 Luke chapter 9 beginning at verse 49 reading to verse 50 Luke writes John answered and said master We saw someone casting out demons in your name and we forbade him because he does not follow with us But Jesus said to him do not forbid him for he who is not against us is for us Now Jesus has been teaching his disciples and he had just taught his disciples concerning humility The disciples had been arguing amongst themselves concerning who is the greatest in the kingdom and Though Luke didn't record the details in the way that Mark did Mark gives us insight into what had taken place You see in Mark chapter 9 verses 33 and 34 Mark records that Jesus came to Capernaum and and when he was in the house He asked them what it was that they disputed among themselves on the road and Mark tells us But they kept silent for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest now This had come after Jesus had told them that he was going to lay his life down that he was going to die And you would think that that they would have been talking amongst themselves Concerning what that means that Jesus Christ is going to be betrayed and that he is going to be Crucified that he's going to die and be buried and resurrected he'd already spoken to them on that about that and You would think that once again as he's sharing that with them. They would have been thinking about that But no, that's not what they were talking about That's not what they were arguing about what they were arguing about is who's the greatest in the kingdom? and so in response to that and Their prideful does desire for position Jesus had taken a toddler and had used this baby as an illustration concerning humility and So he's trying to teach them to have humility and so what we're seeing is the inevitable fruit of selfish ambition Because when John answers and says master we saw someone casting out demons in your name That really is something that gives us some insight Into how selfish ambition moves in a person's life You see when a person has ungodly ambition Everybody else becomes a rival a rival for his or her position And so this man that is casting out demons is not part of the people following Jesus and John is concerned about that Now Jesus had just said something here that they need that we need to know notice verse 48 Jesus had said whoever receives this little child in my name And so it's almost if the term my name which speaks of his authority But my name may have triggered something in John because that's why in verse 49 He said master we saw someone casting out demons in your name And so it could be that he's trying to deflect what Jesus is teaching them I'm not sure about that, but I do know this that there is somebody that has Doing is doing a work that is not following after Jesus in the in in the close Proximity that others are and so he's concerned about that now We need to remember that John and the other apostles had a very special relationship with Jesus Christ They were being mentored by the Lord Jesus Christ and they were very protective of that relationship He was not only one of the 12, but he was also one of the three closest disciples of Jesus Christ And and he became angry because an unauthorized stranger was using Jesus's authority I want you to notice with me how it says we saw someone casting out demons that means obviously that this isn't this is an Unidentified individual This is somebody that is unnamed and yet is having an impact now I think very very deeply that sometimes we as Christians Can get caught up with The groups that we hang around with and they can become the special groups in our life John is concerned because this unauthorized individual is actually having success Who is this man though is that is doing this well It's obvious that no he is not walking with Jesus Christ. He's aware of what Jesus can do It's aware that he's aware that Jesus Christ has the authority to cast out demons and as we've studied through the gospel of Luke We have noticed on several occasions that Jesus had the power to cast out demons Let me refresh your memory your memory by taking you to chapter 4 for a moment, please Luke chapter 4 I want to show you a couple things there It's obvious That he knew something of Jesus as and his Because Jesus has been casting demons out in Luke chapter 4 for example beginning at verse 31 It says he went down to Capernaum a city of Galilean was teaching them on the Sabbaths They were astonished at his teaching for his word was with authority now in the synagogue There was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon and he cried out with a loud voice saying let us alone But what happens verse 35 Jesus rebukes him and says be quiet and come out of him And when the demon had thrown him in the midst it came out of him and did not hurt him Now notice in verse 40 of the same chapter when the son was setting all those who had anyone sick with various diseases Brought them to him. He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them Demons also came out of many crying out and saying you are the Christ the son of god He rebuking them did not allow them to speak for they knew that he was the Christ So early in the ministry of jesus he was casting demons out In luke chapter 9 we had just seen an incident where he cast a demon out of a young boy a demon that was trying to To murder this child so it would see him obvious that this man This unnamed individual knows something of jesus and his power Now he may have been one of john the baptist disciples who had come to faith in jesus christ He may be someone who has seen jesus cast out a demon and just basically copies him But notice their response their response is they forbade him from casting out demons Now this gives us some insight they don't understand who jesus is and they don't understand the heart of his ministry Ministers are not to compete Ministers are to encourage one another to succeed against a mutual enemy This man obviously had placed his faith in