offended at this teaching. They were greatly perturbed or they didn't want to understand it or they didn't want to believe it. And so a lot of people have left and this is kind of after a big high. Because if you think about the ministry of Jesus Christ, they're going around preaching and as Jesus Christ is preaching, they're gaining a following. A large following and large multitudes and all these people are coming. And sometimes it can be really exciting when you're around a lot of other people. Just the energy and the fellowship and all of these people are excited about Christ. But then Christ ends up preaching and guess what happens? The energy drains really quick because most of the people can't handle the preaching and they leave. They end up despising the doctrine of Jesus Christ. They don't want to believe in Jesus Christ. They don't like the things that he said. And because of this, they are just leaving in droves. And when Jesus Christ looks at his disciples, they're basically asking him, Don't you realize you're running everybody off? Don't you realize that what you said offended a lot of different people? And Christ isn't concerned with that at all. He doesn't say, Oh man, I better change my preaching. Oh man, I better not preach the truth here. No, he says, Will ye also go away? And really this is a question that you have to ask yourself is this, What if 90% of our church just decided to leave all of a sudden? Will ye also go away? And you know, when it comes to church growth, I mean, here's the thing. Churches' growth ebb and flow. I mean, there's going to be times where it grows, where it contracts, where it can split, where it can just boom. And the reality is, I think a lot of people, they base their church decision on growth. Like, they want to go to a church that's growing. Or they want to go to a church where there's that exciting energy or whatever. Whereas here, we see the exact opposite, don't we? We see it going from thousands back down to disciples again. I mean, basically a huge shrinkage in the church. But I really like Simon Peter's answer. He says, Lord, to whom shall we go? He's saying, well, you know, yeah, it's kind of frustrating that all these people quit. Yeah, it's frustrating a lot of people decided not to continue with Jesus Christ here. But at the end of the day, it's not like there's a better place to go. It's not like there's a better church. It's not like there's a better minister here. I mean, we're here with Christ. I mean, we're here with the living God. So, you know, he has the right perspective. He has the right attitude of saying, It doesn't matter who's with me as long as I'm with Christ. It doesn't matter who's with me as long as I'm with Christ. And, you know, a lot of people, they base the decisions of their life on who they're around rather than if they're with Christ. And so I want to go through a lot of different passages. Go to Psalms chapter number 12, Psalms chapter number 12. Now, when it comes to our church specifically, you know, it's really easy to preach a sermon like this right now because we constantly are growing. I mean, we constantly have new people being added to the church and we've been breaking attendance records. And, you know, even though every church loses people, and we've lost people. You know, you lose people, all kinds of different things. But, you know, we're also bringing in more than we seem to be losing over the last several months and several years, or the few years that I've been the pastor here. And it's been a very net positive. But here's the thing. We could very easily go through a season where it's actually just diminishing. Or, you know, a church is actually getting smaller or shrinking. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. You know, you can't base a church, how well a church is doing, or how close a church is to Christ based on the attendance. The attendance really doesn't matter. You know, a church could be growing for the right reasons. It could be growing for the wrong reasons. A church could be shrinking for the wrong reasons. It could be shrinking for the right reasons. So it's really something that's kind of petty and carnal. And what I've noticed is some people, depending on the numbers in the church, could have completely different reactions if history was rewritten. And I'll say it this way. If you're going to church and all of a sudden there's 30 people, like you're going to a church and there's 30 of you, right? And that's just how church is. Every week, 30 people, 30 people, 30 people. Then all of a sudden next week you have 60. You'd be pretty excited about that. You'd be like, man, this is great, right? But if you're going to church and let's say you have 120 people and it's 120, 120, 120, and all of a sudden it's 60, then you'd be like, oh man, what happened? But in that scenario, both churches are running 60. But isn't it interesting that the history of that, the reason why it's running 60, somehow has this mental effect on how you're feeling about it when it doesn't matter. Because look, if you're with Christ, does it really matter how many people just left? I mean, if I could just drop you into history and you're standing there with Christ, do you really care that thousands of people just walked away? You're with Christ. It doesn't matter if it's just you or if it's you with thousands. It doesn't really matter. And we need to stop worrying about all these carnal things and stop allowing carnal things to basically draw us away from Christ. Because what I've noticed is a lot of people, they get drawn away from Christ because of carnal or petty things like this. Someone leaves and then they want to leave. Or something happens that's negative and then they just want to get out. And I really have three points that I want to draw from the Word of God about why people typically go away. But I just want to first realize that this is going to happen. Even the devil draws a third of the angels away with him, doesn't he? That was a pretty big deficit to the angels in heaven, but here's the thing. They're still in the presence of God. They're still in the presence of Jesus Christ. And wouldn't it be silly to then look at the remaining angels and say, will you also go away? And it's like, to whom shall we go? Are we going to go hang out with the devil? Why would I want to go hang out with the devil? Why would I get drug down with him and be a fallen angel? Hey, I'm sticking around with Christ. And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter who leaves. I'm going to stick with Christ. And I'm not preaching this message to say that leaving steadfast Baptist churches, leaving Christ, I'm really hitting this home and following the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it doesn't matter what church you go to. It's not like there's only one church you can go to in the world. It's not like one church is the way to serve Christ. But there's a lot of people that just walk away from Christ. They walk away from serving the Lord. They stop being a Christian. They stop doing things that are right. And this is a frustrating thing to see people that are in good standing and then go to the point where they're not serving Christ anymore. Where they're basically at a church, not doing that which is right. The Bible teaches that this is a normal phenomena where we see very few people wanting to serve God. And think about it this way. Will you still come to church Sunday night if a lot of Sunday morning don't show up? Hey, will