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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We started this morning with our first hymn, number 472, This Is My Father's World. Hymn number 472, This Is My Father's World. Let's sing. All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres. This is my father's world. I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas. His hand the wanders wrought. This is my father's world. The birds, their carols raise. The morning light, the lily white bear their maker's praise. This is my father's world. He shines in all that's fair. In the rustling grass, I hear him pass. He speaks to me everywhere. This is my father's world. Oh, let me ne'er forget that though the rock seems off so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my father's world. The battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied. And earth and heaven be one. Amen. Let's open with a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we just thank you for this day to gather together, Lord, and worship in your name. And Lord, on this day, we just thank you for this day. We're thankful to you for Pastor Thompson and his family, Lord. And thank you for the blessing that they can come out and that he can preach for us. Lord, just give us ears to hear and help us. Incline your ear to us this morning as we sing praises unto you, Lord. We love you. And this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. For our next hymn this morning, let's turn to number 437. Hymn number 437. This is not one that we have yet. It's the Battle Hymn of the Republic. And you'll know the tune even if you don't recognize the name. But the children's choir is getting ready to sing this on the 4th of July. So I thought, let's sing it for them and really give them some help. They can hear the parents sing it, so parents, you got to sing it. If you didn't sing the last one, you're on for it now. 437. Battle Hymn of the Republic. Let's sing. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He hath loosed the faithful lightning of his terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. His truth is marching on. I have seen him in the watchfires of a hundred circling camps. They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and lamps. I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps. His day is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. His day is marching on. His day is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never sound retreat. He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat. Oh, be swift my soul to answer him. Be jubilant my feet. Our God is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Our God is marching on. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea with the glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me as he died to make men holy. Let us die to make men free while God is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. While God is marching on. Amen. Good singing this morning. All right. Welcome, everyone, to Steadfast Baptist Church. Good to see everyone here this Sunday morning. If you need a bulletin, raise your hand nice and high. We can get that to you. On the inside, we've got our service times and our soul winning times. One thing to know, we've got soul winning this afternoon at 2 p.m. So if you can make it back with us at 2 p.m., we're going to be talking about soul winning for a couple of hours and see if we can get some souls saved here in Oklahoma City. We've got our month today and our year today. Total is listed there as well. And our expecting mothers, we want to keep each one of these ladies in our prayers. Also, Miss Whitney Reed's baby shower is going to be May 29th. And that's going to be located here at the church from 2 to 4 p.m. So if you can make it to that, we would love to have you. Everyone is invited to that. Also, we are in week number 15 of our Bible memory passage, 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2. We're getting close to the end of this chapter. If you're a little bit behind, you want to do some extra work this week to get caught up. We're on week number 15. So if you can quote this to a non-family member, if you're under the age of 18, you can receive an ice cream reward after the service. We've got the Mother's Day tea party on May 8th. That's a Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. And all ladies are invited to attend. And I believe we've gotten everyone signed up for that that's going to be there. And so it's free of charge to show up and enjoy your time without your kiddos, hopefully. And then on May 20th through the 22nd is going to be the men's fellowship retreat. And that's at Riverbend Retreat Center in Texas. It's about 40 minutes southwest of Dallas area. And so it'll be a lot of fun. We got to go last year or me and a couple of the guys got to go last year. It was a great time of fellowship and getting to meet a lot of people I didn't know. And I've heard that there's a lot more people that are going to be there this year. And so if you have not signed up already, there's a sign up sheet on the back table. You want to make sure that you do that by the end of this month so we can get that information to Pastor Shelley. And then the special preacher for that is going to be Pastor Stephen Anderson. And so if there's no other reason to go, that should be the reason right there. And so it'll be a lot of fun and really looking forward to that. And then we've got our Ardmore Soul Winning event that's going to be on June 12th about a couple months from now. And that's going to be a joint effort Soul Winning marathon between our location and the Steadfast Fort Worth location. And so that'll be a lot of fun as well. And so we'll get more details lined out in the coming weeks for that. And then we've got a lot of guests with us here this morning. Glad to have everyone here. Of course we've got Pastor Aaron Thompson here from Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Vancouver, Washington. And I'm really excited to have him. And we got a fellowship with him yesterday. And if you have not got to meet him, please go up to him and make him feel welcome and let him know that you're thankful for him coming. That's a long ways to come all the way here and preach for us. It's a blessing. And we're excited to have him here for us. If you'll come, we'll lead in the next song. Hymn number 355. What a friend we have in Jesus. Hymn number 355. Alright, Hymn number 355. What a friend we have in Jesus. 355. What a friend we have in Jesus. We carry everything to God in prayer. O what peace we often forfeit. O what needless pain we bear. O because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden? Cumbered with a load of pleasure. Precious Savior still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In his arms he'll take and fill thee. Thou will find the solace there. Amen. While the offering plates are being passed around go ahead and turn if you would to Luke chapter number 14. Luke chapter number 14 and we'll read that chapter as is our custom. All right. Luke chapter number 14. The Bible reads and it came to pass as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day that they watched him. And behold there was a certain man before him a certain man before him and he was a certain man before him which had the dropsy and Jesus answered and spake unto the lawyers of the Pharisees saying is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day and they held their peace and he took him and healed him and let him go and answered them saying which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen to a pit and with and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day and they could not answer him again to these things and he put forth a parable to those which were bidden when he marked how they chose out the chief room saying unto them when thou art bidden of any man to a wedding sit not down in the highest room lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee give this man place and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room but when thou art bidden go and sit down in the lowest room that when he that bade thee cometh he may say unto thee friend go up higher then thou shalt then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meet with thee for whosoever exalt of themselves shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted then said he unto him that bade him when thou makest a dinner or a supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbors lest they also bid thee again and a recompense be made of thee be made thee but when thou makest a feast call the poor the lame the blind and thou shalt be blessed for they cannot recompense thee for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just and when one of them that sat at meet with him heard these things he said unto him blesses he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God then said he unto him a certain man made a great supper and bade many and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidding come for all things are now ready and they all with one consent began to make excuse the first said unto him I have brought a piece of ground I must needs go and see it I pray thee have me excused another said I have bought five yoke of oxen and I go to prove them I pray thee have me excused another said I have married a wife therefore I cannot come so the servant came and showed his lord these things then the master of the house being angry said to his servant go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor and the main and the halt and the blind and the servant said lord it is done as thou has commanded and yet there is room and the lord said unto the servant go out into the highways and hedges compel them to come in that my house may be filled for I say unto you that none of those men which were bidding shall taste of my supper and there was great multitudes with him and he turned and said unto them if any man come to me and hate not his father mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters yea his own life also he cannot be my disciple and whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple for which of you tending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost rather he have sufficient to finish it less happily after he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold it begin to mock him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish or what king going to make war against another king sitteth not down first and consulteth rather he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand or else while another is yet a great way off he sinneth an embassage and desireth conditions of peace so likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple salt is good but if the salt hath lost his savour wherewith is it to be seasoned it is neither fit