 Hey man, so what I need you to do is keep your place or put a ribbon or a bookmark in John chapter 6. So this is a story that I'm going to be referencing throughout the sermon. Keep a place in John chapter 6 and go back through the Gospels to the beginning of Matthew and look at Matthew chapter 7 if you would. This morning we're going to be looking at God's will for your life. What is God's will for your life? We're going to be looking literally in the Bible where it says God's will is this for your life. We believe the Bible, every single word of it, at hold fast Baptist church. So we're going to be looking at God's very specific will for all of your lives today. Keep your place in John chapter 6 and go back to Matthew chapter 7. The first, I'm going to look at three points this morning and show you God's will for your life and show you how these three points that the Bible says that this is God's will for your life are a foundation for you to build everything off of. If you understand the three points that I'm going to explain to you from the Bible this morning you will be able to base every decision in your life off of these three foundational points in the Bible. The first thing is this, go to Matthew chapter 7 and look at verse 21. Let's get right into it this morning. Keep your place in John 6. We're going to be going back there in just a couple of minutes. Keep your place in John 6. Look at Matthew chapter 7 and look at verse number 21. This is a good little soul winning tip here as well. I love these verses for people that believe in works-based salvation, for people that are maybe Catholics. This is a great verse in the Bible, great passage in the Bible. Look at verse number 21 of Matthew chapter 7 and let's look at the first point of what God's will in your life is. Look at what the Bible says in verse 21 of Matthew 7. Not everyone. Jesus is saying, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth will of my Father which is in heaven. So here Jesus is saying is that not everybody that just believes that Jesus existed is going to go to heaven. Jesus is explaining here and then he goes through in the next two verses. He says many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? Have we not cast out devils? Haven't thy name done many wonderful works? Jesus is saying that people are going to come to him after they've died and said, Lord, look at all the wonderful things that we did in your name. Look at all the things that we did on this earth. We went out and we cast out devils and we told people about your name. Look at all these things that we did. What are these people trusting in to get themselves to heaven? What are these people telling Jesus why they should be able to come into heaven? Because they did all these wonderful works. And then look at verse number 23. And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity. These people were trusting in their works to get to heaven and Jesus says, notice I never knew you. He didn't say I used to know you and then I forgot you. He says I never knew you because they were never saved. They never trusted on Jesus Christ. They never had that moment in their life. Now many Catholics will bring up to you in verse 21, they would say, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. And look, anybody that has to, wants to take one verse out of the Bible and try to prove works-based salvation from that one verse, all you usually have to do is read a couple more verses to understand the context of that verse. But many people will say, see, you have to do the will of the Father which is in heaven. See? Well, that's true. Now go to John chapter 6. This is the answer to that. If they say ye, ye have to do the will of the Father which is in heaven. Well John chapter 6 gives us an exact definition of what that will is. Look at John chapter 6 and look at verse 38. So John chapter 6 is such a great chapter in the Bible. Jesus is talking about how he's the bread of life. He's comparing, he's comparing the bread that was physically sustaining every single day, the Israelites in the desert, to he's the bread that you only need one time. Just like he's the perfect priest, he's the perfect sacrifice, this perfectly fits into that. He's the perfect bread. Once you get that, you never hunger again. Jesus is explaining this spiritual truth and many people in John chapter 6, like they are confusing it. Well, we have to eat him. We have to drink him. They're taking it literally. This is why Catholics today are still confused on this. They still think they're drinking the blood of Jesus and eating the body of Jesus. They're just as confused as the people in John chapter 6. Jesus is giving a spiritual truth that is spiritually discerned and the Bible actually says that he does it on purpose because he knew that there were some that had hard hearts and didn't believe. But look at John chapter 6 and verse 38. We'll get more into that a little bit later. Look at verse 38. We're looking for the will of the Father, the will of the Father. Jesus says, for I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but he sent me. He said I came to do the Father's will. Look at verse 39. And this is the Father's, now he's going to tell us. We're going to find out the will of God the Father right here, which is the Father will of the, and this is the Father's will, which him that sent me, that of which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. This is the will of him that sent me. Here it is. That everyone, underline those two words in your Bible, if you don't mind writing in your Bible, everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life. I will raise him up at the last day. This is the will of the Father. So the first point is the will of the Father, God's will for your life. The first foundational point is that you would be saved. That you would have salvation. That you would have everlasting life. By how? By believing on his Son, by trusting on his Son. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 2. And notice this destroys Calvinism right here. This destroys this idea that there's this unconditional, you know, election that God chose from the foundation of the world who would be saved and who would not be saved. This destroys it right here. And I'll show you more verses on that, but look at 1 Timothy chapter 2. Look at verse number 4. The Bible says this, who will have, this is saying God's will. It's God's will, who will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth. This is saying that it is God's will. It is God's desire that all men would be saved. That's what, look, that's what God wants. God wants everyone to be in heaven. That's what God wants. It's very simple. That completely hammers the nail of Calvinism into the ground right there. It is God's will. I mean, what do they do with that? It is God's will that all men be saved. But guess what? Guess what, folks? Turn to Luke chapter 13. Are all men going to be saved? This is the question. This is the question. So it's God's will that all men would be saved. God would like all men to be saved, but let's, I mean, let's do some accounting this morning. So this is the first will of, you know, God in your life. Look, if you're not saved this morning or you don't know if you're saved this morning, please talk to someone after the service and let us show you how easy it is to be saved, to get to heaven, to have everlasting or what the Bible calls eternal life. It's very easy and we can show you that today. That is the first thing that God wants for everyone. He wants all men to be saved. But will they be is the question. I like to ask people this out of soul winning. I often ask this to people out of soul winning. I'll ask people, do you think that most people go to heaven? And you know what? Most people have this answer exactly wrong. Because most people out there today, it shows you the state of churches in our country. The state of churches in our country completely misrepresent God. They have God as this, just all loving Jesus is just this lovey-dee-dovey, long-haired hippie that just loves everybody and carries a sheep around all the time. This is Jesus. Look, these people have never read the Bible. Jesus is constantly just rebuking people, speaking about hell, talking about eternal, you know, eternal life and damnation on the other end of that. Jesus, he's out there, he's warning people because he doesn't want people to go to hell. Look at Luke chapter 13. And it's interesting that most people have this wrong because the Bible, Jesus himself actually answers this question directly. The disciples asked the question. It was a good question. So happy that this answer is in the Bible because he gives us the answer. It shows though that the churches today, they're just, they're completely misrepresenting God. They don't know the God of the Bible. And that's what happens if you go to a church that doesn't preach the whole Bible, you will have a misrepresented view of the nature and mind of God because guess what this is? This King James Bible, this is the mind of God. This is the nature of God. This is what God wants us to know about him, everything from cover to cover. Look at Luke 13, look at verse 23. Luke 13 verse 23, then said, one unto him, the disciples, Lord, very direct question here. Are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, look, they said, are there, are there few that are going to heaven or are most people, you know, going to hell or most people going to heaven? What is the answer? Look what he says unto them. He says in verse 24, strive to enter in at the straight gate. That's not straight like an arrow. That's straight like a narrow passageway is what that word means. It, strive to enter in at the straight gate. He said, for many I say unto you, we'll seek to enter in and shall not be able. In Matthew 7.13, he answers it in a little bit more detail, I'll just read it for you. He says, enter in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way. That's the opposite of straight, that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there at. Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. He's saying, straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to heaven is what he's saying. He's saying, yes, there's few that be saved. Now you also have to be King James only to understand this verse because in many other versions of the Bible it says, difficult is the way. Is it difficult to be saved? It is not difficult to be saved. It is easy to be saved but Jesus is saying that few people will find it. Quite simply because of Matthew 7.21 through 24 where Jesus says people are relying on their own works. That's why they're not going to find it. Because people can't take the trust off themselves and put it only on Christ. That's why it's not hard folks. It's not hard to receive a gift. It's not hard to walk through a door. It's not hard to eat a piece of bread. It's not hard to receive a free gift. It's easy. It's easy. But Jesus says, few will find it. Because man has this innate desire to rely on himself, to be prideful and lifted up. Turn to John chapter 12. So Jesus actually says here, he says, look God, look back to the point. God wants everyone to be saved. That is the will of the Father that all men would be saved. But guess what? Few will be. Few will be. Look, I don't like to report that to you this morning. That's why we go out and preach the gospel to people because I don't like that few people are going to heaven. I want other people to know how to get to heaven. I don't feel like I deserve to go to heaven and I want other people to know how to get that free gift as well. Because basically I'm not a jerk that wants to take the gift that I've been given and just keep it all to myself. Which is what a lot of Christians do today. Look, few will be saved. God wants all to be saved. The question is, is this God's fault? John 3.36, one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. You go to John 12. It says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him. Some people won't believe not. That's it. That's why few people will be saved because some people will believeth not. They won't trust on Christ alone. Some choose not to believe. That's simple. Look at John 12. Others, others, and in some more extreme cases, others the Bible says literally get to a point where they cannot believe. Now I will show you how this happens this morning. But some get to the point where they literally can't believe. You say, wow, that sounds bad. It is bad. Look at John 12. Now look at verse 39. Look what the Bible says. It says, therefore, this is talking about some of the religious leaders that were rejecting Christ. It says, therefore, they could not believe. Because that Isaiah said, he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them. The Bible here is saying that because of the Pharisees and some of the religious leaders that had rejected Jesus, God made it to where they literally couldn't understand. Where he hardened their heart. Look, he did the same thing. Turn to Exodus chapter 10. He did the same thing to Pharaoh. He did the same thing to Pharaoh when Moses was bringing the plagues and trying to get Pharaoh to let the people go. Look, the Bible says that God got to a point with Pharaoh where it was God that hardened Pharaoh's heart. Several times throughout the story. I'll just show you one, but several times throughout the story. Look at Exodus chapter 10 and look at verse number seven. There's already been several plagues that have happened already and Pharaoh has changed his mind constantly. Sometimes it says he hardened his heart. Other times it says the Lord hardened his heart. But it got to the point. Look at verse number seven of Exodus chapter 10. Look at verse number seven. It got to the point where Pharaoh's servants came to him and said this. How long shall this man be a snare unto us? Let the men go that they may serve the Lord their God. Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? The people came to Pharaoh and they're just like, what is wrong with you? The entire country is destroyed at this point. All these plagues have come and Pharaoh just keeps changing his mind saying no, no, no. But look at verse number 20 of Exodus chapter 10. But God got to a point where he says, no, I'm going to make an example of Pharaoh. I am going to show my power through this man. And look what it says in verse number 20. It says, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would not let the children of Israel go. What we're seeing here with the Pharisees and what we're seeing here with Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 10 is that people can push God to a point where he hardens their heart. Where literally the Pharisees, it says, they could not believe. They did not have the capacity to believe. Now look, turn to Romans chapter one. And Romans chapter one, it explains to us this process of how this happens, about how some people literally get to the point where they cannot believe. And there's a very specific process laid out in Romans chapter one that shows what happens here. You say, how can God want all men to be saved? Yes, but some men turn against him and go through this process that is laid out in Romans chapter one to the point where they cannot. They cannot believe. Look at verse, look at Romans chapter one. Look at verse number 21. The Bible is very clear about these things. The Bible in Romans chapter one is talking about the creation. It's talking about all the things of God that can be seen by everyone. And then verse 21, it starts talking about these specific people. And it says, because that, when they knew God, they glorified him, not God. They were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. We're talking about this in the Sunday morning sermon series. These people that profess themselves to be wise and God makes them fools. And they changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like uncorruptible man into birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. So these people, they didn't glorify God. They changed God. And look what it says that how God responded in verse 24. It says, wherefore, God also gave them up. Wherefore means because of these things. Because they turned on God. Look, God didn't start it. God wants, it is God's will that all men would be saved. But some men choose to turn on him and to change him and to be unthankful towards him. It says, wherefore, meaning because of this, God gave them up to uncleanness through the loss of their own hearts to dishonor their bodies between themselves. Then look at number 25. Here's something else they did. Who changed the truth of God into a lie. They started changing what the Bible says. They started changing what God says. How many churches are like this today? How many churches don't even talk about the Bible today? How many churches just preach what they feel and preach what they think God should be in their own mind. They're changing God. They're changing the Lord. Look at verse 26. Again, it says, for this cause, God gave them up. Look, for this cause, because they did these things to the Lord, God gave them over. And then look what it says. He gave them up under the vile affections. Even their women did change the natural use into that, which is again, it's nature. And we start going into homosexuality and all these perversions that these people get into. This is how it happened, folks. They turned on the Lord. Okay, God wanted at one time, every single man on the earth, God wanted at one point for that person to be saved. They turned on him and God gave them over. He gave them up. In verse 28, it says it again. God gave them over to a reprobate mind. That means a rejected mind. Most normal people look at all these perversions that are happening today. Most normal people look at that and they're like, I don't understand how people could think that way. How people could do these wicked things. This is how it happened. They turned on the Lord and God gave them over to a reprobate mind. God let them go and they went into all this wicked, vile, unnatural affections. This is how it happened, folks. People turned on the Lord. So yes, God wants all men to be saved. That is the will of God. If you are within the sound of my voice and you're listening to this, God wants you in heaven. But some people turn on God and reject. That, and the Bible says he rejects them at some point. So look, God wants all men to be saved. We are out there trying to get, look, this is not most people. This extreme case of Romans one is not most people. Most people that you run into are indifferent. They just don't care what the Bible says. That doesn't mean that they've turned on the Lord and all this. Look, we need to get out and reach people. That's why we go out and do that. And we're gonna reach everyone and we don't have to filter these people. We don't have to like decide, you know, which one is maybe turned on the Lord or not because look, they will either believe or they will trust or they won't. And, you know, if they can't believe, that's not up to us. We're gonna just present the truth to people and they have that choice to believe. But it is not God's fault that this passageway that few will be saved. That is not God's fault. God wants all men to be saved. That's the first will of God. Now the second one will apply more to all of you in this room because hopefully you're all saved this morning. But turn to Romans chapter 12. The second one is this. God wants you to be separated from the world. God wants you to be separated. God wants you to be saved. The second will of God is that you be separated from the world. Look at Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, look at verse number two. The Bible says this. The Bible says this. It says in Romans chapter 12, verse number two, the Bible says, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. It is the will of God that all of you be saved and that all of you be not conformed to this world. Turn to second Corinthians chapter six. You say not conformed to this world. What does that mean? What does that mean to not be conformed? That means to become like this world. That means to be part of this world. You're like, what do you mean? I'm living in the world. My house is in the world. My neighborhood's in the world. Look at verse, look at second Corinthians chapter six and verse number 17. Second Corinthians chapter six, verse number 17. Look at verse number 17. It says, wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, sayeth the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. It is God's will for your life that you be separated from the worldly people, from the worldly things. I mean, just look around you in this country. Look at all the things that we preach about in this church. All the things that are in the Bible that I preach about, look, the Bible says, God doesn't want you to be part of that. God wants you to come out from that, to separate from that. Look, I think in America today, this is my hardest job. As a pastor of a Bible preaching church, this is my toughest job, is to convince you to be different. You know, I mean, everyone else will look at us and will look at