you still go on Wednesday night if a lot of people don't show up on Wednesday night? It's like, well, sure. Who cares who shows up? I'm here. The pastor's here. Someone's going to preach. Someone's going to sing. Hey, we can still have church. It doesn't matter how many people show up, does it? Some people would think, well, I don't want to go Sunday night because a lot of people won't show up. But you could still show up? You could still show up on Wednesday night, right? Why does it matter if other people are going to show up or not? That's a really carnal reason to go to church, isn't it? Isn't the reason you go to church because Christ is there? Aren't you going to church to hear the Bible being preached? And so you shouldn't get discouraged and thinking like, oh, man, some services have more people. Well, you know, when there's more people, it's more uncomfortable. More babies are screaming and crying, you know? I mean, is it really that much better? Some people, in fact, actually love small churches because they feel like they get to know everybody better and they get to know the pastor better or something like that, which, again, it doesn't really matter, though. It's all carnal things. Some people leave a church because it gets too big. Some people leave a church because it's too small. You know, it's like that's a dumb reason to go to church. You should go to the church where Christ is at. Your motivation should be to follow Christ, and we see that very few people are willing to do this today. Look what it says in Psalm 12, verse 1. So when the doctrine gets spicy, when the preaching gets hot, when it's not as popular anymore, we see that a lot of people walk away from Christ. A lot of people stop serving God, and it was very few people that were willing to stick with Jesus Christ all the way to the bitter end, and, in fact, at the timing of his, you know, capture, they were all smitten. You know, the shepherd was smitten, and they were scattered, and no one was with Christ. No one stood with him. They did eventually go away. Now, afterwards, they were restored, and afterwards, they didn't have that problem again. They were willing to be faithful unto death. But you have to understand, it's very hard to find a godly man. It's very hard to find a faithful person that says, I don't care what anybody else is doing, I can be faithful. And at the end of the day, you can only control yourself. You only have power over yourself. So it's important to decide that you're just going to serve God, and it doesn't matter what's going on around you. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are. It doesn't matter what situations you find yourself in. It doesn't matter what's going on in your environment. You just can decide to be steadfast in your heart, and to be faithful on your own. Go to Proverbs 20. Go to Proverbs chapter 20. And a lot of people, they think this, but then when push comes to shove, we really see what they're like. You know, a lot of people think that they're really steadfast, or they think they're unmovable, or they think they're really godly, or they think they're really faithful. But they think that because they've never been tested. They think that because they've never been tried. They think that because they haven't gone through anything hard. They just want to believe that about themselves. And they'll tell you how great they are. But then, when push comes to shove, most people bail. Most people quit on you. Most people fail you. And, you know, that's why it's hard to want to put a lot of confidence in man. And the Bible even teaches you shouldn't put any. Because man will fail you. 99% of the time, you know, people are not faithful. Look what it says in Proverbs 20 verse 6. Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find. So they say, look, I can find a hundred guys that will tell me they'll be faithful, but then actually having a faithful person, that's super hard. I can't even find one. You know, the guy that's going to stick through it thick or thin. Go to Luke chapter number 6, Luke chapter number 6. Now, I have three points this evening that I just want to go through and address. When I see people going away and stop serving Christ, what would be one of the biggest reasons why people stop serving God? What would be one of the biggest reasons why people decide to walk away or they're not going to serve Christ? Well, I think this is one that we find in the Bible. Look at Luke chapter 6 verse 20. He lifted up his eyes on the disciples and said, Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall approach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the son of man's sake. So we have a portion here in Luke chapter number 6 where he's telling people that they're blessed for being poor. They're blessed for being hungry. They're blessed for weeping. And you'd say, well, that seems weird. Who wants to be hungry, weeping, and poor? Isn't that sound about the worst case scenario? What we have to understand is that when you are poor, when you are hungry, and when you are weeping, there is a blessing attached to that. Why? Because when you're poor, you have nothing to lose. When you're hungry, you're going to be searching for something to satisfy that hunger. And you know what? When you're weeping, it's all uphill from there. It's all joy from that point. So it's basically saying you've hit rock bottom, so there's only good things in store for you. You can't lose nothing. I mean, it's like I have nothing. It's like, well, you can't lose that. You can only stay at that level of having nothing still. And so he's basically saying you can only go up from there. You can only add stuff or gain things. And what would be the opposite of this person? Well, look what it says in verse 24. But woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophet. Hey, you want to know a really good way to figure out if someone's a false prophet? If the world loves him. If he's really well liked. Super popular. You know, it's funny to me. People will be like, why do you not like this preacher? Everybody likes him. That's the reason why I don't like him. Because everybody likes him. You know, the pastor or the preacher that everyone likes, he never says anything negative. That's why everybody likes him. It's always positive, it's always good, it's always kind. But my first point, the reason why people walk away from Christ is because of covetousness. It's because of covetousness because they're full. And that's what he's saying here in verse number 24. But woe unto you that are rich. Why would having riches be a bad thing? Why would it be a negative thing? Because you have something to lose. There's something that you're basically having to put on the altar potentially when that push comes to shove. It's easy to, you know, follow Christ when you're not leaving anything behind. When you've got nothing else to do. When you have nothing to really lose. When you're just starving already, you're just like, let's go. But whenever you're leaving something behind to serve Christ, now all of a sudden it's really hard. And so what some people will do is they will actually leave it. They'll just kind of like tiptoe away and they'll start serving. But then as soon as push comes to shove, they jump back to all the things they have and they cleave under the things that they have. They cleave under their riches, they cleave under their possessions, they cleave under the things that they have. Because they're too afraid of losing