for the land nor yet for the dung hill but men cast it out he that hath ears to hear let him hear let's pray heavenly father lord we just thank you so much for this day lord we just thank you for pastor thompson and that he was able to come and preach for us today lord we just ask you at this time that you would just fill him with your spirit lord and we just pray that you'd open our hearts and our ears to your word lord just ask now that you'd keep distractions to a minimum and we thank you in Jesus precious name amen alright well it's great to be in oklahoma city this morning for church and I just want to thank pastor Shelly for the opportunity to preach here and everything's been great so far everybody's been very hospitable and we really appreciate that and so I just wanted to say thank you once again the game night was really fun last night that was the first time I played a card game in a long time so um when we started trying to gamble though that was like you know just kidding just kidding we didn't gamble alright well the title of the sermon this morning is count the cost count the cost let's look at verse number 25 in our text here it says and there were great multitudes with him and he turned and said unto them if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters yea in his own life also he cannot be my disciple let's have a word of prayer heavenly father we thank you lord so much for this great church steadfast baptist church in Oklahoma City lord I pray you bless this church and all the people in it and lord I pray that it would be a powerhouse of soul winning and red hot fiery preaching for many years to come lord I pray that you'd help everyone in here to focus on the message today and lord that we all know that we need to count the cost and many things in our life and especially the cost of following you lord Jesus in your name we pray amen okay so the Bible specifically says here and people really get hung up on this verse number 26 it says if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters yea in his own life also he cannot be my disciple those are hard words aren't they and we think well you know we're taught in church that we're supposed to love our wives we're supposed to love our parents we're supposed to honor our parents we're supposed to honor and love our brothers and sisters and you know can't we have a life can we have a life and the answer to that is yes you should and yes you can but when it's when you're comparing it to the life that you're supposed to be living in Christ that's supposed to be as hatred to you so if anybody gets in the way of that life that you're trying to live for Christ then it should be as hatred to you if your own wife hates God and look these situations happen if your own wife hates God then who are you supposed to choose your wife or God you're supposed to choose God when it comes to your own life and the things that you do and the job that you have and all these different things what are you supposed to love more your life or your life in Christ you're supposed to love your life in Christ and look what it says and it says you can't if you don't do this you cannot be my disciple and so our love for Christ should appear as hatred to those other people that we love that's how far the chasm should be that's how far that it should be away from our love for Christ and many people would say well that's really hard to do Pastor Thompson I know but what is Jesus saying here I mean he's not mincing words is he look at verse number 27 it says and whosoever what does that word mean anyone right whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me he cannot cannot be my disciple if you're not going to pick up your cross daily and follow after Christ you can't be his disciple isn't that what it says right it's not it's not saying but what about no what about nothing so and look at verse number 28 says for which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost if you're going to do a new fence in the backyard don't you try to figure out do I got enough money to buy all the cedar for this fence do you guys have cedar fences down here okay I don't know if you have wood down here do you have wood I'm teasing I'm teasing but so but in the northwest there's plenty of wood it's just really expensive there for some reason those tree huggers drive the prices up up there so I don't know what's going on all these you know occupy protesters are taking up all the timber they're putting it against the walls for the protest you know so they're driving up the prices but anyway yeah it says that if you're going to you got to count the cost if you're going to do some kind of building project and man you guys know what this is all about don't you you have to count the cost do you have enough to finish it are you going to get to the point and then there's like six slats that are not at the end and the dogs can come through with each fence and back and forth and or you don't have enough to buy the stain for the wood or something and then your neighbors are going to begin to what to mock you right they're going to say he went to build a fence and he couldn't finish it right that's what that's and men will mock each other for things like that you know men love to mock each other in the workplace it's just you know if we like you we're going to mock you that's just the way it is but if you if you do something badly in the construction business anyway you know you're going to get mocked even if they do like you they're still going to mock you because you're not good at doing one thing or the other but what Christ is talking about here says if you're intending to do something whatever it is you're intending to do you need to count the cost before you do it whether you have sufficient to finish whether you have enough money to finish it or whether you have enough gumption and enough spirit in you to finish what you're doing right and so we're supposed to be able to finish God wants us to finish strong doesn't he Paul the apostle Paul talks a lot in the Bible about finishing strong and going for that prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus right and so the Lord Jesus Christ he doesn't want us to just say hey I'm going to try being his disciple I'm going to try to be his disciple for a little while but if it gets too hard you know I'm just going to quit no you're supposed to count the cost whether you have sufficient to finish what you're starting and if you want to be Christ disciple you have to be willing to finish what you started you have to count the cost what is it going to cost you to follow Christ well you know what it's going to cost you according to these verses it's going to cost you everything it's going to cost you everything but it might not cost you everything but if it is are you willing to lose everything in order to follow Christ we should be able to do that we should be willing to do that if you're not you can't be his disciple that's what it says right and you're like well that sounds really hard Pastor Thompson it does sound really hard but you know God has grace and mercy towards us also I mean are you going to lose all your family members all your brothers and sisters you could they might all just hate God and not want to get saved you're like well why would God not want my family members to get saved well God wants all people's family members to be saved but see people have a choice we're not Calvinists here God's not a Calvinist God and he we have this thing called free will and a lot of us when we got saved in this room probably went really hard at our family members and tried to get them saved but did they all get saved no and now they think you're in a cult don't they so so but you're coming to this church why because you know that this church is a church that preaches the truth and it stands on the Bible God's word alone and you know you're not going to get a bunch of fluff and all these you know fun centers that are around that are running all these big numbers these big mega churches that's not what it's all about to you it's about the truth you know if you're seeking the truth you're going to go to a church that preaches the truth you're going to want to go to a place that sends you out soul winning so you can go out and win the lost to Christ and you can go to a church where you're going to be edified and learn the truth of the Bible and you know that the pastors or the preachers that are up here are going to do their best to try to edify you and to train you up to work in the you know because our ministry is basically soul winning at our types of churches isn't it and that's mainly what we want what our main mission is to do but you know there's other things too there's fulfilling the great commission which is baptizing people teaching them the Bible you know and teaching others to go out and do the same things also but look what it says in verse 29 so you're supposed to have you're supposed to count the cost verse 28 you're supposed to have sufficient to finish it and then look what it says in 29 less happily after he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it and all that behold begin to mock him do you know that your family members are waiting for you to quit and they're waiting for you to quit and you think that they're going to go oh you tried honey oh it's ok no they're going to mock you behind your back they might mock you to your face and that's a terrible feeling to have your family throw it in your face after they said we know that you were just kind of going through a little phase now you know believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is not a little phase being his disciple is not a little phase it's something that we're supposed to count the cost and know that we have sufficient to finish what we begin to do and that is to finish the race to finish the race of life as a Christian to finish strong as a Christian and be able to stand before God on judgment not on judgment day but stand before God in heaven and knowing that we did our best that we did our very best and we finished the race we didn't quit church we didn't quit soul winning we didn't quit following after Jesus we finished that's what the main I mean if you take anything out of this sermon today I want you to take out of this that we need to finish strong we need to count the cost of everything that we do in the Christian life now look what it says they're going to begin to mock you if you want to quit if this is too hard for you you know you want to go to cookies and Kool-Aid community church then go ahead and do that but you know in your heart that that's not what's right you know in your heart that you need to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and in a church like this is where you're going to be able to have the opportunity to do that or you can go back to the old IFB you know you can go back to the