 Matthew chapter 19, 27 through 30. Let's begin reading together at verse 27. I'm going to give to you a backdrop, a context, and we'll move into our study. And we're going to see a question that the Lord is asking that will be answered in just a moment. So beginning at verse 27, Peter answered and said to him, See, we have left all and followed you. Therefore, what shall we have? So Jesus said to them, assuredly I say to you that in the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name's sake shall receive a hundredfold and inherit everlasting life. But many who are first will be last and the last first. And so what we'll do is we'll give you a context, a backdrop. I'll remind you of what we've gone through in the previous portion of Scripture and then lead into this and see how that ties in. So you need to remember that we closed our last study by touching on a question that the apostles had asked of the Lord Jesus Christ. The question that they had asked is found in verse 25 and the question simply is who then can be saved? Now that was a very very important question. Who is able to be saved? Now remembering the context, we remember that there was a rich young ruler, a religious Jewish young man, very wealthy who had come to the Lord Jesus Christ and asked him a question related to obtaining eternal life. And when he was given the answer, the Bible tells us that he walked away very sorrowful. The word sorrowful means offended or grieved. He walked away sorrowful without receiving the life that had been offered him. So that's a decision, a decision the young man made. It's a decision that he made. He rejected life in spite of Jesus's invitation. Now Jesus had said in verse 21, he had said, Come and follow me. And if you do so, you will have treasure in heaven, but the young man would have none of it. His heart was firmly planted on the earth. And because he was very rich and because he had pleasure in his life now, he did not desire eternal life. He was too firmly planted on the earth. And that was sufficient for him to reject the salvation being offered. You see, he wanted to serve two masters and you can't do that. You cannot serve two masters. You hold fast to one and reject the other, but you cannot have two masters simultaneously. You cannot serve God and earthly wealth at the same time. And all Jesus did was give him an option. You say that you want to obtain eternal life. You say that you want to have life that is abundant. Well, in order to do so, just take what you have, sell it, give to the poor, come follow me, and you will have treasures in heaven. But this man didn't want to do that. You see, Jesus was pointing out that the Christian life is really a life of self-sacrifice that is evidenced by generosity. The Christian life is one of self-sacrifice. And one of the evidences that you're born again is that you have a generous spirit. That's why I said sell all that you have, give to the poor. If you do so, you'll have treasure in heaven. In other words, let go of your support system and exercise the generosity of a genuine believer. You see, in keeping the social commands, that demonstrates that you are actually keeping the higher command, because all of the commands really flow out of one thing, and that is love for God. So if you love the Lord, then you're going to love those who have been created in the Lord's image. And thus, if you're generous of those in need, you're demonstrating the character and nature of the God that you say that you serve. So concern for other people reveals a genuine faith in God, and generosity reveals a genuine understanding of God's nature. In 1 John 3 17 and 18, it says, if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help, how can God's love be in that person? Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other. Let us really show it by our actions. So Jesus simply commanded the young man to obey the social commands that are found in the law, and in fact, the young man's inability to completely fulfill the social commands revealed what his faith was really all about. His trust was in his possessions. His love for his riches was greater than any desire that he had to go to heaven. Now, of course, I need to point out, and this is all part of the introduction, Jesus wanted this young man to be saved. It's not that he was challenging him to hear him say no. Jesus was just clarifying for him what it takes to have a real relationship with God. So his call to the young man was really intended to free him from stress and entanglements. But you need to remember that God's word teaches us that he wants people to be saved. I mean, you can see it in 1st Timothy, chapter 2, verse 4, where it says God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. God desires all men to be saved, not just some, but all men. In 2nd Peter 3, verse 9, it says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You see, the Bible presents very clearly God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And it's his desire that all come to know him. The Bible is also filled with invitations for people to come to salvation for any who would come. You see in Psalm 34, verse 8, an invitation where it says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. Or when Paul was speaking concerning his own testimony in 1st Timothy 1, verse 15, when he said, this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. All the way in the book of