that. They're too afraid of losing their physical possessions in this world. That's why it says, blessed are you poor. For years in the kingdom of heaven. You know, when you look at the people that are really doing the most for God, it's not the Jeff Bezos of this world. It's not the Warren Buffetts. It's not the Lebron James. It's not the people that have lots of riches and all this wealth and all this money. It would be people that are relatively poor. You know, people that don't have a lot of money are oftentimes some of the people that are working the hardest. You know, some of the people that are going out and doing the most soul winning or the most preaching or the most ministering at their church. And you say, well, why are they poor? Probably because they're just making ends meet and then putting all the rest of their effort and energy in church and serving God. That's why. That's why they're never going to end up being the Jeff Bezos or the Warren Buffett. Because if you want to be super wealthy and rich, I mean, you've got to work 80, 90 hours a week. I mean, you've got to be eating, sleeping, and drinking, you know, money. I mean, you've got to be constantly worrying about your business and putting all this extra effort and energy. I mean, a lot of people that have lots of money have worked really hard for that money. It's not like they just randomly got it unless it was inherited. But a lot of the people that, especially if they're a first generation rich person, it's because they worked really hard. They put a lot of effort and energy into that. And the reason why the Bible is saying blessed are you poor is they have the ability to invest spiritually because they're not full of riches. They're not full of the things of this world. They have, you know, nothing to lose. So it's easier for them to cling to Christ. You know, the Bible warns, go to Matthew chapter number 13, the Bible warns in Matthew chapter number 13 that riches can be an issue for believers. And what I'm talking about is people that are saved. You know, the context of this sermon is not anybody that's unsaved. The context is only to the brethren. It's only people that are already saved. So I'm not going to use examples like the young rich ruler who wasn't willing to lay down his money because that's a completely different subject. He didn't want to give up his money. It was not a picture of him, what we're talking about here. He wasn't even saved. And Jesus was just basically pointing out the fact that this guy's not willing to depart from riches as an essence of the fact that he's not perfect. He's not going to follow Christ perfectly. And really he trusts in his riches. He trusts in himself to get saved. Because someone that has a lot of riches, like I said, probably worked really hard for that. So that's why he's kind of trusting in himself. And a lot of people that are rich will probably never believe in Christ because it's too difficult for them to accept the free gift of salvation. They want to work for it. They want to earn it. They believe they're better than other people. They believe that they're basically the best person on the planet. That's why they're so rich. That's why they have all this money. And so it's really hard for them to take a step down and trust in Christ. But what we're talking about is people that have already trusted Christ. They've already gotten saved. But the allure of riches, the allure of wealth, the allure of having all these things and all the pleasures of this world can still enter into their heart. It says in Matthew chapter 13, look at verse 22. He also that receiveth seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and the care of this world. And the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. And he that receiveth seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also bareth fruit and bringeth forth some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. So the Bible warns that a saved believer can be deceived by riches, can be deceived by money. Because they think that their life would be better with riches. They think that things would go better for them if they had more money. But oftentimes more money, more problems. Oftentimes you have more money, you can't sleep. Oftentimes you have more money, you're going to end up getting yourself into trouble that you couldn't afford beforehand. And not only that, the allure that more money will make you happier when it never does. You know, when you look at these really rich people, they're not walking around with a smile on their face 24-7. They're not these jovial, happy people. They're often very paranoid. They're very frustrated. They feel like everybody's out to get them. They're afraid everybody's going to kill them. They're afraid people are going to take away their money. They're constantly feeling stress and worry and woe, and they can't sleep. Because they have all this money that they have to manage. And they have to worry about all these issues. And they have all these fake people in their life that are trying to constantly rip them off and take advantage of them. And you know, having lots of money, it's deceitful because it makes you think you're going to have a better life. Yet look at the richest person in the Bible, Solomon. The Bible says he hated life. He had everything. And here's the problem with him. He got to the point where anything and everything was available to him. Nothing was off limits. And he said, wow, I have everything and it still sucks. I'm still not happy. I still don't have any joy. And a lot of Christians, they think, well, I would be happier with more money when the exact opposite would be true. There's a lot of people that are very happy and have no money. I mean, you go to these poor countries. When you go to Mexico, or you go to the Caribbean, or you go to these other places, and you're walking up and down the streets. Their houses are ghetto. I mean, they're ghetto compared to the ghetto here. You know, you walk in. I remember walking into one of the houses in Mexico and it's like basically like three rooms. It's like a living room, a kitchen, and one bedroom. And it's like 12 people live there. And so you walk into the living room and it's just like bunk bed, bunk bed, bunk bed. And like she had a toddler or something and she just laid the toddler on the bed and he was just napping. And they're just talking and having a good time. And like, you know, it's hot. They have no air conditioning. And it's in Mexico, so it's super hot. You know, the bedroom has several different beds. And you walk in. These people are smiling and happy and singing and joyful. They're not sitting here just like, oh, my life is so bad. And you say, how? How is that possible? Because money doesn't determine your happiness. You can have nothing and still be happy. Christ and his disciples are having a blast traveling all of Jerusalem preaching the gospel. And they had nothing. Christ didn't have anywhere to lay his head. Why? Because money is not what makes you happy in this world. Yet, a lot of Christians, they start serving God, okay. And then what happens? Persecution, difficulty, struggle, affliction. And they say, you know what? My life would be happier if I stopped this and I started going after money. Because this Christ thing is not giving me any happiness. I'm going to go after money. Yet, when they go after the money, they realize they're never going to be satisfied. They cling to the things of this world. Or they're put on a difficult