old IFB and let them tell you how Jesus is about to come back at any moment he can come back in the service today I mean how many times did you get just ugh you just you forget sometimes when you've been going to this church for a while you forget what it's like to sit in a church like that and have them just sit there and lie to you service after service and worship the Jews and they have Moloch engraved in the pulpit and they got Israeli flags they got the American flag they got the ecumenical Christian flag hanging in there and they're going to tell you how Jesus could come back at any moment you know I got so sick of that you know what's nice is to be able to just talk about the things that we believe and it's what's straight out of the Bible isn't that nice? you don't have to be like over in the corner with your friend like yeah that pre-trib rapture's stupid you know that's kind of what it's kind of what it's like in one of those churches like you can't really be yourself you can't talk about you can't talk about doctrine isn't it nice you can come to a church like this and just talk about doctrine? you know as long as it's not bozo doctrine right? but anyway that's the sermon for tonight but anyway we want to be humble though don't we? anyway let's see let's look at verse number 30 it says Sain so when they begin to mock here's what they're going to do Sain this man began to build and was what? not able to finish you know what people are going to do when you're not able to finish the Christian life? they're going to mock you and they're going to say you couldn't finish and what's worse than that? not being able to finish ladies don't you like to finish things that you start? don't you like to finish you know cleaning the house when you know I'm kidding my wife does like to finish cleaning the house though alright? she likes to I don't know if she likes to clean but when she cleans she likes to finish when she starts to cook dinner for me she likes to finish you know what when I'm bowing the lawn I don't want to leave a big patch of grass in the corner I want to finish you know anything that we start we should want to finish and not just leave things undone and nothing bothers my wife more than leaving things undone believe me I know I've heard I've heard the story she wants me to finish the things that I start too so anyway we've been so busy since you know we got in the ministry that like our house has kind of become that house in Proverbs where it's just like the cucumbers the the fence has fallen over and so you know now that I've gone full time I've been able to kind of start doing a little more projects you know that pressure washing job I was supposed to do seven years ago you know but you know I want to finish that job but it's a big job but what I'm saying is that you know we need to finish what we start in anything that we do but you know we're talking about Christ we're talking about finishing as a disciple but I'm going to talk about other things too that we need to finish think about this who's ever run a marathon in here anybody alright we got one guy over here he looks like he's ready to run another one so but like I know I've never run a marathon before big surprise to you right but but I know a guy that ran a marathon and I was just talking like he like the next day he was like dead and like he was telling me how he had to like the like the shirt like even the shirt you wear when you run a marathon can well it'll hurt you if you're running 20 what is it 26 and a half miles or something like that isn't that a full marathon I think it is but anyway sees his he was sore like I could see like looking at him that he was sore but he was very determined to finish and when people set out to do something even in a marathon what do you have to do you have to train you have to build yourself up you have to get the endurance and energy to be able to do that you know because it takes a toll on you to be able to finish a marathon and you train to what to be able to finish you train to be able to finish and that's the way it should be in our Christian life that we we go through training in church we go through training by reading our Bibles we go through training by sitting here listening to preaching we go through training in soul winning and all the things that we do to learn to live the Christian life we have to train to be able to do that so that we're able to finish but you know what if you just quit if it was never your intention to finish you're never going to train up to finish well and that's what we need to be able to do is to train up to finish well look at verse 31 it says or what king going to make war against another king sitteth not down first and consulteth whether he is able with 10,000 to meet that cometh against him with 20,000 so that's kind of an interesting way to say something but that's kind of the way the Christian life is I think he kind of put that there on purpose because when we fight the warfare that we fight as Christians it seems like it's 10,000 against 20,000 doesn't it because our lives can get difficult our lives can get hard and people do quit because the Christian life is not easy we always say salvation is really easy don't we and it is salvation is easy as believing on the Lord Jesus Christ that's all it takes to be saved but we always say living the Christian life is what's hard living the Christian life is what's hard when your whole family turns against you that gets hard when your co-workers think you're weird that gets hard when you know you go three times a week to church that can get hard sometimes when you're going multiple soul wanting times plus going to church three times a week plus doing a full time job plus working a second job if you're a man plus staying at home and taking care of multiple children because we preach to have big families it's not easy and in churches like this it's even harder isn't it to live the Christian life but you know what you have to train yourself and prepare yourself to finish strong and finish well and so I think that's pretty interesting he says to meet 10,000 with or meet 20,000 with 10,000 because that seems to be the way the Christian life can be sometimes but you know I don't want to make it out to be all hard there's a lot of joy in the Christian life there's a lot of peace in the Christian life you know what's peaceful you know knowing that your kids are saved when you go to bed at night and you pillow your head you know that you did everything you could to make sure that your children were saved but you know what if you quit there's no guarantee is there and so you got more to think about than just your own family or your own self and your own hide you have to be willing to give up your own life for the life of your children for the life of your wife it's very important for your children to be saved isn't it I mean what are you doing this for you know we need to be serious about the Christian life and make sure that we know that it's important to finish not just for our own sake not for the Lord's sake only but also for the sake of our whole family all of our children because you know what I want is all my children to be saved and you know what they all are and I'm glad because you know I've seen people drop out and their kids weren't saved and they cared more about their own life and the big truck that they wanted to buy or the house out in the country or all this other stuff that means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things what does it compare to the life and the soul of your own children it's nothing those things mean nothing and you know what when we go to heaven you know I have not seen or heard those things that are I forgot the rest of the verse prepared for us those things are prepared for us because we don't know what heaven is going to be like but I'll tell you it's going to be way better than it is here it's going to be way better than it is here so what are you so worried about your hemi dodge diesel you know hillbilly mobile and you know whatever it is that you know floats your boat your quads and your quad life and all this other stuff I'm just saying that because you're an Oklahoma I don't know I'm not making fun of you because that stuff's up to where we live too so but you know what I'm saying it's like how important is that stuff really to you because most of the times when I go to knock on doors the people with the RVs never interested in getting saved people with the Subarus never interested in getting saved the people with the quads in their garage never interested in getting saved the people polishing their boats outside never interested in getting saved the people prostrate in their front yard bent over kneeling to their trees and kneeling to their bushes and their flowers you know what they're never interested in getting saved so why is it so important for us to live this life of just pleasure and luxury and try to be like keeping up with the Joneses it's stupid it's idiotic and you know what hey God's gonna still give you all that stuff anyway but you know seek ye first the you know the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you see people get it backwards and Christians get it backwards it's like stop working so hard for all these extra things in life why don't you work harder for God and you know then He's gonna give you the extra things in life so anyway it says in verse 32 or else while the other is yet a great way off He sendeth in a passage and desireth conditions of peace so likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple can he be any more crystal clear than this can Jesus be any more crystal clear that we have to forsake all that we have and to us some of us probably even just sitting here thinking man that's that is a hard saying who can hear it but you know what we need to hear it at the end of the chapter it says he who hath ears to hear you know should hear right so look at verse 34 it says salt is good but if the salt hath lost its savor wherewith shall it be seasoned and so now he's basically changing gears here to say hey if you don't have that salt if you don't have that saltiness in you as a Christian then it's neither fit for the land nor yet for the dung hill but men cast it out he that hath ears to hear let him hear you know your life means nothing if you're not willing to forsake all that you have you know you're you know to be Christ's disciple it means nothing unless you're willing to forsake all you have excuse me so let's look at Matthew chapter 19 verse 21 turn over there you're like pastor Thompson how dare you tell me I can't be Jesus' disciple I didn't say that I mean I said it but it was Jesus' words right the Bible says not not pastor Thompson says the Bible says if you will not forsake all you cannot be a disciple if you have you know if you're not willing to walk away from everything and your own little precious