christ But He wasn't walking with the 12 He wasn't amongst those individuals who were following jesus closely But he placed his faith in jesus and was performing works in his name and so When they forbade him from doing this they began to speak presumptuously in the name of jesus christ They told him he could not do a good thing What is this what's going on? Well the disciples are protecting the positions not jesus They didn't appreciate the fact that this man was having success Remember recently the nine had been unable to cast out a demon and this man was succeeding So that moves them to command him to cease this work And so as this is all going out notice jesus's response in verse 50 Jesus said to him do not forbid him for he who is not against us is for us In successfully casting out demons. He's demonstrating that he's one of my followers Because if he were not with me he'd be unsuccessful when he tries to do a work in my name There's an interesting story in the book of acts how that there was a jewish exorcist by the name of skeva And skeva had several sons who are also what were called vagabond exorcists There was an individual who was demon possessed and so the exorcists tried to cast the demon out of this demonized man And as they said to the demonized man, we adjure you in the name of jesus whom paul preaches In other words to come out of that man the demon within the man speaks to the exorcist and says paul i know And jesus i know But who are you? And it's almost humorous in the fact that the demonized man leaps upon these exorcists and And beats them up and they flee naked from the house running down the street And uh the bottom line and what we're being taught there is that you can use the name of jesus But if you don't know him you will have no impact or effect This man obviously has relationship of faith with jesus christ and that's why he's having an impact now This is something that i wanted to to kind of apply at this point here And i'll say this briefly because as jesus is saying and i want you to see this in verse 50 Do not forbid him for he who is not against us is for us as you look at that This is a call for the disciples to pursue unity with others outside of their group Exclusivist thinking is strictly forbidden The bible tells us in first Corinthians chapter 12 verses 13 and 14 For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body whether jews or greeks whether slaves are free And have all been made to drink into one spirit For in fact the body is not one member But many One of the things that christians have to always remember and i encourage us all in this room to do so Is that though we have our own particular fellowship that we may go to and may even in a sense have a loyalty to It's not the only fellowship in the world And because that's true we need to pray for unity in the body of christ And we need to endeavor to encourage unity We're to do that because the body of christ is an entity that goes beyond four walls The body of christ is is filling up different cities throughout this nation and into the world And it's just a wonderful thing when we can work together and see the lord move in wonderful ways I mentioned earlier that in um in october we have the anaheim men's conference the anaheim men's conference has been going For something like 18 years now and and we see many men come to that conference who are not calvary chapel People they don't go to calvary chapels. They go to a variety of churches, but it's it's Is this there's only one body it doesn't matter if you call yourself calvary chapel I mean think about that for a minute when you stand before the lord jesus christ and he says to you Um, why should I allow you in and you begin to share he says no the more important question is this Did you go to calvary chapel? Well, no no no i was a baptist. Well, i'm sorry you have to go to hell next I mean he's He's not going to do that. You know, obviously he's not going to do that. I was presbyterian. I was you know Methodist whatever that's not the question the question isn't what affiliation you have in terms of a local fellowship The question is are you united with me? And do you have a united united spirit with others who love me and these men have to learn that You see when you get caught up saying Um, if you're not part of my group, then you're really not capable or you're not permitted to do good works Then you really have gotten to the point of being divisive and and you're discouraging the work of the spirit in other people's lives So we need to encourage people obviously to see that god might move in their life And that's exactly what jesus christ is teaching now moving into verse 51 He continues teaching a similar lesson When it says it came to pass when the time had come for him to be received up That he steadfastly set his face to go to jerusalem and sent messengers before his face And as they went they entered a village of the samaritans to prepare for him But they did not receive him because his face was set for the journey to jerusalem And when his disciples james and john saw this they said lord Do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them? Just as elisha did But he turned and rebuked them and said You do not know what manner of spirit you are of For the son of man didn't come to destroy men's lives but to save them and they went to another village Jesus is leaving northern israel. He's beginning to make his way south to the city of jerusalem He's been teaching his disciples as we've noted here in luke's gospel Especially in chapter nine verses 21 and 22 as well as chapter nine verse 44 that he is soon to die And so he now resolutely makes his way to the city for that purpose That's what it means in verse 51 when it says it came to pass when the time had come for him to be received up That he steadfastly set his face to go to jerusalem. He's resolutely resolutely making his way to the city to die But what's going on is he sends messengers according to verse 52 