situation where they're like, I could lose my job. I could lose my house. I could lose my car. I could lose my 401K. I could lose all these things if I take a stand for Christ, if I'm serving the Lord. And then my life will what? Not be as happy. Because they don't have that RV or that boat or that house or that car or whatever. But at the end of the day, they're actually never going to be happy with it. That's why it's called the deceitfulness of riches. And it comes and it enters into people's heart and it chokes the word and they become what? Unfruitful. Meaning that they stop serving the Lord and producing any kind of good fruit. Go to 1 Timothy, chapter number 6. Go to 1 Timothy, chapter number 6. Look, you see this. I've seen this. I've known people, even at this church, who are very poor, serving God, a soul winner. And then what happened? They started making lots of money in the world. And so what did they do? They quit church and started making even more money in the world. You know what I know? That it's deceitful. You know what I know? That they don't have true joy. You know what I know? That they're not fruitful spiritually and it's a waste of time and it's frustrating. You don't want to chase money because you'll never be satisfied. I promise you that. You're deceived if you think money's going to solve your problems. But we're going to see a lot of people go away. Will you also go away? A lot of people go away for money. 1 Timothy, chapter 6, look at verse 8. And having food and raiment, let us be there with content. The next time someone complains to you, just read them that verse. Have you ever heard anybody complain about that? It's usually a lot other. It's like, you know, my car's in 01, you know, or it's like, you know, it's just something like way, you know, first world problems as it were, right? And at the end of the day, food and raiment, that is something like, hey, if you're starving to death, you should be asking help for food, right? If you don't even have proper clothing, you should be asking for help on clothing and we should be willing to help people on those. But notice, if you have those two things, you could be content. Why would God give us this commandment if it's not even possible to be literally content with simply just food and clothing at the barest minimum? He's saying you can have the right attitude, the right emotional state with only those two things in your life. What's an example? Christ. Christ went around and what did he have? He had food and raiment. That's about it. And that's all he need. You know, when you die, he can't carry it with you anyways. When he died, they got his raiment, you know what I mean? Like they got his coat, they parted his raiment, the Roman soldiers, right? That was the only thing he had to give to anybody. That's what he left to this world. And, you know, it's probably a nice code, it sounded like, but at the end of the day, you know, the problem is this next verse. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. You know why it's called the deceitfulness of riches? Because when you chase money, this is what happens. Snare. You know what happens? Hurtful lusts. You know what happens? Destruction. You know what happens? Perdition. Did that sound good? Sign me up for that. Can I have hurtful lusts? Can I have destruction? Can I do a lot of foolish things? That's what you're saying when you chase money. That's what you're saying when you're chasing riches. And, here's the thing, it's not saying you acquired it, it's saying when you're chasing it. There's a lot of people that have gone down this road and they never were rich. All they got was the destruction of chasing riches. All they got was this get-rich-quick scheme and it bankrupted them and destroyed their family and destroyed their lives and ruined them. Verse 10. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. The Bible makes it clear that money is at the core, at the root, of the harm, the evil and the wickedness that we see in this world. It's always about covetousness. People just cannot, you know, abstract themselves from the things of this world very easily. It's a very difficult thing and it's a very common temptation and you see a lot of people, when pressed to make a decision for Christ, if it could potentially affect them negatively, financially, or with their possessions, they're not willing to do it. They just love their things too much. They just love their house, they love their land, they love where they live, they love the physical possessions they have, and that covetousness, that desire to have these possessions and have these things, stops them from serving God. You know, when the disciples looked at Christ, they said, We've forsaken all. And they meant that. They really did that. They literally left it all. You know, a lot of people like the idea, I want to be a disciple. Okay, are you willing to leave it all? Not at all, you know. Yeah, I'm willing to give up five bucks. It's cheap Christianity today. It's cheap discipleship. And in fact, prosperity teachers, they teach the opposite. If you serve Christ and you're a disciple, you're going to get riches. It's like, those guys are false prophets. Christ is not teaching you, Hey, serve me and I'm going to give you untold riches on this earth. That's spiritual riches and spiritual blessings that you're going to get. He says in verse number 11, But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and has professed a good profession before any witnesses. You know what I think this is teaching when it says lay hold on eternal life? Because obviously a work salvationist would love this verse and be like, You've got to hang on to your salvation. You've got to grip it tight so it doesn't slip away or whatever. But we know, even if I let go, God's not going to let go of me and I'm still going to heaven. Even if I quit, I'm going to heaven. No matter what I do, I already have eternal life. I'm already saved. I'm already a child of God. I've already entered in the kingdom of God. There's no stopping me. My name's already written in the Lamb's Book of Life and it won't be blotted out. But what do we look like to lay hold on eternal life? Here's the thing. That's what we're really striving for because this is so temporary. So what you need to do is you need to lay hold on the eternal things of this life. You need to lay hold on the eternal values that you have and say, You know what? I'm going to cling to the things that really matter rather than the things that are so temporal and so meaningless and so vain and aren't going to profit me anything anyways. They're only just going to hurt me. I'd rather just lay hold on eternal life, the things that are of eternal value, the kingdom of God serving the Lord. That's fighting the good fight. Telling the flesh no and willing to lay on the altar all of your physical possessions and all of your goods and say, You know what? If push comes to shove, I'm going to burn it and serve Christ. I'm going to lay hold on eternal life, not on this house, not on this good, not on this car. Look, your car's going to suck in 20 years. They all get bad eventually, right? You know, I always think about it as it'd be nice to get a new car, but then I won't and it'll be like fast forward two or three years and I'm thinking, I'm glad I didn't because it'd be like two or three years old now. You know? So if I got a new car this year, now it'd be the new car. But you know, it eventually gets worse every single day, doesn't it? And a new house gets worse every single day, doesn't it? And new clothes. I had the coolest sandals ever. I'm really upset about this, okay? But I went to California and I get off the plane and I'm walking to the real car center and it breaks. We had like lost our YouTube channel too and I said to my wife, she said, I would rather have my sandals than my YouTube channel right now. Now, I did get the YouTube channel back, but here's the thing. It's like I'm going to lose it eventually though. It's going to eventually disintegrate unless God performs a miracle, you know, for your sandals. They're eventually going to wear away. You can't even buy these things anymore. And I'm thinking like these are the coolest things ever. This company must hate money, not making more. I'm going to call them and tell them this, okay? Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number four. Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number four. Point number one is this, why will people go away covetousness, things of this world? They just care too much. Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, is what the Bible says. Why did Demas leave? Because covetousness, because he desired the things of this world. If Demas can do it, you and I can do it. That's why you have to go ahead and settle in your heart now the question, will you also go away? And you can just say, you know what? If it comes to possessions that I own, I need to already be willing to lose it now. I need to already say, hey, if I had to get rid of that, so be it. Because there's nothing wrong with owning possessions. We all have to own possessions to some degree. I mean, you're going to have to have clothes. You're going to have to have a place to put over your head. You're going to have a car. You're going to have money. You're going to have some of these things. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with having these things. Even if God blessed you with a lot of wealth, there's nothing technically wrong with that. But you have to beware of having that. And you have to ask yourself in your heart, would you walk away from it if it was, I'm going to serve Christ or keep my possession? And if you say, well, I am willing to lose a lot of things, but I'm not willing to lose this job, your heart's not right. Say, well, I'd lose a lot of things, but I wouldn't lose this house. Your heart's not right. Say, I'd lose a lot of things, but I want to lose my 401K. Your heart's not right. Look at the things in your life and say, is there something in your life that you wouldn't walk away from? And you need to challenge yourself with the word of God and say, you know what? I need to get my heart right and be willing to walk away from that if I had to. Please ask this chapter number four. Look at verse number nine. Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. Here's my second reason why I personally believe a lot of people walk away from church and stop serving God is marriage problems. And, you know, it's really frustrating to see this happen to people because, you know, two are better than one, but unfortunately, a lot of times, evil communications corrupt good morals, and it only takes one bad spouse to drag both of them down to. Hey, it's good when you have two because you have one to lift the other one up. Look what it says in verse 10. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone when he falls, for yet not another to help him up. And when you marry someone when you're unequally yoked and then you fall, well, then guess what? There's not that person that will lift you up. That's why it's important in marriage to be equally yoked. That's why it's important for you to both want to serve Christ because you're going to have lows at times. And when you have a low and your spouse doesn't even want you to serve God, it's easy for them to just drag you all the way out of church. It's nice when you have a spouse that actually wants to serve Christ with you so then when you fall, they can lift you up. And when they fall, you can lift them up and you kind of help balance each other and you help each other get through the difficult things and serving God. And a lot of people that quit church are specifically because of their spouse. I've seen men on fire for God, going to church three times a week, serving the Lord, doing right, going soul winning in the preaching class, want to be a pastor maybe. They marry the wrong person. And now they don't go to church. Now they're not serving God. Now they're not reading their Bible. Now they're not going soul winning. Why? Because it's a lot easier to get drugged down than it is to pull someone up. And so it's important who you marry. Now I'm not trying to scare you about marriage because marriage is a good thing and it's a great thing, but you should not let marriage even itself stop you from serving God. Now here's a question I have to ask you. If your spouse walked away, will you also go away? Go to First Timothy, chapter number three. Go to First Timothy, chapter number three. And the Bible says, Be not only yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness? You know, I already have it settled in my heart that no matter who walked away from me, I'm going to serve Christ to the bitter end. But, praise God, I have such a wonderful spouse and I have such wonderful children that do love the Lord, and I believe that as long as I'm a good husband and a faithful father, and I'm teaching and training them and leading them, that I won't have that problem. So, you know, as a man, you know, I have a lot of influence over my family, and it's really important that I'm making sure that I have a healthy family. Because what I do see is sometimes what men do is they neglect their family, they neglect their wife, they're not ruling their house well, they're not leading their spouse, and then their spouse gets really disgruntled against church and causes them all these issues, and then it drags them out of church because they weren't making sure they were having a healthy relationship. They weren't making sure that their spouse had a healthy relationship. They weren't making sure that their spouse is on the right page. And so it's important for men to rule their house so that they can continue serving God. Because there's plenty of people, you would never think this person would walk away. You would never think this person would stop serving Christ. But because of their marriage problems, it changed and changed and changed, and then they're just gone. And then they stop serving God, and it'll just shock you what people will, situations they'll find themselves in, and you say, what happened? Well, they really weren't maintaining a healthy marriage. Healthy marriages are very important. You need to say, well, I thought it was just soul winning. Yeah, but here's the thing. People that have unhealthy marriages usually don't go soul winning. People that neglect all the other areas of their life usually aren't going soul winning and serving God. You know, a lot of the people that are doing great things for God have a great marriage, and they have lots of kids. It's like they have it all. It's like feast or famine off God. It's like they have it all. It's like feast or famine oftentimes. And so you have to realize every aspect of the Christian life is important. That's why when God is deciding who's going to be the leader, like a deacon or a pastor, he's not saying, like, this guy's got only himself figured out. No, he's got his