Revelation. And you can see it from Genesis 2, Revelation. Genesis where the Bible says that God said to Adam, where are you? All the way to Revelation 22, 17, where it says, the spirit and the bride say, come. Let him who hears say, come. Let him who is thirsty, come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. From the beginning when God says, Adam, where are you? As I've mentioned to you so many times, it wasn't that God did not know where Adam was, but God intended Adam to tell God where he was. And Adam was intended by God, God giving to him an opportunity for confession. Adam was intended or God provoked him to say, this is where I'm at. I took that which I shouldn't have. This is the effect of it. And it's a result of disobedience. And so God actually pursuing Adam in the Garden of Edom. We also have the same kind of thing in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible where the spirit and the bride say, come. God gives invitations so that men would be saved. And that's what Jesus Christ was doing. He was giving an invitation. And yet even to this day, and we know this to be a fact, even to this day when God says, I want you to have life with me. There are people who refuse that invitation and they have nowhere the amount of riches that this young man did. They'll give up anything. They'll give up heaven for almost anything that gives them pleasure. And so when you read your Bible, you'll notice that God gives invitations, but it's also hinged on repentance. It's also hinged on a change of life, a change of mind that leads to a change of life. So God's requirement is for us to turn or to repent from our sins in order that we might turn to Him. When you look in Matthew, as we already have in chapter four, we note that the first message that Matthew recorded from the heart of Jesus spoke of repentance. In Matthew 4.17, it says from that time Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The first word of the gospel is repent. But this young man refused to do this because his health and his possessions held him back. He wasn't willing to come to Christ. As this is all taken place, I was pointing out to you that the disciples were surprised because wealthy people have tremendous advantages, and that's why in verse 25 they asked the question, who then can be saved? You see concerning salvation, Jesus made it very clear that no one has an advantage over another, even though somebody may be very rich and somebody else may be very poor. Nobody has an advantage over the other when it comes to entering into the kingdom of heaven. Rich people don't enter into heaven because they are rich and the poor have no advantage over them. With men entering into life is impossible because men cannot be saved by their own efforts. So regardless of possessions or accomplishments, we all stand equally before God. Like it says in Proverbs 22 verse 2, where it says, the rich and the poor have this in common, the Lord is the maker of them all. You see each one of us stands as a sinner in need of God's saving grace. You see this again from the old to the New Testament. In Ecclesiastes 720, there is not a just man upon earth that does good and sins not. Psalm 130 verse 3, if you, oh Lord, should mark in equities, oh Lord, who shall stand? First, John chapter 1 verse 8, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, the truth is not in us. But one of the most difficult things for a person to do without the help of the Holy Spirit, it's an impossibility, but one of the more difficult things to do is simply be honest before God. My mom, my mom was a real evangelistic kind of woman. I mean, she always looked for opportunities to preach the gospel, to share the love of Christ. I've shared this with you before. It comes to mind even now how my mom was at the doctors and it was a new doctor and the doctor was putting a stethoscope to listen to her heartbeat. And when the doctor put the stethoscope there to listen to her heartbeat, my mom said, do you hear him? And so the doctors thinking not only is she sick, but she's crazy too. And says, I'm sorry, do you hear him? Hear who? She says, Jesus. She said, he lives in my heart. And my mom would do things like that just to get opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. My mom was a person who liked to go out and tell people about the Lord. And one day she was sharing with somebody and she gave enough of the gospel where she thought that the woman would understand. And so she said to the woman, would you like to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior? And the woman said to my mom, yes, I would. So my mom said, well, let's pray together, repeat after me. And my mom says to the woman, father, forgive me, I am a sinner. And the woman said, no, hold on a moment. I'm not a sinner. Now there are a lot of people who actually would would respond just like that. No, wait a minute, I'm really not a sinner. Have you ever sinned? Well, I've on occasion, I've done things, but I'm not a habitual sinner. I'm not like a Charlie Manson or something like that. I'm I'm really a good person, you know, and that's where a lot of people are as we we have a tendency of exalting our goodness and a tendency of reducing the holiness of God. And when you reduce the holiness of God and exalt the goodness of man, you're going to naturally think that you're good enough to enter into heaven on your own. So when Jesus speaks and