before him And they enter into a village of the samaritans Now they're doing that in order to secure lodging and prepare food for him and those who are following him But the minute the samaritans hear that they're on the way to jerusalem. I want you to see this They reject him verse 53. They did not receive him because his face was set for the journey to jerusalem Samaritans and jews did not get along How did that happen? When you read your old testament, you'll notice that israel actually was divided initially Geographically into three sections You know if you look at a map we'll say of israel and you look at a map of california And then you just because they're both on the west coast and they're similar in shape You can see that just by taking california as your model. You have northern central and southern california Well israel is divided similarly. You have northern central and southern israel northern israel samaria And what is called juda divided into three sections? And so the samaritans inhabited what we would today call like the central coast Actually, not the central coast, but central california like bakersfield in that general area That would be kind of how it is if you were looking at them out. So samaria divides up the north from the south now You have the 12 jewish tribes, but 10 are called the northern tribes and two are called the southern tribes In about 720 bc the king of assyria Because the northern king of israel had rebelled against him who was supposed to be giving him tribute The king of assyria Actually took the 10 northern tribes and scattered them And when he came in and scattered those 10 northern tribes, he left the two southern tribes alone He just scattered the 10 northern tribes He did that actually because according to god's word The 10 northern tribes have been following the ways of idolatry and we're ignoring the commands of god And so as a result of that because juda had remained more faithful than israel had at that time God scatters the 10 northern tribes now Of course, he didn't take every individual living in that region But he took the majority of them and scattered them out Then he begins to bring people from other lands in and repopulates that area So samaria and into the north there is now being repopulated by people Who bring in their foreign gods now as they bring in their foreign gods they begin to Take the jewish religion and they unite it with their religious systems because They figure that if they're in the land of the jewish god, they need to learn the ways of that jewish god But unfortunately they create a hybrid religion Now when they create that hybrid religion the southern jewish nation does not want anything to do with them because they consider them to be pagans And so what happens is the samaritans wanting to have a part in the nation of israel like four and a half centuries before christ Volunteered to help the southern jews to rebuild the temple Now the southern jews because they look at this as a hybrid mongrel and Irreligious people say to them no you cannot help us in the rebuilding of this temple because it's holy work to be done by god's people It gets the samaritans extremely upset Now they have a small mountain in that area called mount garzim And so what they end up doing is they end up building a rival temple there and now the jews have a greater Hatred for these samaritans because they created a a temple area that was to rival the temple of of um in jerusalem around 129 under the maccabees The jews actually went into mount garzim and destroyed this rival temple And so there were remains and ruins, but no longer is it being used Well come to the time of jesus christ there is still great anger and hatred between the jews And the samaritans they hated one another And the bible makes it very clear to us that it continued to the time of jesus. There's an interesting uh Um story that's found in john chapter 4 about jesus and a woman Of samaria She's referred to as a woman of the well And this is a woman who came to the well in order to get some water at noon and she encounters jesus christ It begins to have a religious conversation with him Now initially as she comes to that well speaking to jesus actually jesus initiates conversation with her and says to her when she comes to the well Give me something to drink. She looks at him and she says to him Him this she says how is it that you being a jew ask water of me? for i am a woman of samaria because John goes on to say because the jews have no dealings with samaritans And so we know that that is continuing to happen at that time And that's when jesus has that very famous conversation with her and and said if you knew who he is who's speaking to you You would have asked him for living water and he'd give it to you And so she says i perceive that you're a prophet I can see that you have religious inclinations and all and so what does she do she initiates a conversation It's found in john chapter 4 verse 20 and she says this to jesus she says our fathers worshiped on this mountain And you jews say that in jerusalem is a place where one ought to worship Even though that that uh temple of the samaritans had been destroyed for over a century She still remembers the rivalry that's going on between the nation of israel and the samaritans and so These samaritans continued to have nothing to do with the jews And when they discover that jesus is on his way to jerusalem, they refuse him Now the question has to be asked now jesus has just spoken concerning humility and And and that kind of spirit the question has to be asked as jesus's men learned the lesson of humility and the answer is obviously not because In verse 53 and i want you to see this They didn't receive him because his face was set for the journey to jerusalem Now notice verse 54 when his disciples james and john saw this they said lord Do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and make them crispy critters? We want to smoke them. We want to call