you and they'll say, why do you look that way? Why do you dress that way? Why don't you go there? Why, you know, look, life is a party in America today, folks. Life is just this huge party and I'm trying to convince you to be the only one that doesn't go to the party. Like some job I have. You know, and here we are, here we are at Super Bowl Sunday today. Look, if you're here today, you're separated. You're separated. You say, what's the big deal with the Super Bowl? You big lump on a log? What's the big deal? It's just a game. See, but that's what the devil's good at. The devil's good at saying, what's the big deal? And then he throws a bunch of alcohol commercials in front of you and a bunch of scantily clad women in front of you. He's like, what's the big deal? And they just keep throwing all this sin in your face. The devil is really, really good. And the problem with not separating from those things is that eventually the world will convince you that sin is not a big deal. Eventually, if you're not separated, you will stop seeing the sin in the world. The number one sick day in America is tomorrow. Did you know that? It is estimated that 10% of people in the country, this is crazy, will call in sick to work tomorrow. Can you believe that? I mean, I kind of can. But I mean, it's because people are engaged in sin today and they don't want to go to work tomorrow. And it's just considered normal now and considered no big deal. And then there's me. Here's me. Hey, serve the Lord. Hey, let's go soul winning on Super Bowl Sunday. Let's go walk around and show up at somebody's door when they're getting drunk with all their friends with a Bible in our hands. I'm like, yes, but that's me. That's my job. But you are supposed to be, this is God's will that you're separated from this stuff. Miss out on all this stuff? Look, separation is controlling the influences in your life. That's what separation is. That's what God is talking about. This is why we homeschool. This is why I'm so thankful that every kid in this church is homeschooled because otherwise if you don't separate from that sinful teaching, from that worldly teaching, look, you will lose. You will lose. That influence will take over your children. You will lose your kids. It's not a little bit different what they're teaching them. It's the opposite. The worldview of the Bible is the opposite of what they'll teach them in school. And you will have them for one hour, two hours at night and the school will have them all day, every day. And then Christians are like, well, these are your kids. I don't know why are kids, you know, I don't know. They don't believe the Bible. They don't believe in God. I'm like, you're an idiot. You're not separated. God clearly says his will is that you are separated. They will convince you that, yeah, this sin, it's no big deal. Turn to 1 Peter chapter two. This is separation. And let me tell you something. It's only gonna get worse in our society. I'm always looking for, I always kind of watch a couple of faith-based movie like review sites. And I'm always trying to get, you know, like one or two movies that we could have for a movie night for the church, which is like impossible, by the way. And I found one that somebody mentioned to me and I found one that had some pretty good reviews on this website that's got, it's a faith-based movie. And it was about this football player. His football player, he's faith-based, you know, and it's about his struggle and all this kind of stuff. So I started watching it and within 10 minutes into the movie, 10 minutes into the movie, the guy's walking into a bar and everyone's drunk in the bar and this is like the story of him meeting his wife. And then like, I just stopped the movie. I'm like, yeah, okay, no church movie there. And then I read more on it and it's like he moves in, they lived together for years and fornication, you know. Look, this is normal today. This is what the war, that's conformity to the world. This is a Christian movie. Christians are so stupid today, it makes me sick. The guy goes on the football field and he wins a Superbowl and he's like, everyone's like, oh, he's like, they're like, he's saved. Let's move this movie to our kids. It's ridiculous. Look, at this point, at this point, folks, look, we're going around town the last two or three weeks and I don't know, it must be some winter festival or something, go to 1 Peter chapter two. There's some kind of formal event going on at the high schools in Clovis and Fresno because we're seeing kids in tuxedos and girls and all that stuff, dressed formally. We'll get there in a minute, but look at 1 Peter chapter two and verse number nine, then I'll finish the story. The Bible says, but you're a chosen generation or royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people. Look, it's only gonna get worse because people are gonna start looking at you and they're gonna be like, you're weird. Why are you a weirdo? Why are you acting and dressing and looking and doing all these things, you're weirdo. Let me tell you, who's a weirdo? We're going around town and just yesterday, we see these girls out with these young teenage boys and tuxedos and these girls are formally dressed. I don't think that you would, I had to cover the eyes of my children. These people, they're sending