says to him, you want to enter into life, sell all that you possess, give to the poor, come follow me, you will have treasure in heaven. And he went away very sad, very offended, very grieved because he had great possessions. And that's why Jesus said how difficult it is for the rich to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And that's why the disciples would say to Jesus, who then can be saved? Because with the rich, there's so many advantages. And for those who don't have much, there are so few. So how does it work? And so the rich and the poor have one thing in common, God has made them both. And that's why Jesus would say in verse 26, with God, all things are possible. God can do what sinful men cannot do. God is able to change sinful hearts. God is able to save helpless men and helpless women. So it's impossible for men to say themselves. But with God, all things are possible. Hebrews 7.25 says, therefore he is able once and forever to save everyone who comes to God through him. He lives forever to plead with God on their behalf. There isn't a sin that you've ever committed that God isn't gracious enough to forgive. God is able. It's when we hold on to our sins. Those are the things that we refuse to turn to him. Then we're left with them because he will not and does not do anything that violates our will to respond to the invitation. And so this young man doesn't want to give what he has. And that's why Jesus said with men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. So there's your introduction. Let's move into our study. So Peter answered, and he says in verse 27, see, we have left all and followed you. Therefore, what shall we have? Now I want you to notice something. I'll touch this briefly and move into our study a little further, but I want you to see this. Verse 27, notice what he says, we have left all and followed you. That's interesting because he's as the spokesman right now speaking for the other men. Remember who he's speaking for, because in the 12 apostles, there's one there named Judas. He's speaking for Judas, too. Think about that for a minute. Is it possible? Is it possible for somebody to be a Judas and still be around others who are genuine and the answer is yes. Does it happen? It happens all the time. How does it happen? Well, Judas was a counterfeit. He was a terror among the wheat. You have the genuine and you have the phony. And every time human beings gather together, including in Bible studies and church services, there will always be somebody there who is part of the we who really doesn't belong to it in a faith way. Judas was like that. Judas was so convincing that even when the Lord on the night he was betrayed began to say, one of you will betray me. One whose hand is with me at the table. The men, his men there at this Passover feast began to ask within themselves and spoke it openly. Lord is at eye. Lord is at eye. And Judas was included in that when he looked at Jesus and said, Lord is at eye. And Jesus said, you have said it. Now the other men didn't even pick up on that because they were so busy doing what righteous people do when they begin to say, I better examine my own heart. He just said one of us is a betrayer. Can it be me? I'll even ask him. But Judas with that sly little smile, that deceitful little heart. Lord is at eye. Joined in with the others when in reality he was Judas, saling Christ out for 30 pieces of silver. Is it possible for people to have the appearance of being a follower of Christ when in reality they are not? And the answer is yes. And is it possible for a leader who normally could have certain kind of discernment, is it possible for that discerning leader to be fooled by that individual who's portraying himself as the real thing? Indeed. Has it happened? Yes. Does it happen to this day? Absolutely. There are spiritual leaders who trust that the people that are working alongside of them are the real deal. And many people have been fooled by those who have the appearance, but in fact are not real. And so we see that here with Peter when he says we have left all and followed you, therefore what shall we have? So in the midst of the genuine, there's the tear, there's the counterfeit. Now I want you to notice this. Since you say it's impossible for men to save themselves, are we saved? Now if we are saved, what do we have to look forward to? Here's the question, what is the reward that you give for following you? Now there are those who read this and I want you to see it, what shall we have? There are those who see that question and they say what an improper, what an inappropriate question to ask. It sounds like you're a mercenary. It sounds like you're following God for profit. Peter, why are you saying something like that? We need to remember that there is a legitimate reward for a legitimate affection. There is a reward for those who follow Christ that is legitimate. How do I illustrate that? Well there was a time when this illustration would have flown a lot easier than it does today, but the young guy meets the young lady. The young guy asks her out and she actually says yes. And they go out together. They begin a dating relationship and before you know it, the young guy who is a Christian, the young woman who is a Christian, the young man who is respecting her purity and the young woman retaining her purity, they're not having sex. The young man begins to be more and more in love with