 Well, good evening to you dear brothers and sisters in church twice on a Sunday. I am those kind of people extremists Religious extreme well relational risk extremists, that's what you are he is forgiven much loves much, right? I mean, how could we not respond to the kind of goodness that God has shown to us and be extreme Into that man. It's a where that will a badge of honor They did but you know the crazy thing is the world right now makes no distinction between the extremists Who follow that false God Allah? the crazy violent things and the extremists who follow Jesus Christ and Do kind things and how we always have down through all of the centuries known for good works That's when you know the world's gone kind of nuts. They're really they've become so irrational. They can't see the difference Which is somebody who actually believes the teachings about love your enemies turn the other cheek and personal offense and You can't see the difference between that and someone who is committed to taking the world by violence It's really what is written in Galatians 6 9 now I realized guys normally we'd be in Calvin Chapel. Our whole thing is you know, we're gonna go through the Bible You know Bible exposition to get a guest tonight. You know, I'm just here for this few minutes. We're together There's no real big chunk of Bible. We can go through in this amount of time So tonight we go topical right tonight that we're gonna focus on a topic and there's a topic And I would connect it to first of all, what is written in Galatians 6 9 about where it says in be ye weary not that is in Well-doing for a new season you shall reap if you faint not Weary not be you know about the Lord's work, but do not faint Don't weary in doing what's right. It's really seasonal Everything is seasonal and Even in Cleesie Astee's Solomon's conclusion that His observation is it should say that there's time for everything You know, please he asked these three one to everything there is a season at a time to every purpose under heaven To everything there is a season And there is a time to every purpose under heaven for everything even the things that seem so absolutely in Opposition to each other. There's a time for it There's a time to show there is a time to reap The reality though about the world that we live in now and our you know modern American culture is that we want everything immediate we want it on now And even when it comes to you know our prayers We expect God to Be like a microwave Make it happen With new patience we I submit to you that we have less patience than any generation that ever came before us because we get everything instant We're the kind of generation that that comfort is usually just a button push away If it's really hard we push a button and it cools. It's really cool. We push a button it warms We can have comfort almost Instantly we and this modern age can communicate in just seconds across the world We're appalled when we have to wait You listen to people on airline on airplanes, you know, they're they expect the airlines To be sovereign that like God You know and able to do anything and as soon as the announcement comes of any delay Goodness, you hear the whole plane just all side of all the passengers the drama We are the great-grandchildren of people that had to take weeks to cross this continent In great hardship and danger Now we complain about a little discomfort a little delay. It took me hours Imagine saying that if you could go back in time To some of those who came west the deal is still that way. It's still people Still use the term out west preposition out those with west and back those with east Because that is how we settled this country coming from Europe. We Swept across the adventurers that came west. You are Their great-grandchildren Those people were crazy They went through unbelievable hardship. They fought all the elements. They fought enemies. They fought hunger The you know prairie schooner creeping across the continent Imagine being able to go back to them and go It took like hours It's like one delay after another Inside of a air conditioned building Having to wait you don't believe in waiting We're pathetic. That's what we are pitiful Absolutely pitiful. We want it all now We we want if we have a pain we want a pill Make that pain go away that pain's bothering me ever considering the possibility maybe to paint your friend Now I realize this you know chronic pain people hear that with you know You hear if we now in that some stupid songwriter Will write a song that says well, you know I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all Only an artist would say that that's stupid No, actually the whole generation around us would rather feel nothing at all than hurt That's the fact You know if you get chronic pain i'm not Picking on you Just saying people that don't have your chronic and severe pain have a little pain like Make it go away and they want a pill run away right away. They run to the anesthesia. They want something to make that stop quickly Never considering that you know how you damaged something something is injured the pain The pain is your friend the pain's an alarm saying there's a problem say you know leave that alone Let that heal do something right? We want something for the can be something for the pain We want everything instant We're kind of pitiful that way well There's nothing wrong With wanting your pain