in an airstrike We want to destroy this village. I am absolutely Outraged that you would do something like this. No When you think of the apostle john Do you remember what he is referred to in scripture what he refers to himself? I am the one whom jesus loved When we refer to john when christians speak christianese and we speak of john We speak of him as john the beloved This is an individual who says he who loves not knows not god For god is love This is somebody who is known for a tender spirit when you look at the life of john You know, he refers to himself several times in the gospel of john not by name. He just says i'm the one whom jesus loved This is somebody that i know as a christian and as a student of the bible As a man who is Greatly loved by jesus christ and is well known for being one who teaches us concerning love But did you know that when he was called by jesus that jesus gave both james and john Do you remember that jesus gave them a nickname? Do you remember the name? He called them sons of thunder Now why do you think he called them that? Jesus do you want us to smoke these samaritans? Do you think perhaps They had this passion at love for christ that knew really no bounds So that when they saw jesus being rejected That something inside of them welled up to the degree But they were ready to take somebody's life and what's interesting to me and and the lord is really ministering to me about this today What's interesting to me is they appealed a scripture to do it You could listen if you want to do something Even if if it's Wrong I'm sure that if you look long enough in the bible you might find something To give you permission to do that I want you to see what they did in verse 54 Do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them just as elisha did So what are they doing? They're referring to an event that took place in the ministry life Of elisha if you take notes that's found in second kings chapter one, especially verses two through 15 Elijah had warned the king ahaziah That he was going to Be dealt with by the lord Ahaziah didn't like hearing that and so he sends His captain of his 50 to go and take elisha And the first captain that comes says to him Man of god the king says come down and elisha says if i am a man of god then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and They're all smoked Then another guy is sent Man of god the king says come down quickly And he says if i am a man of god let fire come down from heaven and consume you They're gone too Then the third one is sent he says would you please come down? I mean if you read that it's interesting how he goes But he didn't say come down quickly he said please come down. I don't want to be smoked You know and so the lord is working through elisha and they remember that story And so they use scripture To justify their desire To destroy an entire village for rejecting jesus christ should we torch their village? It's been done before why not do it again Now notice what jesus says in verse 55 and 56 he turned and rebuked them and said You do not know what manner of spirit you are of For the son of man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them You know in the middle ages when we had our crusades when we were going to go back and rescue jerusalem and Christians were going back supposed christians were going back to fight for the holy city and destroy the infidels Maybe they should have read this passage before they went off and to do such a thing Because the lord jesus christ makes it very very Clear my mission is not to destroy people's lives. My mission is to save them My followers do not harbor hostility and my followers do not desire vengeance And though people may be hostile towards me you are not to return hostility for hostility And just because they don't want me to come into their village Doesn't mean that I should destroy their village because I didn't come to destroy them but to save them And one of the things you need to understand He's telling his disciples and as he does to us today Is that the son of man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them and we can go another way We don't have to walk through their village and if they don't want to receive me I'm certainly not going to force them to and i'm not going to judge them now for rejecting me That's not what I came to do what I came to do was to save them And because they have this inner hostility towards me because i'm jewish they know really nothing of me I'm not about to judge them, but I will give them another opportunity to learn of me Therefore let's go another way, but the key for me is verse 55 You do not know what manner of spirit you are of that's what the lord would have us as believers to learn today What spirit do we have within us? What is our attitude to be like towards those who reject jesus christ? What is it supposed to be like how am I supposed to deal with those who reject him? Am I to desire their death or am I to desire mercy for them and something that you have to work out for yourself But what he did here is he said that they just went to another village Now moving into verse 57 it happened as they journeyed on the road that someone said to him Lord, I will follow you wherever you go and jesus said to him Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head Then he said to another follow me But he said lord, let me first go and bury my father And jesus said to him let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of god And another also said lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house But jesus said to him no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god What we have here now in verses 57 through 62 is jesus ministering to three would be disciples I want you to see that each one receives a challenge concerning the cost of being a disciple of the lord jesus christ And as we look at this we'll look at each one individually Now as we look at the first one here It says in verse 57 it happened