life and all the things that you think are so important then you know you're not going to be a disciple of Christ period look at Matthew chapter 19 verse 21 Jesus said unto him now this is talking about the rich young ruler as he's called he comes to Jesus asking what he has to do to get eternal life he basically says he's kept all the commandments from his youth you know what lacky what is he lacking you know well first of all he's self righteous I would say because to say that you've kept all the commandments I would say that you're a liar so I mean the most common thing we do is lie isn't it so I think that he's self righteous and he's probably a liar right so it says but Jesus said to him if thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me what is he saying to him forsake everything you have and come and follow me isn't that what he's saying and why did he pick this thing to say to him because first of all he's already self righteous but Jesus knows people's hearts Jesus can read people's minds and he knows what's important to him what's important to him his life the things that he has all of his money that's why he you know he attacks the possessions here Jesus does says but when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions and so that's why you know he didn't want to get saved he didn't want to get saved but Jesus didn't just say you know he said do all that but then he said come and follow me see but he he already saw what it was going to cost him to follow Jesus and he didn't want any part of it so then Jesus said unto his disciples verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven and again I say unto you it's easy for the camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God when his disciples heard it they were exceedingly amazed saying who can be saved who then can be saved but Jesus beheld him and said unto them with men this is impossible but with God all things are possible so don't forget that you know we we go to rich people's doors and knock on them we think these guys aren't getting saved these guys aren't getting saved but you know what sometimes they get saved because it's with God all things are possible so um where was I at what verse was I in sorry I lost 26 okay now look at verse 27 it says then answered Peter and said unto him behold we have forsaken all and follow thee what shall we have therefore what shall we have because we've done this because isn't it true didn't they forsake all that they have didn't they forsake all they had and follow Jesus they did they dropped their nets they quit their fishing business and all the little you know the Matthew was a publican he was a tax collector quit right there left his table sitting there you know those disciples did quit and followed after Christ they forsook all that they had and look at verse 28 says and Jesus said unto them verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory he also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel so this is what they're going to get that's not what we're going to get so but skip down to what you're going to get and everyone that hath forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name's sake shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life you're like what do you mean forsake your children well everybody comes to Christ at different walks of their life maybe you've already raised reprobate children maybe you've already raised children that just are not interested in what you're interested in you know sometimes you have to forsake those things and I'm not saying stop loving your kids I'm just saying that to forsake them and follow Christ because look your family is the biggest drag in your life when the unsaved family members are going to be the biggest drags in your life they're always going to be pulling at you they're always going to be saying why can't you do Halloween what's so bad about carving a pumpkin aren't they they're going to say well what's wrong with drinking you know we're going to drink if you want to come to Christmas at our house you're just going to have to deal with it and then you have to make the decision of whether you really are going to follow Christ or not whether you're really going to say you know what well if you keep planning birthday parties on Sundays guess what I'm not coming because that's their pull on you well why can't you just skip one church service no I'm not skipping a church service I'm going to go to church why don't you stop planning stuff on the Lord's day why don't you get your lazy Marcus in church why don't you come and follow Christ like I'm following Christ see but they always want to drag you back into the pig pen with them they always want to bring you back to your own pile of vomit and they always want to drag you away from Christ you know why because they're not of Christ that's why and yeah you love them I get that I love my family too but I'll tell you what when it comes to my family or God I'm going to choose God every time so and that's what it's saying he's saying forsaken brethren forsaken sisters forsaken father and mother there's parents out there you should try your best to respect them and I'm not saying you should disrespect them I'm just saying that when it comes to serving God serving God is always going to be should always be first over what you're and let me tell you they're going to pull at your heartstrings about everything well why can't you just just this one time you know and you have to make a decision are you willing to first take all to follow Christ or not or are you just going to stick with your twice dead relative that just wants to drag you out of church because that's what they want and you don't always have to necessarily say that to them you know because they're not going to understand what it is that they're doing sometimes sometimes that person might not be they might just be lost not a reprobate at all but just a lost person that wants to live worldly and they want you to live worldly like you used to why can't you just be like you used to Cameron why what's wrong with you why can't you skip one church service Cameron why can't you do it you know and people will pull at you in all these different ways but look what it also says in verse 29 it says or lands see people get caught up with the things that they possess and we do have to listen loosen our grip on the things of this world and it says for my name's sake shall receive what a hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life so not only we get everlasting life that's the free gift that we get but you know we also get to inherit a hundred fold whatever you forsake in your life has added to you a hundred fold I'm not saying you're going to have a hundred mothers that would be but they might be different kinds of mothers who is my brother who is my mother and he's talking about brothers and sisters in Christ mothers in the faith fathers in the faith and so you know you might not you're real fleshly parents might not love you anymore they might have forsaken you because of what you've chosen to do but you know what you're going to have a mother in heaven that loves you and loves you for who you are in Christ look at verse 30 it says but many that are first shall be last and the last shall be first if anyone in your family is more important to Christ you can't be his disciple if your queer relative is more important to you than Christ then you can't be his disciple and this is another thing that pulls at people's heartstrings because we preach so hard against the queers that they just this is just something that we get attacked on not only by fellow Christians fellow Baptist but then we also have to deal with it with our own family members what's wrong with Johnny he just was born that way we know that's not true Johnny Nixon might have been no I'm just kidding he wasn't either nobody's born that way nobody's born a queer or else God's a monster because he says to stone them with stones doesn't he but we're supposed to just oh your little queer faggot cousin we're supposed to just you know your parents and your family are going to pull at your heartstrings over queer relatives I know if I just ask for a raise of hands right now everybody in here has a queer relative and you know what you're supposed to do definitely forsake them definitely forsake them and indefinitely forsake them have nothing to do with them don't let your kids be babysit by them I mean I can't believe sometimes what some Christians like oh yeah just come on you know someone was telling me about a preacher that was saying if a homosexual comes into this church I'm going to give him a contract and say welcome to church or if some and then a transsexual or whatever some transvestite comes in they're going to say the same thing you know what I'm going to say get the hell out of here and don't ever come back leg kicks out the door we'd never be violent like that though we're not supposed to be violent I'd have somebody else do it but anyway look your fag cousin is not more important than Christ or your brother or your child or your parents I mean someone could be turned over to a reprobate mind and theoretically your parents could turn into a homo can't they it happens all the time so you know are they more important than Christ absolutely not turn to Matthew chapter 10 verse 34 and I've said before even if it's your Siamese twin alright if it's your Siamese twin you forsake that person too and try to get yourself cut away from them if you can alright Matthew chapter 10 verse 34 think not that I'm come to send peace on earth I came not to send peace but a sword for I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter in law against her mother in law and a man's foe shall be they of his own household that's what the Bible says so why would we be surprised that Christ would expect us to sever that relationship with someone if he says he came not to send peace but a sword why? of course he wants you to forsake them get rid of them get them out of your life and obviously you don't have to just like burn the bridge down on the way out unless you're talking about some reprobate but your family members that are unsaved honestly when you get saved you get on fire you're trying to get all of them saved but sometimes we do damage when we do that because we want them to live how we live we want them to think how we think and unless they get converted they're never going to think like you think anything you say about the homos they're not going to understand they're really not they're not going to take it as far as you will let's just say that they might not like them but they're not going to take it as far as you so they're not going to say they should be stoned with stones right? they're not so and now in this day and age where you know I'm 46 years old and I never thought I'd live to see where transvestites are serving our