their daughters out, dressed like prostitutes. Look, it's worse than prostitutes, it was terrible. It was terrible and they're out, they're unsupervised, there was a bunch of teenagers and they're probably being exposed to alcohol. I mean, look, these people are crazy. And here's how you will know that you were starting to be successful in separation. When you look at things like that and you say, when you stop hearing people calling you crazy and you look at people like that and you say, these people are nuts. These people are insane. Parents that could make decisions like this, you're like, they're like bewitched or something. They're like in a trance or something. You know what? They are bewitched, they're programmed, they're programmed. Because once you start getting separated and you get passed, other people pushing back on you and you start to actually see the results of what will happen if you don't separate, then you start, you will know you're successful. Because you'll look at that and you'll be like, wow, it's a proof, it's a proof. It's a testimony of what's at stake. Because eventually, if you don't separate, you will lose, folks. And guess what? All the separation, it's tough to go it alone. It's tough to be the only one, but that's the beauty of a church. That's the beauty of having brothers and sisters in Christ. You know, get out of that darkness, First Peter chapter two said, get into the light. You know, get amongst some fellow weirdos and then you won't feel weird. And you'll start to see how crazy the world actually is. And then guess what? If you can't get separated, you will never get far on step three. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter four. 1 Thessalonians chapter four. So we see that you should be saved. God wants you to be saved. It is God's will for your life that you be saved. It is God's will for your life that you be separated. You know, I'm sitting here and I'm convincing you. Look, you just gotta trust me. You just gotta trust me. It may seem like you're giving up the fun. You're giving up all this. Look, we have plenty of fun here. I don't even know what that's about. At this point in my life, I can't even imagine. Look, it's a joyful Christian life. It's a joyful Christian life. But I'm trying to convince you to get separated and look, you will see it. I promise you. If you follow the Bible, it will pay off for you. God has the best intentions for you in your life. Get saved, get separated. What's the last one? Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter four. Look at verse number three. 1 Thessalonians chapter four. Look at verse number three. It says, this is the will of God. It says, even your sanctification. So this is saying, you know what the will of God is? That you be sanctified. What does sanctified mean? It means that you become holy, that you become pure. It says that you should abstain from fornication. They use fornication here as an example. But really, and we're gonna talk about that in detail tonight, but really the key here is to become holy in your life. That every one of you know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor. This is talking about Christian growth is what this is talking about, because guess what? Christian growth is different than salvation. Salvation is in a moment. It has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with anything. It's just you trusted Christ alone. And you're saved in a moment. You have everlasting life. Christian growth takes time. Christian growth takes time. Look, here's the equation for, I like math. Here's an equation for Christian growth. Separation times time equals growth. And you will grow in your Christian life. But look, go to John 17, 17. If you can't separate, you won't last. If you can't separate, you won't grow. If you can't separate and stay separated, you will not grow. The T in the equation can't be like really short. Or your growth will be nothing. Look at verse 17 of John 17. You say, how? How do I get, okay, I'm separated. I'm with you. I'm saved. I'm separated. We're not participating in certain things. We've got our standards squared away in our lives and our family. Like, how do I do it? How do I grow in my Christian life? Well, look at what the Bible says in verse 17 of John 17. It says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Knowing and following the word of God. That is how you will get sanctified. That's why I'm up here yelling the word of God at you every single Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Look, here's the thing. Many people just don't know. I mean, it's quite obvious with the Christian movie that I watched, the first 10 minutes of the other day, that many people just don't know what's wrong. They don't know. They don't know the word of God. We've never been at a time in this country where less people know what the Bible actually says than right now. But here's the thing. Once you start reading the Bible, once you start hearing the Bible preached, you will realize all this sin, what is sin and how bad it is for you. You will realize that there are things that the world doesn't even consider sin anymore. And then it takes time to clean all that up. It takes time to make changes in your life. It takes time. So look, here's how you do it. Here's how you do it. Just