as they journeyed on the road that someone said to him lord I'll follow you wherever you go now matthew tells us that this individual who approaches him is actually a religious teacher In matthew it says a teacher of the law came and said to him i'll follow you wherever you go So obviously he's been taking in his teaching and he has impulsively volunteered to follow after jesus christ This is an impulsive volunteer Sometimes in a moment of religious passion You may hear a message that speaks to your heart and you you you can within yourself cry out and say god I will follow you wherever you go. I want to serve you. I desire to do that It can happen after a time of of worship where the lord meets you in a very special way It can happen as a result of simply hearing god speak to your heart in a very deep and personal way And and frankly that's the goal of many sermons to excite people encouraging people to get them to serve But notice with me that jesus refused to accept an emotional response And the reason is because he knew that this zeal would die when it was tested He knew that the man was making an emotional response to him But when he was tested through the things and trials that you go through when you follow christ He would fall away. He was encountering the cost later on in luke in chapter 14 verse 28 Jesus asks the question which of you intending to build a tower doesn't Sit down first and count the cost whether he has enough to finish it And you don't just get up and say i'll go with you wherever you go I'll do anything that you want you you actually pray it through you hear the messaging and say that sounds like he's speaking to me Lord, what is it that you would have for me to do? And so jesus begins to minister to him and notice in verse 58 what he says He says foxes out holes birds of the air have nests, but the son of man is nowhere to lay his head Now what do you mean by that? Instead of receiving him he issues a challenge and this is a challenge. Do you have any idea where such an offer will lead you? This will lead you to hardship and this will lead you to poverty. This isn't your sure way to success Are you willing to live at a lower standard for my sake? Can you learn to trust god for your daily bread? Will you go where god guides and will you trust him in all things? Are you willing to undergo temptation and to actually to to succeed against it in order that you might have a relationship with the lord? Are you willing to forego what you think you're entitled to be provided for in order to find pleasure in serving god and trusting him? Are you able to just live on a standard of life less than you are used to? Are you willing to do that? I wish I could remember this exact thing. I read it a few weeks ago, and I probably would Do you a disservice by trying to give you all the details of it? But it emphasizes this point Where a ministry was advertising a trip to? impoverished nation And in the ministry's Advertisement that I read it was saying things like you will see Lepers you will see crippled you will see blind You can come and minister To them in the name of jesus, which is a wonderful thing And then it says and you also have your five star hotels and your tour package that is along with that And as you read that it causes you to wonder what are you advertising a tour to a foreign land or a ministry to a foreign land? But you normally don't have both You normally don't have both And what jesus is simply saying is this? Are you willing to forego those things that you think are yours by right or privilege? To live at a lower standard So that you might be able to be a true follower of me Just relying on my father to supply for you daily That's what it means when it says in verse 58 foxes have holes birds of the air have nests the son of men Is nowhere to lay his head are you willing to live in a lower standard? Jesus who created all things didn't even have a place to be born There was no room in an end and there was very few places that welcomed him as he went through his ministry life Are you willing to go through that to be one of my followers? Are you willing to pursue me no matter what the cost knowing that you have treasure in heaven? Are you willing to give up those things that you think are yours by right? In order that you might serve me and have have god's reward And that's the challenge that he gives to this one here I will follow you wherever you go and jesus says i'm taking you on a road that may lead you to hardship and despair Are you willing to take that journey with me? The second one he said to another follow me But he said lord let me first go and bury my father And jesus said to him let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of god Now I want you to notice that while the first one approached jesus this one's different Jesus actually approaches this one and he gives him a challenge and the challenge is a simple one follow me Now as jesus approaches him notice verse 59 the response is Let me first go and bury my father, but he says it this way lord. Let me first go So he calls jesus lord and then imposes his own will on the master Now his response was unlike the first man's because his was with reservation. He says I want to go and bury my father now As I read that the very first time when I started to read the bible And I read that I didn't understand what was going on. I thought well, he's got a dead dad It's his responsibility to take care of that Why is jesus saying let the dead bury their own dead that made absolutely no sense to me I mean if the guy's dead you better put him in in the ground Why are you saying this is a wrong thing to do? Well, you might find it interesting let the dead bury their own dead and Is a response to when this man's saying I want to bury my father Because I will bury my father is another way of saying I want to remain with my father until he dies and then I can bury him In other words his father wasn't dead when he said that it was a saying at