tables at restaurants but like every place you go you know you catch the glimpse of the green hair in the it's like green? are you trying to be the Incredible Hulk or something? they got all these fangs in their face you know when I were if you go to Walmart now where we live like I get mad I'd start turning fags into their managers and all kinds of stuff like the last time I think the last time I actually went in there I just I've turned some homos in that were talking about some really nasty stuff in the bathroom and I came out and I went right to their manager when I left and I said these queers are talking about a bunch of nasty stuff in the bathroom I said they should be fired but what my point is is that things have changed dramatically and there's a generation growing up that are never going to know what it's not like to have queers around all the time and out of the closet I mean it was just being talked about when I first became a Christian about queer marriage now it's just a it's just an everyday thing it's no big deal and it should always be a big deal to us I wasn't intending to talk about homos so much so maybe someone's struggling with severancing that relationship with your queer relative who is it? I'm just kidding just kidding or am I? but it says the man's foes shall be they of their own household sometimes whole houses are divided over Christ so if your job, money or land or house are more important than serving Christ you can't be his disciple but guess what as a pastor I see people make the decision to forsake Christ all the time and choose to go back to the world all the time there's nothing more sad to me than that you invest all this time in people you invest all this training and all this stuff just to have them just quit and leave or move away you know and no matter what you say it's never going to change they've made up their mind they're done and that's the saddest thing to me but I know people can come back from that people can come back from that but it's very difficult once you get back out into the world and you start living the life that you used to live it's very difficult to come back but it can be done so what does it cost to be a disciple? What does it cost? It costs everything doesn't it? Turn to John chapter 15 you know what purging is the cost for soul winning purging is the cost for soul winning look at John 15 it says I am the true vine and the father is the husband and every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit and what is it talking about? If you think about like I don't know like pruning things right you have like rose bushes or something you're supposed to prune things back and that hurts it that hurts it but in the long run it makes it grow to be more fruitful when you have fruit trees or vines I'm definitely not a gardener but I understand what it's talking about here and that's what it's talking about sometimes things have to be clipped off of you things have to be clipped out of your life for you to be able to be grown and more fruitful and the other thing that you have to do is you have to be willing to be purged if you want soul winning to be a lifelong thing that you do you have to bear the purges that Christ does in your life you know whatever it is your television if it's your video games or whatever it is because I'll tell you what it takes extra time to purpose to go out soul winning it does and you can make all the excuses that you want in the world to not do it and you can go for 59 minutes and 59 seconds every Sunday at 2 o'clock if you want but I'm sure you guys go longer than that because we have a shorter service time in between we have 59 minutes and 59 seconds now but you know look at what it says in verse 3 it says now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine no more can you except you abide in me so you have to be willing to be purged but you also have to abide in the vine and like wouldn't you say that this church is kind of like a vine there's a bunch of different fruit in this church and you're trying to go forth and bring forth more fruit you're trying to you know you're trying to plant your own tree and you know do the triple crown where you get them saved and they come to church they get baptized then they keep coming to church everybody wants that out of their soul winning and that's a little harder to do these days isn't it especially in a church like this you know when people look up the Google reviews when people look up the website let's just be honest it's harder to get people to come to a church like this than it is to hey come to you know guess what we got ponies for the kids to ride we got Chuck E. Cheese every week we got a Starbucks in the hey come to our church this week isn't that a lot more appealing than hey come and listen to somebody rip your face off for an hour it's family integrated you have to sit there and slap your kids around and make sure they're behaving you know you're encouraged to go soul winning you're shamed into it almost why aren't you going soul winning today oh okay didn't see you last week either you know so it's a little more appealing to be invited to these big community fun centers it's harder to bring people to church get them baptized and teaching the Bible in this church because nobody wants to hear the word of God anymore they want to hear fables they want to hear these Jewish fables they want to hear you know all the cute little stories that make them go home feeling like butterflies are fluttering in their bosom right they want a Mormon church basically but they don't want a independent fundamental Baptist church it's King James only that preaches hard on sin that's soul winning they don't want all that but some people do you know and it's important that we abide in the vine and that we allow Christ to purge those things in our lives that need to be taken out what's the cost for soul winning to be purged and sometimes being purged hurts and you have to let go of those things that you don't really shouldn't really be doing anymore those time even if it's just something that you do that wastes time that's time you could be soul winning so the word abide means to continue to dwell you want to dwell in Christ you want to continue in Christ and you know you got to count the cost in order to be able to do that look at verse number 5 I'm the vine you're the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth what much fruit so what do we have to do to bring forth much fruit well we have to abide in Christ you know what we have to be willing to be purged by him it says for without me you can do nothing if a man abideth not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned now this isn't talking about him sending you to hell this is just talking about that basically you're like the salt that lost its savor you're good for nothing you're to be cast into the dung hill you're basically kind of a worthless Christian if you're not bringing forth fruit you really kind of are a worthless Christian I know brother Stuckey just preached or he just had like a little thing where people said that they were really mad about him preaching this that you're worthless if you're not going soul winning now the caveat to this is that is that yeah there's people that have like maybe you have a busted leg maybe you're you know you just had a child and you're not you know we don't expect you to go out soul winning right after you have a baby it's like hey get out there you haven't got soul winning in three days what's wrong with you woman get out there we're not like that nobody's like that but there are people that just don't want to go those are the people that get offended those are the people that whine and complain about it but you know Christ said to be willing to be purged and you have to abide in him and so we should count it important to go and continue soul winning how are you going to abide in him and be purged and bring forth more fruit if you just don't stop going you got to keep going so it says in verse seven if you abide in me and my words abide in you you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you here is my father glorified that you bear much fruit so shall you be what my disciples see we have to count the cost even when it comes to soul winning to be Christ's disciples and what's the cost purging getting those things out of your life that you shouldn't have in your life and abiding in Christ so what else does soul winning cost an aching back you're not old enough yet to have your back ache from soul winning maybe some of you but maybe you already have a bad back and when you go to soul winning you feel it it can cost an aching back it can cost aching feet it can cost ridicule from friends and family oh you're like one of those Jehovah's witnesses huh you just go around and knock on people's doors and bother them yep but I'm not like a Jehovah's Witness and I'm not like a Mormon they're trying to be like us but they're false they're bringing a false gospel so what else do we get ridicule at the door right and being accused of being Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons when we knock on the door I mean it's a big cost to go soul winning but is it worth it for that one person that gets saved when you go out soul winning we had five people saved yesterday and you know what I guarantee you that they're happy the fact that they got saved and even if they're too stupid to realize how happy they should be they still got saved right so it's a high cost to go soul winning but you know what it's worth the cost but are you willing to pay the cost that's the real question are you willing to pay the cost for soul winning so persecution and hatred is the cost for living godly in Christ Jesus are you willing to pay that cost because when you come to a church like this you're going to get persecuted you know and you're like yeah the new IFP woo yeah and then when people start calling your work and trying to get you fired then you're like woo the IFP oh the old the new IFP no people get scared people back off and people try to take me down all the time people try to take my friends down all the time and say all manner of evil against us and they say all manner of evil against you too they will take anybody and go after them for any reason that they deem necessary and they'll sit there and lie through their teeth and spread it all over the internet and spread it all over social media and just lie about you why because the high cost for living godly in Christ Jesus is persecution that's why turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 11 hold your finger in John 15 though hold your finger in John 15 turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 11 2 Timothy 3 verse 11 says and this is Paul talking and obviously we know he was persecuted right persecutions afflictions which came unto me at Antioch and Iconium and Lystra he was stoned with