this young woman. To the point where he starts saying within himself and eventually starts telling other people, I love her so much, I just gotta marry her. And so he one day pops the question, however he did it, will you marry me? And she says, well, okay, might as well. At least that's how it went in my case. And so will you marry me? When Marie and I got engaged, we were at a Bible study. I actually pulled together the old Bible study that I had been teaching, the Bible study in the location that I had met her in and she was seated where she normally sat. I sat in a chair and she would sit next to me on the floor and she would lean against the chair. And I still remember as I was there, I opened up the book of Proverbs and there were a few of the people who used to do the Bible study and I opened up the book of Proverbs and I read Proverbs 31 about the virtuous woman. And then I looked at Marie who was right on my right hand sitting and I read it to her and I said, Marie, I said, when my dad asked my mom to marry him, my dad didn't have an engagement ring. My dad had a ring. It's this ring that I wear, this little red ring here. Some of you have noticed and some have even made comment. This is a ring that cost my dad 57 cents back in 1947. And it's glass and it's cheap, but it means a lot. And so he gave this ring to my mom and I said, my brother Frank, when he asked his wife to marry him, gave this ring to her and Marie, I'm giving you this ring and that's how we ended up getting engaged. She said, yes, she put the ring back, ring on her finger and all of that. And so in engagement, by the way, my sons, both of them gave their wives the same ring as a tradition for our family. So with that said, there is a reward. That's a proper reward in a relationship. For a young man who loves a young woman, the reward is their marriage and the things that go along with being a husband, including the marriage bed. That young man in marrying her, respecting loving and marrying her, the reward that is legitimate, it is proper, is for them to have marital relations. So there is an appropriate reward for love. The love that you have for that woman or that man is appropriate when it is given in a sexual way in marriage. And so it isn't inappropriate, it is not improper for the apostle Peter to say to Jesus, well, you spoke to this young man, you said that he should give up all. Jesus, we've done that. We gave up everything. What is our reward? All you need to do is remember how they were originally called. When you look back into Matthew 4, for example, verses 18 through 22, and you see that there, the Lord Jesus Christ was calling these men to follow him. And when he did so, he spoke to Simon and his brother Andrew. Then he spoke to James and his brother John. And they forsook all in order to follow him. As a matter of fact, James and John, it said left their boat, left their nets and left their father and followed Christ. They left it all. When you look into Matthew chapter nine, verse nine, it speaks concerning the call of Matthew. It says that Matthew was sitting at the tax collector's booth and Jesus said to him, follow me. And Matthew got up and followed him. And so these people are able to say, listen, we gave it all up and followed you. Peter, James, John and Andrew were all people who were successful. They were businessmen. They owned their own fishing business. And they were successful. Matthew was a very wealthy man. He sat at receipt of customs. He was somebody who made a lot of money as a tax gatherer and he gave it all up. And so when Peter is saying, we have left all to follow you, they indeed did. They left their businesses, they left their profit, they left everything behind and they followed. So we're asking a question and the question is a simple one. What do we get for following you? What is it that we're gonna receive as we follow you? Now it's interesting how Jesus replies in verse 28. It says, Jesus said to them, assuredly I say to you that in the regeneration, when the son of man sits on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. What are you talking about? I don't know, let's go to the next verse. What is he talking about? Well what we need to do is we need to look at the word regeneration. I'm gonna give you a study. I hope this helps you because for those of you who wanna know the Bible, this is an important subject. I'm not gonna give you a thorough study because it's much more thorough than I can give. But I'll give you some things so you'll know when Jesus speaks concerning the regeneration. The word regeneration literally means rebirth. It speaks of the new birth. So he says in the regeneration. So in the rebirth and then he says, when the son of man sits on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So let's look at this for a minute. When you look at what is called a prophetic calendar, there are various events that you see in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Events that were intended to be fulfilled or to occur and they are all leading us to understand who Jesus Christ is. So when you look at the Old Testament, there are over 300 specific prophecies that Christ fulfills, over 300. The next event on the prophetic calendar is an event called the rapture of the church. The rapture of the church. I had never heard the word rapture. I was not taught with the rapture of the churches. I'd never heard it in my life. You know, I