Christian growth means changing your life, folks. And that takes time. That takes time. Just listen, open your heart, stop having any bitterness towards the Bible or the tribulation that comes from following the Bible. And you're like, it seems impossible. It's not. It's not. It's not easy, but you can do it. Turn to Philippians chapter four. I'll give you two keys for success here. In salvation, what are we talking about? Salvation, separation, and sanctification. We're talking about sanctification. How do we do it? How do we do it? I'm gonna show you two things that you can do in your life that will help you grow in your Christian life because this is the will of God that you grow. As a Christian, that you become formed to Christ. Look at Proverbs chapter four and look at verse, I'm sorry, Philippians chapter four. Look at verse 13. You say, I can't do this. It's too hard. There's too many people around me. There's too much going on. There's too much noise. But look at verse 13. It says, I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me. So yes, you can do it. It is possible. And I'm gonna give you two ways, two actual mechanical ways to do it. Turn to Proverbs chapter four. The first one is this. You need to protect your heart. You need to protect and guard your heart. So it doesn't turn against the Bible. That's the first thing. That's the first way you can keep yourself in this Christian life for a long period of time and you can grow as a Christian. Look at Proverbs four, 23. It says, keep thy heart with all diligence. That means guard your heart. That means for out of it is what? Out of it are all the issues of life. Look, it says, guard your heart. If you don't guard your heart, you will fail with the Christian life. That is it. Look, you need to make a commitment to yourself. This is how you do that. You make a commitment to yourself and this will stop any bitterness creeping in. You just commit to yourself. You say, you know what? If it's in the Bible, I will try to grow there. That's all you have to do. All you have to do, you sit up here and you sit in the chairs and you hear a sermon and you're like, ah! I don't like hearing that. Just look at the Bible and say, does the Bible say that? And just tell yourself, if the Bible says it, I'm gonna do that. If the Bible says that, just commit that. That if it's in the Bible, you will believe it and you will do it. And then your heart will, look, your heart will stay right. Your heart will stay right. And guess what? You're not gonna get it right every single day. You're not gonna get everything right in one hour. That's why you need time. That's why you have to stick in the Christian life over time because growth is not like overnight. You're not gonna go to bed and like put the Bible under your pillow and wake up and be this great, mature Christian. It takes time to grow. But you have to be able to stay in the fight, folks. Because if you start turning against the word of God, that is the beginning of the end of your Christian life. You say what? You know, look, you'll still be saved. But there's plenty of Christians out there who just leave the Christian life, who just walk away from the Christian life, who just do nothing with their Christian life. And the longer, but look, the longer you can stay in it, the longer you can keep that tea, the bigger you can make that time, the more you're gonna grow. The more you're gonna grow. So guard your heart, remain soft to the Bible. That is step one in your sanctification. Here's the second one. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. The longer you can stay in this Christian life, the more you're gonna grow. Paul said, you know, I've run my race. Paul stayed in it to the end. You read about the Old Testament kings. You read about the guys that started out well. Many of them ended bad. Paul's a rarity that he got into the Christian life. He got saved and he just ran that race and he ran it all the way to the end. That's rare, but that should be a goal for you to just stick in this Christian life. Guard your heart. Tell yourself if it's in the Bible, I believe it. I don't care how uncomfortable this is. I've been taught this for 20 years. Look, when I got saved, there was a lot of things. When I heard hard preaching, I was just like, man, I've never heard that before. But it's right there in the Bible and we believe it. That's how you continue growing in the Christian life. If it's in the Bible, that's what we believe. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Here's the second thing that you can do to guarantee that you stick in the Christian life, to guarantee your sanctification. First, it's this, recognize the cost of failure. Recognize the cost of failure. Look, the salvation of those around you and of the next generation. Think about this for a second. Your salvation is not on the line in your life. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit. You cannot lose your salvation, but the salvation of those around you depends on your life. The salvation of the next generation depends on your life. It depends on your sanctification. Look, or you could be part of the 50%, 75%. Ain't it? Part of all the fornication and disease in this country that is normalized. You could be part of that. You could be part of drugs. You could be part of alcohol. You could be part of all the despair and literally death. You could be part of that. Because look, while all these things, you know, I kind of, you know, said tongue in cheek that I'm trying to convince you to not have fun. Look, all these things may seem fun, but there's nothing but death and despair at the end of those roads. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 11 because the devil does this and he says in no marvel, look at verse 14. And no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. All these things seem fun. All this sin seems like something that you're missing out on, but it just leads to death and despair. And in your life as a Christian, it may not lead to loss of your salvation, but it will lead to no fruit. It will lead to no profit in your life. And look, all this pursuing pleasure that you could do as a Christian, look, it can lead to literal spiritual death for those that you love as you become unfruitful. So realize the cost of failure in your Christian life. It may not, it's not gonna cost you your eternity, but it's gonna cost those around you and it's gonna cost the profit that you will have in your life. Turn to Proverbs chapter 16. Look folks, you can be a success story. All this is possible. You can be a success story. These things may seem hard. They may seem difficult. Look at Proverbs chapter 16. Look at verse number three. The Bible says in Proverbs 16, three, it says, commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established. Look, it's talking about just working for the Lord. If you work for the Lord, your mind will be right. If you work for the Lord, your heart will stay right. Look, what are you doing with your time? What are you doing with your work? Are you fruitful? Are you fruitful? Stay plugged in to the work of the Lord and stay fruitful. So look folks, God's will for your life. Let's just recap here. God's will for your life is that you be saved, that you be separated, and that you be sanctified. Just remember those three things. Remember those three things. You say, well, those are the three keys to the success in the Christian life. Right there, that's it. You say, what about all these decisions that I have to make every day, every week? What about this? Look, everything else builds from those three points. You say, what about my home life? What about my job? What about all these things? What about my kids? Look, all you have to do is measure every decision in your life against those three things. You're all saved. So basically say, does making this decision help me become separated? Does making this decision help me become sanctified? Help me become more, you know, more holy in my Christian life? That's all you have to do. It's easy. Look, there was a time during the satellite ministry, about a year and a half into the satellite ministry, where I got offered a promotion at work. And I was like, most people are like, oh, a promotion, this is a great blessing. And here's the thing, I should have thought it through in hindsight a little bit more. I took that promotion. I took that promotion at work, and it was just like, it was the worst decision ever. Because what happened was, I mean, it was just like, my job was consuming my life. I was getting calls on the weekends. I was getting calls before church. I was getting calls out soul winning. I mean, my phone was blowing up all the time. And then I was put into this group of people, there was just a lot of wicked people there. There's a lot of really bad people there. I was like, ooh, this is a wrong decision. That's why I left that job. I left that job. Because I looked at it and I was like, you know what? Is this helping me be separated? Is this helping me be sanctified? A lot of people would just be like, oh, you know, promotion's put in front of me. Ah, that's God blessing me. And they'll just walk right into sin in their life, no matter what. No, you have to ask yourself this question. If it's not helping you be separated, if it's not helping you be sanctified, it is not of God. It is not of God. And in hindsight, looking back on it, I should have been like, you know, I guess I didn't see everything in front of me, but I should have said, I'm happy where I'm at. My main thing is running the church. My main thing is this ministry. You know, I don't need that. I should have turned it down in hindsight. But look, at least you can correct the mistake after you've made it. Ask yourself these questions out of everything in your life, moms, dads, kids. Is this decision something that helps me get separated from the world or does it conform me to the world? Is this decision, is this, you know, path that is in front of me going to make me more holy or is it gonna lead me into sin? Is it gonna lead me away from the Lord? You must run away from it then because it's not of God. God will never contradict himself. So just by taking these three things, three S's, I even lined up the letters for you this morning, saved, separated and sanctified, you can make every decision in your life correctly. But you have to know the Bible. You have to listen to the Bible and you have to commit yourself to saying, you know what, if it's in the Bible, I will believe it and I will do it and I will trust it. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.