to end and I was actually something real smart about that, you know Nothing wrong with wanting um hardship to come to an end, but there's something really wrong with our inability to endure Don't you think there's something way wrong when we cannot endure we're just such whips We've become so incredibly wimpy it frightens me how wimpy Our people have become We want instant results on everything it the subject the topic actually Summarized really with one word pleasure Pleasure something wrong with pleasure. No course not no in fact god is the one who invented pleasure He designed us. He designed our our our whole being designed our brain even to be able to respond to process experiences and Release the very chemicals that go with the experience that caused us to feel pleasure caused us to feel euphoria happy It was his design that certain elements of his creation We would find pleasure in that we would go this is we'd find pleasure in beauty We'd find pleasure in even things like food that we could eat a meal And especially if you could eat a meal with people you love in human relationships We could feast god invents the concept of feast We could actually come together and and have an experience like a feast where the meal is good the conversation is good people We love we laugh, you know things are funny And There's it's gone who who made us with that capacity the problem with us Really Is we want all that pleasure we want it now we want heaven. That's what we want We're part of a generation that will do anything to experience heaven now here and now And if not real heaven well then the illusion Just the euphoria the best majority of our People our culture here in america now at this time Are all on drugs, you know that right? Everybody in every direction everywhere you look Despite all of our best efforts despite trying to provide Consequences as deterrent despite all of the programs and the campaigns and despite all this education. Don't you love that? the presumption from the you know Left those who are wrong The fools Who disagree with god the presumption is that we're all good and so You know if we're doing wrong things and destructive things it has to be just because we don't know certain things So they say in edgy education. That's the answer education We have the best educated generation of hardcore drug addicts the world's ever known I've been working. You know i'm a kid. I'm a Son of a drunk A drunker a man who died at 34 years old a very accomplished drunk He let alcohol destroy his entire life 34 years old he's pretty young As far as he lived as long as he made it So overcome by what That vice did to our family God used it in my life to create a repulsion and absolute loathing for alcohol. I've always hated it A loathing that kept me from ever starting to drink a fear of god and a fear of ever taking that potion to become that I saw the effects of that substance Turn my father The husband of my mother Into a rabid dog You always tell the difference between you know beer drunk Little sloppy little wobbly But not too mean with hard liquor you tell Yellow the car Hard liquor there's an evil. There's a different evil and there's a violence and meanness an ability to empathize or to sympathize Horrible Turn them into a rabid dog I can testify and some of you have had similar experiences right and testify Being a little kid and seeing him in the dim light of that that dark house Killing my mother strangling my mother choking her to death. There she is naked kicking Being suffocated in a in a plastic shower curtain In the middle of some violent abuse Sexual expression I'm seeing this and I and I scream at him stop and Breaks the spell just long enough her to drop and crawl away live through the experience and It's like he became rabid And he's looking at me like a rabid animal like a like a Like a dog that's completely insane my my father looking at me trying to on one hand It's like he's trying to process. Why is the kid yelling at me? I can't yell at me. Wait a minute. What was I doing? you know The my loathing for alcohol because of such experiences kept me ever drinking never drank Guilty plenty of sins of that one Never drank never did any of those substances because I know the capacity. I've seen it. I'm that guy's son. I can become that part of a generation That is all drunk or high on something because everybody wants to experience euphoria Everybody wants to know bliss. They want it now not later not in heaven And not based on any experience by passing all experience. We are now surrounded by the reality Of the you know the weird sci-fi concept of a zombie apocalypse. They'll talk about that. Well, they don't even know the word apocalypse means Idiots the apocalypse Greek word means the revealing unveiling But now it's come to mean something else in the world of science fiction The zombie apocalypse is already happening They're staggering around your neighborhood, but they don't look like zombies. They don't have rotten flesh But they are rabid Some of us have been them Some of us have been under the spell rabid rabid enough to steal from family Rabbit enough to not care about anything to not only do they need that pleasure the the whole process of bypassing all experience And artificially stimulating the pleasure center of the brain for the release of you know dopamine everything else this artificial Messing with the pleasure center of the