was raised in the Catholic church. That word wasn't used in my upbringing. Then I stepped away from the church for years and hadn't heard a Bible study or been taught anything about God since I was a young teen. So I was totally ignorant of Christian vocabulary, of words like rapture. So now I get saved. And when I get saved, I'm going to a church, Calvary Chapel, and I'm hearing about an event that is gonna come up. And Pastor Chuck was real excited about it. There was a young man who used to teach the Bible. His name was Lonnie. And Lonnie was excited about this event. So I began to ask, what is this rapture? So I spoke to Chuck Smith eventually. Pastor Chuck and I became close. And I discovered that for Chuck, it was a very important aspect of his theology. Because with the rapture, the church comes in anticipation of being with Christ. And there was an excitement that he had about Jesus and Jesus returning. And so he and I were in conversation. And one time he and I were answering questions on a radio program together. And the question came in and said, what is the most exciting thing? What is it that you're looking forward to? And in our conversation and in the answer, Pastor Chuck was pointing out this, he said, listen, there's only one, the next prophecy to be fulfilled. There's nothing, nothing that needs to be fulfilled. The next one to be fulfilled is called the rapture of the church. It's when the Lord Jesus Christ draws us up. We who are alive and remain after the dead in Christ have been raised. We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air. That's called the rapture. It is a violent taking of people from one place and taking them to another. So I was taught concerning the rapture of the church that it could happen at any moment. And yes, I've been a Christian for a long time since 1970. And yes, I've been following Christ for a long time and it hasn't happened yet. And so people say, doesn't that kind of bother you? No, I'm one day closer to the event. It's gonna happen. I'm just one day closer. So how then should I live? I should live in anticipation of them. So we have the rapture. When the rapture happens and the church is taken to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, it's gonna leave the earth without the Christian witness. But there will have been people who are here who have already been sharing concerning the gospel with people. And what happens is there will be people who get saved. Now, as this is taking place, there's going to be an outpouring of the wrath of God in what is called the tribulation. The tribulation is a seven year period of time that's divided into two aspects. There's the tribulation, the last three and a half years, the great tribulation. So during that time, the rapture occurs, you have the tribulation, Christ is outpouring, the wrath of the Lamb, people are being dealt with. Then what happens after that is the second coming. At the end of seven years, the Lord returns. When the Lord returns, there's gonna be a judgment that takes place called the judgment of the sheep and goats. We'll see that in Matthew 25. We'll get there, let's see, we're in chapter 19. We'll get there in five years. And when we get there, what will happen is the sheep and the goats will be separated, the goats go into judgment, and the sheep enter into what is called the millennial kingdom. The millennial kingdom is a thousand year, literal thousand year rule and reign of Jesus Christ and spoken of in the old as well as the New Testament. In the New Testament in chapter 20 verses one through six of the Book of Revelation, it speaks concerning Christ who will rule and who will reign. Now in this millennial kingdom, people have been judged, those who enter into the kingdom are those who are believers, but he rules for a thousand years. As he's ruling, there will be people during that time who do not deposit faith in him. At the end of the thousand year period, Satan who has been in the abuso or been in lockup is gonna be released. He's gonna gather a great horde of people. They will come in opposition to the Lord. The Lord will judge them once he judges them. That's found in Revelation chapter 20 verse seven through 15 and when that takes place, then the millennial kingdom ends and we enter into eternity with the new heaven and new earth. And I say all of that to say that during the thousand year reign, there will be government and that's what Christ is talking about. He's speaking to men who understood that there would be a governmental system. So that's what Jesus is saying here when he says, when the Son of man sits on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So there's gonna be a need for judgment or for rulership. And so in Revelation 20 verse six, it says, blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection. On such the second death has no power. They shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. So during this time, the apostles will have a unique relationship with the nation of Israel. Righteousness will flourish, peace will abound, Jerusalem will once again be exalted. The Old Testament prophet Zechariah said in chapter one verse 17, proclaim saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, my city shall again spread out through prosperity. The Lord will again comfort Zion and will again choose Jerusalem. So Jesus will be ruling and he'll be reigning on planet earth. Daniel 7, 13 and 14 