stones at Lystra and left for dead what persecutions I endured but out of them all the Lord delivered me and all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution shall suffer persecution so if you're here today and you're in a church like this and you're living godly in Christ Jesus because you're listening to the preaching and you're like yeah I want to apply that to my life I want to live godly in Christ Jesus I want to press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus I want to live the Christian life I want to be soul winning and three to thrive well you know what you're going to endure persecution and you better be willing to count the cost because the cost can be high sometimes persecution is going to cost you something it's not just some little you know wind blowing 25 miles an hour outside messing up your hair before you come to church it's going to be more than that that's what happened to me today but anyway my wife's holding her hair like this no I was holding my hair like this no did it work? but anyway look we're going to get persecuted if we live godly in Christ Jesus and if you're holding out for the day when they're going to love you again well guess what you can just hold your breath for a long time because it's never going to happen do you think that your parents you know that your parents that don't like that you go to this church are ever going to love the fact that you come to this church unless they get saved they're probably never going to love that it's never going to get better it's always going to get worse now we don't always suffer persecution every 24-7 or you know I mean some people don't but not everybody does even Job god gave a reprieve to in the end didn't he and blessed him with more than he was ever blessed with to begin with but what did he have to suffer for a time you know we're going to have to suffer and some of us will have to suffer in different degrees than other people what are you willing to lose for that persecution what are you willing to lose to be able to come to a church like this and live godly in Christ Jesus you can lose everything you can lose everything your house I mean who knows you know eventually if you don't have a mark on your head or on your forehead or on your hand you're not going to be able to buy or sell or do anything so how are you going to make a house payment how are you going to make the car payment how are you going to put food on the table how are you going to buy all your all your clothes and all that stuff well you're going to be running that's probably what we're going to be doing but you know if we're even here when that happens we don't we don't really know but it says evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived we're going to get persecuted more why because people are going to get worse and worse not better and better seducers are going to wax worse deceiving other people and so when other people are deceived when the truth hits them in the face they're going to get mad and they're going to persecute you they're deceiving and being deceived so it's just like this mass deception that's going on they're deceiving them that person is in turn deceiving them but here we are with the truth and people don't like it people don't like it when we rip against the homeless people don't like it when we teach that you should have big families people don't like it when we teach about going soul winning and that you're not right with God if you're not going soul winning people don't like that brother I didn't even know brother Stuckey's sermon was that controversial but apparently he's gotten all kinds of flack over it you know who he got flack from people that don't want to go soul winning because they're too lazy right yeah because they didn't count the cost their back hurt I'm never going soul winning again their feet hurt I'm never going someone yelled at me somebody told me to go to hell well I told them to go to hell too so whatever I try not to do that though yesterday I did tell somebody to go to hell but it was nice wasn't it Cameron okay I nicely told them to go to hell but anyway flip your flip back to John chapter 15 look at verse 18 look this should not surprise us but I'll tell you what it does surprise people when the persecution actually hits it feels like a big pressure of anxiety that comes over you it's hard to explain unless you've actually been through it before but when you're under persecution regardless of what sometimes it can be heavy sometimes it can be light you know I haven't had anybody try to hurt me before but there's people in our church that people have tried to hurt before and you know that's not a fun feeling but just persecution in general is not a good feeling but it shouldn't surprise us look at John 15 verse 18 it says if the world hate you you know that it hated me before it hated you you should take some solace in that hey they hated Jesus before they hated you it's not like they you know they didn't hate Jesus they nailed him to a cross I mean they spit on him they mocked him they ripped his beard out they punched him in the face you know they made fun of him and did all manner of evil against him and so it shouldn't surprise us that they're going to hate us too look at what it says in verse 19 if you were of the world the world will love its own but because you're not of the world but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you why does the world hate you because Jesus called you out of the world you know what the world wants their people back and if they can't get you back then they're going to persecute you and if they hated Jesus they're going to hate you don't be surprised about it look at verse number 20 remember the word that I said unto you the servant is not greater than his Lord if they have persecuted me they will also persecute you if they have kept my saying they will keep yours also but all these things will they do unto you for my namesake because they know not him that sent me what is the price what is the cost for living godly in Christ Jesus its persecutions are you willing to pay the cost are you willing to pay for the price of being godly in Christ Jesus well you should be willing to because you know we need to be his disciples now look at Luke chapter 21 verse 17 Luke chapter 21 verse 17 Luke chapter 21 verse 17 says and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake just underline that in your Bible remember that it says that because at some point if you're living godly in Christ Jesus people are going to hate you for it you know and you know people are all riled up about the mass stuff and I get it I hate wearing them too you know I had to wear one for hours just to come here to preach you know that's persecution brother it's persecution by the government but is it persecution from the world that hates us not necessary it's not a Christian thing yet but you know we need to make sure that we understand what real persecution is so don't get that confused so now eventually that could be something that we're persecuted over but that's not what it's all about you know it's not the shame of the mask that makes us you know hated by the world it's the shame of Christ they hate Christ or they just they're not they're of the world if people are of the world and they don't love Christ then they're going to persecute us so if you go to a church like steadfast baptist church or verity baptist church or faithful word baptist church or stronghold baptist church or faithful word or FWBCLA or our church or foundation baptist church you're going to receive some persecution at some point have you kind of the cost for that persecution and you know some people just want to make excuses as to why they can just get out of the Christian life and stop following Christ they make the dumbest excuses ever to get out of it and in this chapter that we actually started in Luke chapter 14 we get to hear some of the dumb excuses that people use in order to not come and serve in the kingdom of God look at Luke chapter 14 let's go back to verse number 16 again Luke chapter 14 verse 16 Luke 14 16 says Then said he unto them a certain man made a great supper and bade many and sent his servant of supper at suppertime excuse me to say to them that were bidden come for all things are now ready and they all with one consent begin to what make excuse they're making excuses right the first said unto him I have bought a piece of ground I must needs go and see it I pray thee have me excused so let me ask you this do you ever buy a piece of ground who's bought a house before they actually saw it before anybody most people want to go see the house come on honey let's go tour the house and let the kids run all over and you know we want to see what the house looks like or if you're just buying a piece of property period nobody's going to go and buy something like that without seeing it first that's an excuse that's why these are listed as excuses because I think that they're dumb excuses and I think any reason for you to stop serving Christ is a dumb excuse but it says I must go needs and see it I pray thee have me excused so think about this you got to count the cost when you buy a piece of land don't you you got to count the cost so if you're thinking this is an excuse as to why someone would quit church or quit serving God because they bought a piece of ground they have to go check it out or maybe they have to move five or six hours away instead of going to a good church they chose the good piece of ground and made an excuse as to why they needed to leave church and bought some house or something that they can't afford have you counted the cost can you afford that house well everything's at a record low pastor Thompson right now the APR everything is just it's super cheap right now to buy a house isn't that what everybody's telling you oh the finance costs are the lowest they've been in years but how much are the houses they're way more than they used to be aren't they you see how they get you and then they just you know I'm sure everybody's heard that the house we got to get the house now we got to refinance now it's so important is it really that is it more important than serving Christ though is buying your dream home out in the country more important than going to a great church in a place where you live 20 minutes from or a place you live three hours from it's way more important what is worth more that stupid piece of ground that you're going to just go into debt up to your eyeballs in and have to pay for the furnace to get redone and the roof to get done and all this other stuff you know I've been renting until Jesus comes I'm serious I rent you're like you're stupid Pastor Thompson do you know how low the interest rates are right now I don't care you know what I care about being 20 minutes from the church I'm at you know what I care about not going into debt up to my