whole family figured out. Look at what it says in verse 20, chapter 3, verse 10. And let these also first be proved. Then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so, must their wives be grave, not slander or sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children in their own houses. Well, if you want to serve God for the long haul, you have to continually lead and guide your family and make sure that you all are on the same page. You know, it's not enough for you to serve God on your own. You need to try and help those that are in your family. You need to encourage them and motivate them and teach them the word of God. Go to Mark chapter number 10, Mark chapter 10. Now, at the end of the day, you know, my wife has free will. Your spouse has free will. Your children have free will. And it could get to a point where you've done everything you possibly could and they just are too stubborn. They're not going to serve Christ with you. And at that point, you have to make the tough decision, what are you going to do? But I'm not going to enter into marriage and I'm not going to, even being in marriage, look at it and say, well, if it's between my wife or Christ, I'm going to pick my wife. You ought to be willing to pick Christ. You ought to be willing to serve the Lord either way. And, you know, I say this. For me, fortunately, I don't have to go through this right now. But I know a lot of people that do. There's a lot of people that do have to make that tough decision. A lot of people do go to church on their own. And you know what? I commend people for doing that because it's super hard. It's super difficult. Mark 10, look at verse 28. Then Peter began to say unto them, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive a hundredfold now and this time, houses and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life. Now, don't take this as wrong. This is not saying like, oh, my spouse doesn't like church, so I just drop them like a bad habit. You should always be the person who's striving to have the best relationship and loving your spouse. And basically, you let them walk away. Meaning that you're doing everything right. You're trying to serve them. But if they're not willing to serve Christ, then they depart. If the unbelieving depart, the Bible says let them depart. You're not under bondage in such cases. And if my spouse wasn't going to go to church, I can still go to church. My spouse isn't going to read the Bible, I can still read the Bible. You know, I'd try to take my children to church, and I would try to encourage them to learn the word of God and to read the Bible. And you know what? It's not a good look when a man can't bring his wife to church. You know, as a man, you should bring your wife to church. Now, if you can't, you know, you can't. But I would do everything that I could to bring my spouse to church. Every service, you know, no excuses. If I have to get off work early, if I have to take her out to dinner, hey, I'll add into the budget. And I'll say, look, what's your favorite restaurant? We're going to go there after church because you're going to church. You know what I mean? Or whatever it is that I can do. Hey, let's go to the mall on Saturday if you go to church on Sunday. And look, I hate the mall, okay? The mall is literally like the worst place ever for me, you know? It's hard to think of much worse places to have to go because not only do you see so many freaks in there, it's so expensive, everything in there. And it's just like, you know, I don't want to buy anything in there. The two things I hate the most is being in the mall and then buying stuff. So it's like the worst combination, you know, all wrapped up in one package. I'm saying I would go there if that's what would get my wife in church. Hey, let me all rub your feet for an hour if we can go to church. Hey, whatever sacrifice you can make. Some people are like, I'm not negotiating well enough with my husband. You know, I'm just kidding. No, you just go to church. But what I'm saying is this, that, you know, whatever it takes, you know, pick her up, put her in the car, take her to church, you know, lead your family because when your spouse isn't going, it makes it harder for you to go. When you're not bringing your kids, when you're not doing these things, it makes serving God more difficult. And I'm not saying this is a one-time thing. This is a multi-person issue that I've seen, all kinds. And obviously the opposite is even true. And you know what, it's difficult to go to church alone. Two are better than one. And I see a lot of people go away from church because of marriage issues. But you know what, you shouldn't let that happen and you should fight for your marriage as much as possible. You should try to maintain the most healthy marriage you can at all times so that you're still serving Christ to the bitter end. Go if you would to John chapter 6. Go back to John chapter number 6. Let me give you my third point this evening real quick. John chapter 6, look at verse 60. The Bible says, Many, therefore, the disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying. Who can hear it? And Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it. He said unto them, Doth this offend you? Why is it that a lot of people go away? Because they get offended. They get the love of money in their heart. They have marriage problems. Or they get offended for some reason. This is my opinion, the three biggest factors on why people stop serving God. And sometimes it's all three. The wife's offended that you don't have enough money. And you have the marriage problems because you don't have enough money. And then they just decide to leave the church. But people get offended for any reason. But the Bible says, go to Matthew chapter 11. I want to show you a verse here. Go to Matthew chapter number 11. You know, if you come to church, and especially one that believes the Bible, you should have this expectation that you will get offended. Okay? The question is not if you're going to get offended. The question should be how are you going to handle it when you are. And you say, Why really like Pastor Shelley until he offended me? Here's the thing. That should be the case for everybody in this room. It's just a matter of time. I mean, if it's like your first service, you're like, You haven't offended me yet. Just wait. I'm sure I will. And that's why I say, like, people say, Were you preaching about me? And I'm always just like, Yes. And you know, I know sometimes it's funny because I'll prepare a sermon. Okay? And I literally, I'll literally prepare a sermon. And then someone will come and ask me a question that pertains exactly to the sermon I already wrote. And then I'm like, you know, when I preach that, they're going to think I preach it all for their, like, for them specifically. But I'm like, I'm still going to preach it. You know, I'm still going to preach what I said. And it's just like, or it's funny because I'll have somebody ask me a question. And it'll trigger a sermon idea. And later I'll write a sermon about it. And then I'll preach it. And then somebody else will be like, You preached that all about me, didn't you? And I'm like, Yeah, sure. You know, it's just, it's just funny because everybody's kind of a narcissist to some level. Everything's about yourself. You know, everything's about you. You always think that every example is about you and everything's. And it's like, most of the time, I don't care about you enough. Okay. I'm sorry. I