says, I saw in the night visions, behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days. They brought him near before him. There was given him dominion and glory and kingdom that all people nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Isaiah two verse three, many people shall come and say, come let us go to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways. We shall walk in his path for out of Zion shall go forth the law, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. So the apostles at that time will have a special role. They will judge, he says, the 12 tribes of Israel ruling alongside of the Lord. There will be peace. Jesus will rule. There will be prosperity, health and blessedness. People will still be able to reject, still be able to rebel. There will be a system that attempts to keep that in check. Ultimately the nation of Israel will be purged by the Lord and ultimately they'll move into eternity. And so this is what's being spoken of here. Now I'm gonna move a little bit further and try and make this a little more practical because when you look at verse 29, we'll look at this together. It says, everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold and inherit everlasting life. I've said this before, but I believe it very strongly. The most selfish person is the one who goes to heaven alone. The most selfish person is the one who goes to heaven alone. Listen, when you got saved, and I'm assuming that most of us in this room are saved, I'm gonna assume that naturally. When you got saved, it's because somebody prayed for you. When you got saved is because somebody shared with you. When you got saved is because somebody loved you and cared for you. When you got saved, it's because someone gave you the gospel and gave you opportunity to hear what God is all about, who was willing to put up with your anger and willing to put up with your rejection, who was willing to put up with whatever it was that you were gonna do. No matter how violent you could be, no matter how angry you could be, no matter how profane you could be, no matter how rude and intolerant you could be. Somebody loved you and somebody told you. Somebody was praying for you. Now I know somebody who said that every person is normally, normally every person is saved because somebody prayed for him. And this guy walks up to him after the study and he says, I'm sorry, but I was raised in a home with no faith at all. I can honestly say that I'm one of those people that you've never met before who was actually saved when nobody was praying for me. He says, so that may be breaking the rule, breaking the rule that you just espoused there at the pulpit because I don't know of a single person who knew me and prayed for me. And about two or three years later, the same young man came to a Bible study, walked up to the same speaker and said, listen, do you remember me? And the guy said, yeah, I hated you ever since I met you. No, he goes, do you remember me? And he goes, yes, I do. He said, do you remember how I told you nobody prayed for me, for me to be saved? And he goes, I do, of course. You're the one person who's come to me and said that, I do remember you. He says, well, let me correct myself. He says, when I came to you and told you nobody prayed for me to be saved, I was single. When I met my girlfriend who became my wife, her parents told me that since she was a baby, they had been praying for her potential and one day husband, I was saved because of the prayer of my girlfriend who became my wife by their prayers. I am one who's been saved by prayers. Listen, one of the things that makes us selfish is when we hold on to something good and I'm not willing to give it to somebody else. And how good is the gospel of Jesus Christ and how good is life in Christ. And see, my dad, when I got saved at the age of 20 and I've told you my testimony, I won't bore you with the details again other than to make a point. I was 15, I started my alcohol. I actually had been drinking before that but I became habituated to alcohol at 15. I started doing drugs around 16 and I got heavily involved and at my last year prior to coming to faith in Christ, I weighed 170, some pounds and I went down to 145 in a month because I stopped eating and I was only drinking and smoking pot and taking drugs. I lost about 30 plus pounds in a month. And my life was spiraling down and so what happened is my friends began to speak to me about the Lord and eventually what happened is I got saved and my father and my mother were so concerned for me because they saw me wasting away. They saw somebody in his 170, some pounds going down to 145 and I was wasting away. I wasn't eating, I was just smoking pot and drinking. That's what I was doing and taking whatever drug would be given to me or I could take. And so that's what happened. So I lost a considerable amount of weight in a month. When I got saved, I was reading the Bible because I was told you need to read the Bible. And as I was reading the Bible, I got to Revelation 9 as I read through that passage and I saw judgment to come. That's when I walked into my kitchen where my parents were. That's when I preached to my mom and dad and that's when I said to my dad, you're a good man, you're the best man that I'll ever know, but you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ. I actually believed the Bible. See, I was a brand new Christian. I wasn't smart enough