eyeballs so I can have a stupid house that's just going to burn someday anyway I'm not saying don't buy a house buy a house but count the cost are you trading your Christian life for that house are you trading your Christian life by having to work more hours and work more overtime because you're a single sole provider in your household and it's important that your wife stays home and takes care of the house and all this other stuff well think about how much that's going to cost if you're never home to spend time with your family your wife wants to divorce you because she never sees you and then you're up to debt in your eyeballs and you have to work way more hours than you ever had to work before and then the pressure of still going to church three times a week and going soul winning something's going to give and you know what it's going to be it's going to be your church life oh I got to work this overtime do ya did you have to buy that piece of ground did you have to go needs and see it you know you got to count the cost is it more important to have your dream home and your dream little Cinderella life out in the country with all your cows and horses and your little you know herbal tea and whatever what do they call the the you know the yeah kombucha whatever all this healthy lifestyle stuff that everybody is just all you know I want to be a homesteader well you know you should have been here when Oklahoma was first available then don't they have the homesteading act here I learned that in school okay so look people make excuses for all kinds of things but can you afford to give up on your Christian life because you bought a piece of ground I don't think you can you can't spiritually afford it you probably can't physically afford it quit going into debt and being spiritually bankrupt over a stupid house and again I'm not saying don't buy a house if you can afford to buy a house buy a house but don't move six hours away from the church you're at to do that don't move three don't move away from the church that you're already at why would you I mean I'm not saying don't ever move for a different church if you're going to go to a church that's good fine I'm not saying that what I'm saying is don't move away from church that's what I'm saying so and you can't spiritually afford it your divorce lawyer's going to cost you a lot of money you know what because you know what if you get out of God's will what is he going to do to you he's going to punish you if you're saved you think you're just going to go off and live your own little life and live stream and make all your witty YouTube comments with your fake name and just live out your life in peace God's going to bring the sword against you just know it he's going to bring the paddle it's going to have holes in it alright so what about the cost of having a homeschooling family are you willing to pay for that cost because it does cost more money you got to pay your taxes to the government for all the public school kids that are getting fed all the garbage that we get fed on a daily basis and you know everybody's racist even though they don't realize it and all this other stuff but are you willing to husbands work outside the home and not let your wife work outside the home so that you can have that homeschool family are you willing to work more hours because sometimes you are going to have to work more hours but you know are you willing to do that for your wife to be able to stay home wives are you willing to pay the cost to be dresses and skirts only because it's not just the cost of money you know and for one thing it's hard to find ones that actually go past the knee anymore and monetarily that's not what I'm talking about I'm talking about the shame that you get from being in skirts and dresses only are you willing to pay that cost because people will you know say are you Mormon they'll say are you are you Russian by any chance that's what people always think my daughter's Russian like duh duh goose ruski you know she's like no but that's what they think but you know are you willing to pay the cost and you know people are going to ridicule for things like that but don't have excuses to to just be pants too you know don't just keep that pair of rustlers up in your closet waiting for the time your husband goes out of town or something so you can put your pants back on you know count the cost of falling Christ he doesn't want you to be a cross dresser does he getting quiet in here your old rhinestone cowgirl jeans that have looks like someone shot him with a shotgun in the front yeah these look perfect it's like what they're only a hundred dollars it's like I'll make you a song for way cheaper than that but anyway but I won't because it's wicked but anyway so look here's the next excuse verse 19 and another said I have bought five yoke of oxen and I go to prove them I pray thee have me excused now if you think about oxen obviously those are things that you'd use to work right you'd use oxen to work but like who buys a bunch of oxen or a bunch of things for work and doesn't look at them first you know this is another weak excuse he just wants to be excused from being bitten and that's what people will use any excuse is just as good as the next we were out someone yesterday me and brother Cameron my wife and a bunch of the other guys and people this lady was like we're right in the middle of a flood right here we're right in the we're in a flood it's like where where's the water and he's just like well they just want you know people just make all kinds of excuses yeah we got milk in the fridge hey I'm sorry I can't talk to you right now I got milk in the fridge it's like because when you don't want to do something one excuse is just as good as the next isn't it and that's what the way people are and that's kind of what these excuses make me think of but have you counted the cost of those oxen that you wanted to buy because you know think about modern day what that would be the work truck man you know that work truck's got to have a 24 inch lift kit on it it's got super swamper tires on and I don't know what the point is of having the tires like extend past the body does anybody know what that's all about it's not economically good for your gas mileage I don't know what the point is but I thought if you like think of the demi or the demi the hemi dodge super ram diesel mega charger or whatever you know truck that you want to buy is that really worth the cost that it's going to cost you because guess what just like the house payment you add on a $100,000 truck that you put all the extras on it's got the strobes and the you know fake police sirens and it's got the deer sights and on both sides and it's got machine gun turrets attached to it or whatever it's got AR-15s on every corner you know I need it for my work truck dang it how much is it worth you know like I said with all the stuff with the house is it worth it it's not worth it and the cost of a new car we were talking about that I bought a new car one time because it was so stinking hot outside that I needed air conditioning and I bought a new car dumbest thing I've ever done as far as an investment because it was an investment it was a Kia Soul first of all that I got way overcharged for if you ever see me get into the Kia Soul you'll understand why it was so dumb I wish I would have gotten a hemi super ram dodge charger or whatever diesel powered truck with like seal eyes for the headlights and all that stuff but anyway I wish I would have but look you can make dumb decisions with buying cars and trucks and you know look maybe God will give you that super charger whatever in heaven you know maybe we'll have we'll be able to fly there so it'll probably be better right don't you think we'll be able to fly I think those dreams when we can fly you know what I'm talking about you ever had those dreams you run and like you can fly for a little bit you know what I'm talking about and it's like you can glide but then you come down you have to like get another running start and jump up again I think we'll actually be able to fly in the future hopefully anyway getting off into heresy so let's get back into the sermon here anyway so you know buying a new vehicle it could put you in a spiritually bankrupt situation just like it could put you in a monetarily bankrupt situation and you know again I know I've no Christians that have done this I had you know they got a new truck going to our church got a new truck then guess what they had to start working overtime on the weekends all the time every weekend every time there's overtime posted they had to work it and then slowly but surely they stopped coming to services and you know as much as I still tried to be like hey you know I'm trying you know trying to encourage them to come back to church and then eventually guess what well guess what happened just you'll never guess guess what happened they quit church over a stupid truck so why do I preach against this kind of stuff well because a truck can get you out of church that's why I'm sure they think it's so important now while God's chastening them that they bought that stupid truck and it wasn't even jacked up anyway so look it's going to cost you more than you want to pay it's going to cost you it can cost you spiritually it can cost you monetarily and look are you able to pay are you able to pay for that cost you know some people think that they can but then why if you if you add it up how much it was going to cost you then why you got to work so much overtime to get it because you didn't count the cost that's why so look at verse number 20 and it says and another said I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come I have married a wife therefore I cannot come that might be the only legit excuse in this whole bunch right here no I'm just kidding but seriously count the cost of marrying a wife count the cost of marrying a husband and I'll say this this is very important point right here this is very important because people get so oh I just I want to get married I want to start the perfect new IFB family you know she's going to obey me and call me lord he's going to be my knight in shining armor and he's going to love me and he's going to he's going to talk sweetly to me but really he's going to be out underneath the car working on it all the time he's going to be skipping church you know and look that's all I'm saying is that you need to pick the right person if you're going to marry a wife you know and that wife is an excuse to get you out of church then that's a stupid decision isn't it? it's a stupid decision I've married a wife therefore I cannot come can't come to church because I didn't pick a spiritual wife I didn't pick a wife that actually wanted to come to church I didn't pick a wife that actually wanted to do the things of God that I wanted to do and you spent all that time and you spent all that money