that time which simply meant I'm not willing to go right now I'm not ready to leave. I'm not ready to follow you and what I want to do is I want to follow you But I'll I'll put off following you until I'm ready Now why do you want to put off following until you're ready? Well, I don't want to risk losing my inheritance I want to be able to receive what my father is going to leave behind And that's why jesus says let the dead bury their own dead That's another way of saying let the world take care of the things of the world You need to choose the better part You need to understand that the world is not our home You need to understand that if you're going to follow me jesus would say you need to put the kingdom of god first And your material concerns The inheritance you receive from your father Isn't the thing that should be motivating your life. What should be motivating your life is pursuing me And getting your eyes on the things that matter In colossians 3 24 the scripture says of the lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the lord christ Revelation 21 7 says he who overcomes shall inherit all things. I will be his god. He shall be my son So he's saying I will follow you but at my convenience I'm not willing to burn all my bridges But jesus says put god's business first and the rest is going to follow Just do it Just follow him I wish I could illustrate that To a way that all of us would relate And when this fellowship began I can tell you this way when this fellowship began it was all or nothing for us We're going to put all of our eggs in one basket. We're going to serve the lord That's what we're going to do And I learned to do that when I first got saved just trust in the lord where god guides god provides Put the kingdom of god first pursue him His plan is always better for you than yours are for yourself He always wants to do abundantly above all you can ask or think So simply trust him and watch what god will do But if I'm constantly saying well, I've got to make sure that everything's in a row And I'm going to do it this way so that I can achieve this goal and receive this material benefit Then it isn't going to work when you say you know when god guides god provides I'm going to pursue him and see what he wants to do with my life God has a way of doing things that are abundantly beyond anything you can understand And so he says let the dead bear their own dead you go and preach his kingdom Now finally in verse 61 another also said lauren I will follow you But let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house and jesus said to him no one Having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god I will follow you but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house His commitment is a let me first commitment. He's not willing to lose his family He wants jesus and his family And sadly There are times when you follow jesus that you actually do lose your family I was reading just today concerning Certain orthodox jews that when their family members come to faith in messiah jesus That they actually have mock funerals For this loved one who at one time was part of the jewish family But has now become a christian and when they become a christian they actually treat them as if they're dead They are no longer alive certain orthodox jews. They are no longer alive to them And some even go so far as having mock funerals. They are dead as far as they are concerned You know, I I have a friend a messianic jews whom I know who is married to a jewish man Who has not told her husband yet that she's a messianic believer Because she knows that he is going to divorce her the minute she tells him I have followed jesus as my messiah There is a tremendous cost that continues to this day to be paid by those who follow jesus christ And jesus is saying to him very simply this That that your family has to come behind your commitment to me Some won't come to jesus christ because they're afraid of losing their family They're afraid of losing their mom or their dad And I can tell you that I understand to some degree because I've over the years heard many stories of people who said You know what I just my mom will get upset my dad will get upset or my grandmother will have a heart attack over this If she finds out that i'm a follower of jesus christ But you know when when I got saved when I gave my heart to christ You know, I was willing to tell my parents about the lord And there was a reason for it. It's because I actually believed if they didn't give their hearts to christ They go to hell. I actually believed that I mean that wasn't something that that That I had to wrestle with that's something I've always believed if you don't give your heart to jesus christ you go to hell And that's why I sat down with my dad and my mom and you know the story. That's why I came in there I was reading the bible I was maybe three weeks old in the lord and that's what motivated me to come in and share with my family now That's not the first time I ever shared with my mom and my dad When I got saved I walked into the den december 27th 1970 I walked into the den and the first thing I said was I love you and I said something like praise the lord And and I was very open from from the day I got saved. I didn't walk in you know christian chameleon You know, I walked in and said this is it. I got saved And and and the next day I talked to mom and and I would and I started reading the bible and And and mama would be there at the table with me on occasion and and I'd say look what it says So that went on for weeks now. My dad was watching me You know, my dad wasn't the kind of man that I could walk up to and and just Talent things my dad was a very quiet man. My dad wasn't a conversationalist with me when I was growing up He didn't become a person who talked until after he got saved My dad was the kind of guy some of you had a dad like this that if you walked into the the den My dad would be watching a show a tv program I would walk