to doubt it yet. I was a brand new Christian. I figured that God, if there's such a thing as a God, he must be capable of preserving his word. He must be capable of doing that. I mean, even today, you make an email and you write it out and you think you deleted it and send it to your trash, it's still there in your memory. So I figured that God, God has the capacity to preserve his word. I figured that must be true because if he isn't, then why am I worshiping somebody who's so weak he can't even keep his message intact? See, so it only made sense to me. If there is a God, he is able to communicate. I can communicate, he can communicate. There must be a God with a plan. I've made plans, he makes plans, he just made sense. It was foolish for me to think that one day there was nothing then that just exploded into everything I see. Now that doesn't make sense. Every house is built by some man. He who builds all things is God, the writer of Hebrews tells us. It just doesn't make sense for this. All of this organization to come out of disorganization, I was never smart enough to be an evolutionist. I simply didn't make sense to me. It just didn't. And so if God is God, he can keep his word. And so when I began to read the Bible, I began to see that God says there is life and then there's condemnation. And that made sense to me. Well, that makes sense. There are judges on the face of the earth. If somebody breaks the law, then they're gonna be penalized. It made sense to me. So it all was just logical. And so I'm reading it and it says, judgment is coming on those who reject him. So I actually believe that I really thought that mom and dad were lost. Because the Bible said they were. So that's what provoked me to go into the kitchen, open the Bible, read the portion. And that's what provoked me to look at dad and to say to my dad, daddy, you're a good man, you're the best man I'll ever know. But you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ. And that's what provoked me to say to him, daddy, I love you. And I don't wanna go to heaven without you. Bow your head, you're gonna receive Christ right now. And I was 20 years old, a wild-eyed ex hippie doper, barefoot sitting in the kitchen, pointing to a decent, hard-working good man and telling him he's a sinner when I was the slime of the earth. And he knew it. And I said, daddy, I love you. And I don't wanna go to heaven without you. Bow your head, you're gonna come to faith in Christ right now. And that's how my dad got saved. And that's how my mom got saved. They got saved because God did a work by His Spirit through His Word which caused them to open their eyes to see that God transforms people by the power of the Holy Spirit. And He can take dopers and He can take drugies and He can take violent and He can take whatever and He can say, all things are new. Behold, I make all things new. If any man be in crisis, a new creation, all things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And so He took a liar and a thief and a doper and a drunk and He made him a pastor and He can do the same kind of thing in you. You don't lose anything. See, that's the whole problem. A lot of people, they're, man, what am I gonna lose? What am I gonna lose? See, this rich young ruler was losing his money, he thought, but Jesus said, no, you're investing in the eternal. What you have right now is gonna perish with the using. But when you take that gift of the poor, God recognizes that you will have treasures in heaven, come follow me. And for him, he said, no, so now you got Peter saying, well, we left everything. What do we have? And Jesus said, you're gonna be a ruler in my kingdom. But don't forget, there's a cost to it. Don't forget. But listen, when you have left father or mother, daughter or brother, when you have left those who love the most, even your lands, listen, it will be repaid to you on this earth and in later eternal life. So I was willing to lose my physical family because I knew I had an everlasting family. I became part of the body of Christ. And listen, body of Christ, I wanna say something to you. This Thursday, this last Thursday, Thanksgiving, this church was able to feed 150 brothers and sisters who wouldn't had a meal if you hadn't given. Thank you for being their family. Thank you for being their family because they left and they have you. See, you don't lose anything. You don't. You gain. You gain. Brothers and sisters in Jesus. And guess what? There's only one race. It's the human race. So it doesn't matter if you're black, yellow, brown, white, polka dot, you belong to the Lord. We belong together. That matters. That matters. That matters because we're one in Christ. And Jesus said, you may lose in a sense. It looks like you're losing, but no, in reality, you're gaining. You may appear to be losing, but in reality, you're gaining. In Matthew 10, 34 through 38, remember how Jesus said, don't suppose that I have come to bring peace on earth. I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword. I've come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household. He went on to say, anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. You're holding on to that and you're trying to hold on to me. You can't hold on to both. You have to let go of one. Which one's it gonna be? For me, as much as I love my mom and dad, and to this day, we'll always love my mom and dad, their memory remains with me. And one