on the wedding and now she doesn't even want to come with you as a matter of fact she doesn't even like you anymore is that where you want to be? young people? no you don't you want to be with someone you want to marry someone that isn't an excuse for you to not come to church right? you need to count the cost of marrying a spouse because you know ladies you might be happy to marry Mr. Studmuffin you know he's real handsome now he's got a six pack he's got you know 24 inch pythons or whatever but maybe he doesn't have a spiritual bone in his body maybe he's dumb as a post maybe he doesn't care about working hard for your family what is most important in life you know obviously following Christ but you know if you're going to pick someone to live the rest of your life with maybe it should be a person that actually wants to live that life with you because if you're fighting upstream all the time it's a very sad sad situation and you know men if you're marrying some woman that you think is your Cinderella you put the glass slipper on it fits perfectly oh you know she's so new IFB but then any kind of persecution comes or maybe she was just making up stories to try to get with you or whatever then next thing she becomes Jezebel you know you don't want to marry Jezebel do you? so what I'm saying to you is this when you get married you better count the cost you better make sure you get to know them you better get into marriages and I know like Pastor Mendez's advice for people is to go for one year of seasons before you marry somebody and I agree with that I think that you should go through a season with them because how do you know what they're going to be like the first time you go to the river if they got their bikini on the next thing you know there's all these guys ogling them, hey you got married to her already but you know if you wait that season and then you're like hey maybe I shouldn't marry this girl she's a little loose maybe I shouldn't marry this guy you know he's got his shirt off showing his hulking muscles to everybody, all the women are fawning around him, you know it can make a difference. Where are you going to spend Thanksgiving? That's a rough one isn't it? Wherever the best food is amen? I don't want to go to my mom's but those fights happen. I'm not even going to ask for a raise of hands, I already know they're going to come up. We went to your family for Christmas and it sucked last year, we're going to mine again and that's, those things happen so just get to know the person. Are they on there are they on your team and are they on team Jesus? That's the most important thing whether they're saved or not. So you got to count the cost before marrying a wife look at verse 21 so that servant came and showed his lord these things then the master of the house began being angry said to his servant go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind and the servant said lord it is done as thou has commanded yet there is room and the lord said unto his servant go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled for I say unto you that none of these men which are bidden shall taste of my supper. Now listen to me nobody's more important than the kingdom think about this guys at work aren't those people that they think that if they left then the company would fold up their tents and be done they you know they're just all bitter they're mad because they didn't get their way about something and they think that they're the greatest worker and maybe they are a good worker but maybe their attitude just sucks but there's those types of people in Christianity too where they think well this church wouldn't move on without me and my tithe money this church wouldn't move on without me and my piano playing skills this church wouldn't move on without me who else is going to clean the church guess what somebody else is going to do it next man up next woman up that's what's going to happen you're not greater than the kingdom of heaven you're not greater than anybody else in this church and I'll tell you what God's going to move on without you the kingdom of God is going to move on without you and you know what you're going to be sitting there bitter in your house watching live streams of Benny Hinn or something or going to some lame church and still bitter at the new IFB it's your fault quit thinking you're bigger than the kingdom and that's what God's basically saying right here is like they're not going to taste my supper you want to make excuses you want to quit you want to get out well get out and you know that's fine it's going to be you that suffers for it and your family because God's kingdom is going to march on right his truth will be marching on like we sang earlier so Luke chapter 9 verse 61 Luke chapter 9 verse 61 I'm almost done here Luke chapter 9 verse 61 Pastor Shelley said I can preach as long as I want so and the air conditioning feels nice in here so I'm just I'm really comfortable right now if you need to stand up and you know slap yourself or something you can anyway Luke chapter 9 verse 61 says Jesus said unto them no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God and so God doesn't want us to look back once we put our hand to the work he wants us to keep going what did Jesus say about Lot's wife remember Lot's wife what did she do she turned around and looked back at San Francisco right as it was burning up God told her not to look back don't look back you know when we look back and our soul draws back into perdition we don't want to be that kind of a Christian we want to be one that's moving forward for the kingdom of God not looking back and I'll tell you this people don't quit and make excuses to quit and blame the leadership for that they're wicked I'm sick of that I'm sick of that happening all the time I'm just gonna since I'm at another church nobody else is hearing what I'm saying anyway so it's okay but here's what I get irritated about when it's fine people quit go do what you want I'm not your daddy you know I care about you I want you to continue on but if you don't that's still your choice we're not in the you know cults will try to keep you in but we're not a cult we'll kick you out okay we don't want to try to keep people in that don't want to be here but when you leave don't make the pastor your excuse as to why you're leaving that's something that's irritating or they'll say other people in the church you know are you going to church for those other people are you going to church for the pastor you know it just amazes me how many people well you know the pastor will do so many nice things for them and their family they'll do all this stuff they'll call they'll pray they'll stay up late talking to them on the phone they'll do all these things help them out monetarily whatever they can do to help these people and then in the end the pastor does one thing that they don't like they're gone the pastor's a reprobate the pastor's no good anymore let me just tell you something right now pastors make mistakes too and not all pastors no pastors are sinless has pastor Shelley ever gotten up here and said he was sinless before we talked to a guy yesterday that apparently didn't sin or a lady that didn't sin anymore she keeps all the commandments but I'll tell you what I don't I want to but there's a war between our spiritual man and our fleshly man and sometimes that flesh wins doesn't it but it's weird to me how people can be like oh I love this pastor I like this pastor this church is so great and then people start doing a thing or two that they don't like and they're like I'm out of here the new IFB is a cult and then they leave right isn't that what they do isn't that what they say they're just waiting for something to get out of church for and they're like aha I found it and then they walk out and blame the pastor for that because they don't want to serve because they didn't count the cost of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus they didn't count it but then they want you to pay for it I'm not taking that and I don't think pastor Shelley should have to take it either so to recap everything that I said we need to count the cost of following Christ not just monetarily but spiritually more importantly than anything else and we need to count the cost of following you know for soul winning for our life and church you know choosing the right spouse whether or not to get a house or not now I hope you don't think that I think you're wicked if you're buying a house okay I'm not saying that I'm just saying if it's going to count if it's going to cost you your spiritual life that maybe it's a decision that you should make if moving away in the middle of nowhere to Podunk Holler wherever that's I looked for it on the map I couldn't find it but if that's more important than you than serving Christ you need to get your priorities straight and you need to get your heart right because following Christ and being his disciple is the most important thing we can do in this life Philippians chapter 3 I'll just close here verse 14 says I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus and that should be every single person's goal Heavenly Father we thank you Lord so much for the great church Steadfast Baptist Church and for all these fine people here I pray Lord that you would help us to just internalize this sermon and Lord even this preacher here and I just pray that Lord we'd always be making decisions that are for the spiritual good of our family and for ourselves and Lord that we would not quit and not have lame excuses when we do so Lord in Jesus name we pray, Amen I turn if you would to Psalm 126 in your white handout should be a white handout in the chair under your chair in the chair in front of you or beat your neighbor up and take it from them or in your Bible Psalm 126 is there as well Psalm 126 Before we get this song started Psalm 126 says he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shout out let's come again it says they that go in tears shall reap in joy that's another cost that you need to have counted for yourself going soul winning so keep that in mind don't just sing it because it's there think about the words Psalm 126 let's go ahead and sing When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue was singing Then said they among the heathen the Lord had done great things for them the Lord had done great things for us Whereof we are glad Turn again our captivity O Lord as the streams in the South they that sow in tears shall reap in joy they that sow in tears shall reap in joy Then said they among the heathen the Lord had done great things for them the Lord had done great things for us Whereof we are glad He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him Then said they among the heathen the Lord had done great things for them the Lord had done great things for us Whereof we are glad Amen with that you are dismissed you