in my dad would watch the movie and we wouldn't say a word for an hour and a half My dad never spoke to me. It wasn't that he didn't love me. He was watching the show Now when a commercial came he might turn around say how you doing? And I had 60 seconds And that was okay, I have a problem with that because that was us that was us I had no problem with that at all never thought. Oh, my daddy doesn't talk to me. I never thought about that at all That was just us. That's the way we were didn't bother me at all And I knew my dad loved me and that was great But I didn't sit down and have heart-to-heart talks. My dad didn't tell me he loved me till I was 17 years old We never had open talks like that. He just wasn't an open man And so it wasn't like I came in saved and said let's turn to the gospel of john I have something that didn't happen that way. I would just read the bible and mama would happen to be in the room And I'd say you know what I was reading just now. This is amazing And I would share and my mom was real inquisitive. So she'd ask questions. Does it say that? And I'd say yeah, it says it right here But I never really pushed her and and eventually within three weeks my mom was saying, you know Things about jesus and was real curious about him because she had been raised in a in a in a home where Her daddy read the bible and and she respected the word of god And so my dad on the other hand was kind of he was just himself And that's why after three weeks or so I got to the book of revelation. I was here in chapter nine I'd been living for the lord my life had been changing. I was ministering to my sisters madeline My sister who's four years younger than I had committed her heart to christ the the day I got saved She went to bed and she said whatever you did and david Jesus I want you to do that for me And I started taking her to bible studies and I started taking my my other sister rebecca Who's six years younger than I started taking her to calvary chapel costa mesa and we started going to church together and And and I was singing songs with them and teaching them things that I was learning and so that was going on for three weeks And then finally one day I'm reading revelation nine and I read about You know men with women's hair and iron teeth and scorpions things and wanting to die but unable to do so for five months and And I get this my heart is gripped and and I go into the kitchen And that's when I took the bible and I held in my hand and I said Mom and dad this is the word of god and and this is what it says and I read revelation nine to them And I said I don't know what it means But I do know this it's not speaking to me It's speaking to you and that's when I looked at my dad and said dad you're a good man You're the best man that I'll ever know But if you don't give your heart to jesus christ you will be the best man in hell And I said bow your head because you're receiving jesus right now And that's when my dad committed his heart to christ And you know daddy later on said to me I wanted to get up and hit you You know I wanted to get up and hit you He said but when you said I don't want to go to heaven without you I love you and I don't want to go to heaven without you He said that broke my heart That broke my heart and and it did he said you know david madeline was a good girl And you you needed god He said but madeline was a good girl He said and when I saw that he said I knew I was better than you That's what my dad told me everybody's better than me. I knew that I was better than you But I wasn't better than my daughter I wasn't better than my daughter He said if she needed jesus christ then I surely needed jesus christ He said that's what god used in my life to bring me to faith in christ So when you shared with me he said yes, he said when you said Um, I would be the best man in hell. He said my first impulse was to get up and hit you He said He says but when you said daddy, I love you and I don't want to go to heaven without you He said that's what caused me to come to christ You know, I've shared this with you before perhaps it's speaking too much of myself But I try to make scripture come alive through illustrations of how it works in somebody's life And I can tell you That it's the love of christ It's the mercy of god. It's the compassion of god that touches people's lives And it's and it's a belief it's a willingness to to go out and to say This is true And you need this Even if mom and dad Don't like you even if your father and your mother reject you the bible says god will take you up And for me it was it was worth taking the chance Of losing their affection It was worth it because I didn't want to lose them for eternity I wanted them to go to heaven with me and that was then and Going on 37 years later That is now that is still What motivates ministers of the gospel of jesus christ To see people come to saving knowledge of jesus Jesus is worth following no matter what the cost may be And it is true your family may reject you But you have to be willing to lose all in order to gain jesus christ And the demand of discipleship Is pretty clear. It's an unrivaled love for jesus And an unceasing bearing of his cross It's a pursuit of him with all of your heart Every day But you want to know something there's nothing better. Is there there's nothing better than following jesus christ There's nothing better And you know when the day came when I and I performed the funeral for my father I had no regrets because I knew where my father went my father went to heaven I had no regrets when I buried him because I knew my daddy went to heaven because way back when I had taken jesus at its word and You know as a three-week-old christian who knew very little other than once I was lost and now i'm found I simply believed that you need to have jesus to go to heaven And that's what jesus is calling us to guys There is a cost But you will never pay more than he did and you gain Eternity with him What a deal What a deal