should care more. But it's just like, it's not that real. You know, it's not easy for me to think about 150 people while writing a sermon. All of you. Okay. It just doesn't happen. So usually people get offended and it's kind of a silly reason to get offended. They think it's like, Oh, the pastor doesn't like me or the pastor doing this. Look, if you get mentioned in the sermon, you should think that I do like you. It's like a, it's like an honor. You would want to get corrected, right? Getting corrected is a blessing, isn't it? But here's the thing. If you were walking around with Christ, he would have offended you. Over and over and over again. He offended the disciples. I mean, how would you like it if Christ looked at you in the face and said, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me. It's like, uh, thou savoureth not the things that be of God, but of man. It's like, that kind of hurt. That kind of stung. It's like, so what happened, Peter? Uh, Jesus called me like the devil, you know? Not a big deal. It's like, that one stung. Right? And it's like, when have I ever called anybody in the room? The devil. Okay, come on. But yet, people expect to come to church and never get offended. Never get their toes stepped on. Their sin to never get called out. Look what it says in Matthew chapter 11 verse 6. And blessed is he whose server shall not be offended in me. Meaning, you know what? Whenever there's the temptation to get your feelings hurt, or to be upset about what was preached or what was said, you should rather just say, you know what? I'm ready to be offended. Some people like it. You know, that's the right attitude. You should want to come to church and get corrected. You know, I'd rather come to church and get corrected than just be told how great I am or something. And instead to feed my ego. You know, to make me feel like I'm on cloud nine. You know, I'd rather come and hear how I can prove in some way. Or something that I need to get right in my life. Or to get better. Go to Matthew chapter 13. Go to Matthew chapter 13. I'd rather come into church hungry than full. Matthew chapter 13, look at verse 53. And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue. And so much that they were astonished and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom and his mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. This is kind of funny. Because it's like, I like the second question in verse 55. Is not his mother called Mary? Like, you can't learn from somebody whose mom's name is Mary. Like, why does that matter? You know, when you think about it, they're getting offended. They're saying like, because he's like a poor, he's just a carpenter's son so he couldn't be special. It's like, why can't you be special if your mom's name is Mary? What's wrong with your mom's having the name Mary? It's like, they're obviously from Mexico, you know? I'm just kidding. Everyone's Maria in Mexico, right? I guess that's why it's derogatory, right? Oh, everybody's mother's Mary. He's not special, you know? But it's just funny, they're trying to make fun of Jesus or try to put him down by saying, Hey, we know this guy. He's just a carpenter's son. His mom's Mary. Yeah, we know his brother. James and Joseph and Simon and Judas, and even his sisters, are they not all with us? It's like, we know who this little rug rat is. How are we going to learn anything from him? Verse 57, they were all offended at him, but Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, safe in his own country and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. You know, they got offended at Jesus because he was a man. Because he was human. Because he was normal. And you know what? Some people get offended when they realize that their pastor doesn't walk on water 24-7. Sometimes their pastor's not wearing a suit. You know, sometimes their pastor makes mistakes. Hey, the pastor's mom's name's Mary. You know? It's like, they look at the things in the church and they kind of expect something. They kind of expect to see some miracle or Superman to come out with his cape or something. And when they realize he's just a normal person like you, they get offended and they think like, why do I need to learn from this bozo? I'm older than him. I'm better than him. I have more money than him. I'm taller than him. I have a longer beard than him. You know? And look, this criticism's real. I've had plenty of people that say, I don't like it why we have to have pastor Shelley come to Jesus. Why can't we get someone older? Why can't we get someone wiser? You know, why can't we get somebody, you know, smarter or whatever to teach us the Bible? I'm ready to have an older man come and teach me the Bible. And look, hey, I'm sure there's plenty of areas I can improve in. It's not like there isn't. But at the end of the day, you know, they're not coming into the church ready to learn. They're ready to be offended and walk away. They're ready to get their feelings heard about something, to pick something apart, to get upset. And look, if you want to pick this church apart, you could think this is the worst church on the planet if you tried. You could get upset about it. Just start picking things apart. Just be like, hey, the stain isn't even everywhere. Pastor Shelley preaches too long, you know. There's a bunch of degenerates outside that I always have to try to avoid looking at when I come into church, you know. The temperature's not right. You know, you could just sit here and just make a list and get to the point where you just despise anything and everything and you just basically just want to get your feelings hurt. Rather than coming in and saying, like, I'm ready to get my feelings hurt. I want it, you know. How many people were offended and left? And what was the question? Will you also go away? You know, someone comes up to me and they say, Pastor Shelley, I don't like the rules of the church. I'm going to leave. See ya. Here's my question for the other people. Will you also go away? Because guess what? Where are you going to go where church is perfect? Where are you going to go where the pastor's perfect? Where are you going to go that all of these other problems won't exist? Look, maybe you're the problem. Maybe the reason church isn't perfect is because no church is perfect and you have the wrong expectations when it comes to church. You don't have to like everything, but because they don't like everything, I mean, you'll have people, they're like, man, I agree with 99% of the church, but it's just this 1%. And because of that 1%, I just can't go there. You know, I like Pastor Shelley's sermon, but there was that one sermon. You know, he said that flat earthers are either stupid, wicked, or both. I just can't go there. Well, good. Leave then. You know, it's like, do you really have to go to a church where you agree 100%? That's a foolish idea. That's a foolish perspective. You know, it's really just pride. You know, I don't want to, this church was great, but their stance on coronavirus, I just don't think I can go. That's real. It's out there. You know, and you got more people mad at a church that's trying to have COVID restrictions than at John MacArthur, the false prophet, because of his stance on coronavirus. And the question is like, will you go away also? And you got people that are, you know, your friend, but then there's something about you that's not perfect, and then they just have to drop you as a friend. They don't like some doctrine. You know, you