day I'll be reunited with them. I was willing to let them go so I could have him. And that's what he's speaking about here. What did you give up? You left all. She didn't give up. You gained everything. And finally, he says, but many who are first will be last. The last will be first. It may appear now to persecutions and losses that you endure and will endure in the future that you have lost everything. But the day will come when you gain everything. While those who thought they had everything will find that in reality, they had nothing. The psalmist said it like this, and I'll roll to some scripture and an application and then a prayer. In Psalm 73, the psalmist said this in verses three through five. The psalmist said, I envy the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles. Their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burden's common demand. They are not plagued by human life, rather human ills. Then he said in verses 12 and 13, this is what the wicked are like. Always carefree. They increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure. In vain have I washed my hands in innocence. They're always carefree and they're always healthy. Me, I'm concerned with my kids. I'm concerned with my life. These people who've got so much, they have so much going from their handsome. They wear the coolest clothes and they have the neatest hair and they have a great car and the beautiful neighborhoods and everybody knows that they have everything. And I don't have anything. I don't have two nickels to rub together. I'm concerned for my kids 24-7. The only thing I can grow in my garden is weeds and I try not to grow them, but they come anyway. I don't get it. I don't get it. And you can do that, can't you? You can see other people who seem to have it. They have so much and I have nothing. And I have nothing. And that's what the psalmist is saying. They're carefree. They've got everything. They never get sick. They don't need to be concerned about insurance. And even if they got sick, they got the cash they could pay for it. Me, I don't. And then he goes on to say this in verses 16 through 19 of Psalm 73. He said, when I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground. You cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed? Completely swept away by terror. They think they've got it all now, but they're on a slippery slope and they're doomed. I've been to Cuba. I was invited to go again and I'm planning on going again next year in February to minister and conference and have ministry to pastors and their wives as well as other pastors and leaders in Cuba and the Cuban churches. Been there before and was invited to go again and plan and ongoing. Do you know that? Some of you know this. You can be a doctor in Cuba and you make $25 a month that you can be an engineer in Cuba and the average wage for an engineer with a PhD is $25 a month. Did you know that? I'm sure many of you knew that. $25 a month. Do you know that if you save up your money a little bit, you can buy a car, you can fix the car, become a cab driver and make $25 a day? So a PhD in engineering makes $25 a month and a taxi driver is making $25 plus a day. It's a lot better to be a cab driver in Havana than it is to be a doctor, dentist or an engineer. So they have all of this poverty but Fidel Castro, who died, died with an estimated personal value, personal worth of close to a billion dollars. Did you know that? And so a man who brought in communism and destroyed an entire nation and reduced the salaries of people to $25 a month died close to a billionaire. So a lot of Cubans are upset because of how he is and what he did understandably, he is an illustration of someone who gained the whole world and lost his soul and what will a man give in exchange for his soul. So the one thing about being alive right now, should you have some years added to you, is you will see some of the most fierce and feared people eventually grow old and die and then they stand before God who is the judge of the whole earth and he does right. And that's one of the reasons why God does not rejoice at the death of the wicked and neither should we. We should pray for people like Castro and others that they might come to know the wonderful grace of God because without God they can have everything and have nothing and look at the way they treat people but when you have a relationship with God it transforms your entire life and had that man been an evangelical believer in Jesus Christ things would have been different for Cuba. It doesn't matter how much you have. When you die you leave it behind. What matters is your walk with God now and Jesus said you're not losing anything you're gaining. You never forget that. That by the way is a heart of Christianity. That is a heart of Christianity. You give away that which you cannot keep to get that which you couldn't buy. It comes through the grace of God and eternal life comes through Jesus. So this rich young man had great possessions. Peter you left all one of these days with me. You're gonna actually have a place of prominence because you cannot out give God. Never forget that. And it may seem sometimes that everything is going bad for you but I've discovered if you give the Lord a little time He turns even that which is sorrowful into joy because He does that. That's what God does. That's what He does. Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. Amen. Amen.