have to be in lockstep. You know, the new IP has to be a cult where we all believe exactly the same or you can't be in it or something. It's like, well, just leave then. Will you also go away? And here's the thing, whenever someone that you love or you like goes away, will you also go away? Go back to John chapter 16, and I'll finish. The Bible says, Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Now, I was thinking about this scenario, and I think it's real, just because when you look at how churches go, but a lot of people come to church because of someone else. Like, someone else gets them into church, a friend, a brother, a cousin, or whatever. You know, a coworker, it could be anything, spouse, whatever. They bring you to church, and you're kind of going to church at first or you're going to that church because of that person. Like, you really don't care that much except where that person's going. But then you have to ask yourself this question. What if that person stopped going? What if that person left? Will you also go away? You know, does it really matter who brought you to Christ? I mean, what if Demas is the one that got you saved? What if Demas got you baptized? What if Demas brought you into church, but then Demas left? Will you also go away? Do you have to serve Christ with Demas, or are you going to just serve Christ on your own? Are you going to let covetousness? Are you going to let marriage? Are you going to let, you know, the things that offend you from preaching take you away? And, you know, some people get taken away even when they don't want to. And, you know, what frustrates me is this. When I know that there's children, that they would go to every single service every single week, but their parents won't. They want to come to church, but their parents won't take them to church. Their parents won't take them to so many. Their parents won't take them to do the church activities, yet the kids would love it. The kids would want to do it. And, you know what? A lot of kids aren't going to go to church in the future because their parents don't take them to church. They don't learn how to love church. You know, a lot of the old IV churches are only just dragging their kids maybe Sunday morning only so they don't get a good feeling or taste for it, and then they eventually abandon it when they're not being forced anymore. You know what? The more you take your kids to church, the more they end up loving it. The more they end up liking it, it becomes a routine. They get excited to go to church. And, you know what? That's the type of sacrifice I want to make for my kids. Even if I didn't want to go, why don't you just go for your kids? Why don't you just go for your wife? Because you can impact other people. And, you know what? Look, if everyone stopped coming to Sunday night service, I guarantee the few people that did, if there was just a few, they would be really discouraged. They'd be like, well, if everybody's not going to come, then I would leave, you know? Or if everybody doesn't want to come Sunday night, or everyone doesn't want to come to Sunday morning, they're like, we don't even have this problem. I'm just speaking hypothetically. But you impact other people, and you either, you even impact other people in this room. They say, well, I'm only going to church because my friends go into this church, and if my friend left, well, then I would leave. You know, or if this person left, and my spouse left, or if my kids left, or whoever this went left, I would stop going. But you have to make a decision in your heart, will ye also go away? And the Bible warns, a brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city. And I say that verse to say this. You need to be careful that you don't find yourself on the other side of one of these situations because it's really hard to win you back. When someone leaves the church and leaves Christianity for money, really hard to get that person back. When someone leaves because of bad marriage issues, really hard to get that person back. When someone gets offended against the church, it's really hard to win that person back over. Look what it says in John chapter 16, verse one. These things have I spoken unto you that ye should not be offended. Jesus Christ preached things before they happened and tried to prepare people's hearts before it happened so that it wouldn't happen. This is a preventative sermon. It's saying, hey, I want you to settle in your heart now that you're not going to let covetousness drag you out of serving God. That you're going to not let marriage drag you out of serving God. That you're not going to let some offensive sermon drag you out of serving God. You need to go ahead and prepare your heart now so that when that covetous temptation comes, whenever a marriage issue rises, or something offends you, you say, well, I'm still going to serve God anyways. I'm still going to keep serving the Lord no matter what. We need to make sure that we're going to be steadfast in our heart, not for just the good times, but also the difficult. And ask yourself this question, will ye also go away? Let's close with prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for your word. Thank you for warning us about difficult trials and things that we may have to go through and the struggles and temptations that exist out there that we could prepare ourselves. We could prepare our hearts and our minds. That we could get deeply rooted love and a steadfast faith towards serving you. And that we would count the cost. That we would see that dropping everything for serving Christ is the best thing we can do. I pray that we'd have the desire to lay hold on eternal life as a church. And that when difficulty arises, when temptation and struggles and offenses arise, that we'll remain faithful and we won't be the majority that walks away. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen, with that, let's close it out with one more song tonight before we go. Go ahead and take out your hymnal again to song number 134, My Anchor Holds, song number 134. Great song about being anchored in our servants for Christ, right? Song number 134, My Anchor Holds. Sing it all together at the top. Though the angry surges roll On my tempest-driven soul I am peaceful for I know Wildly though the winds may blow I'm an anchor safe and sure That can evermore endure And it holds, my anchor holds Blow your wildest little gale On my bark so small and frail By His grace I shall not fail For my anchor holds My anchor holds Mighty tides about me sweep Perils lurk within the deep Angry clouds o'er shade the sky And the tempest rises high Still I stand, the tempest shook For my anchor grips the rock And it holds, my anchor holds Blow your wildest little gale On my bark so small and frail By His grace I shall not fail For my anchor holds My anchor holds I can feel the anchor fast As I meet each sudden blast And the cable though unseen Bears a heavy strain between Through the storm I safely ride Till the turning of the tide And it holds, my anchor holds Blow your wildest little gale On my bark so small and frail By His grace I shall not fail For my anchor holds My anchor holds Trumbles almost whelm the soul Griefs like billows o'er me roll Tempters seek to lure astray Storms obscure the light of day But in Christ I can be bold I've an anchor that shall hold And it holds, my anchor holds Blow your wildest little gale On my bark so small and frail By His grace I shall not fail For my anchor holds My anchor holds