brain creates a person that can experience no pleasure Without that artificial stimulation totally dependent upon that some of you you remember you've been there Whether it's alcohol or drugs it can come to the place where you can know no good experience Without that artificial stimulation A few weeks ago, I've been working with drug addicts for as long as I've been in the ministry decades, right? Started out really young started out young and getting trained to work with drug addicts when I was 16 And entered entered ministry full-time as a teenager with a big voice. So if I didn't tell everybody I was 16 They didn't know You know the guys who hired me knew but the guys who was working with didn't know they'd find out later and whatever, you know Recently, you know one of the guys that kept You know he went through teen challenge And he failed fell back into heroin this kid from my neighborhood same age as my daughter. I love this guy my neighbor And then you know he comes through our program gets through the program and fails again falls right back into heroin and ultimately put him in special ed He's in special ed now. He's living in my house and he's staying with me all day long For a season of his life, you know, he's like he's like strapped to me where my arms swing. They're his swing And um where my feet step. That's where his go and uh You know, he's like 40 days clean 40 days. He's back, you know, he's off of heroin and everything else And I love this guy really he's You'd never know it looking at him He's he's tall and handsome athletic He's got all this charm and all this charisma natural ability can like do all kinds of stuff And um, you know 27 year old But there was a night a few few nights back believe it or not. It's still cold enough in the evening in maim He had a lot of fire in the wood stone and uh, it was that way and I'd let a fire In my study which is connected to the bedroom. So my wife would be warm. She'd go to bed I still got work to go sitting out there By the way, I'd record in the bible doing, you know, audio because people asked me to because I got a weird voice And some people said hey, would you just like read the bible for us and record it? So so anyway Hey, thanks a lot. I I don't know what you were plotting, but but If that would be a blessing to you. I got the new testament done now. I mean, I'm sorry I got the gospels four gospels. That's all I'm working through it, but I'm way behind schedule I'm staying up late. So there was I'm trying to do this in the dining room dining room table everybody's asleep And I fall asleep head on the table I'm trying to keep going Try to be tough. I expire right there in front of the microphone Jewel on the table And my wife came out slapped me in the head No, she's classier than that. She didn't slap me in the head But she did say get out go and get to bed By the way, you'll meet her. She's coming in october and I'm anxious for you to do to meet her And by the way, she dreads. She's not a public speaker. She's coming to speak to your woman here at Calvitt Chapel Chino Valley And you will you'll be blessed She's not a one of those people that just like it's not her gift. It's not our ability She dreads it and she's going to die to herself and do it anyway because she has something to say But I'm excited for you to see Just how normal This woman is That I married How she's so everything. I'm not she's so she is as feminine as I ain't in them Anyway, she came out She came out goes get get that bed. I stand up you guys know how this is just stand up. Yeah, okay You're staggering in for the bedroom. Well, I only made it as far as the study because there's that glow from the fire And there's a nice little, you know warmth radiating from that wood still That's a happy place. There's a couch right across from That's as far as I got like this is a happy happy place. It was such a nice warm feeling And you know, I I fell asleep, you know, then I woke up fires out kind of cold I woke up and there's so much light coming through the window of my study I thought oh man, it's time to get up. What a short night. Well, let's hit it gotta go. Dave begins, right? It's sick, right? So I go over to where my desk is not wanting to turn on any lights, you know, I opened up my cell phone Look at the time It's only 230 and I had that overwhelming happy feeling of I got I get three and a half hours I do the math. I got I got Yay, I'm going to bed. I'm gonna crawl in bed with that that woman and go back to sleep I get three and a half more hours. You've had that feeling, right? It's like, yes It's I thought it was time to go and I'm like, oh, and it's not time to go well in the morning This young man Travis now he's riding in in with me first thing the workout then we're going to work and I'm relating to all these little happy experiences. We had a good dinner that night before, you know Everything about the evening was good. It was all good. It was a match, you know, I'm relating all of that to him He's looking at me. He was with sadness. He goes I'm only just beginning Only beginning to be to feel any of those things again This is like 40 days clean all parent. He's like, I'm only just now beginning to actually know pleasure from an experience Isn't that sad? And we're surrounded guys all over this neighborhood all over this region this whole state a whole nation There are people that are enslaved to a fake pleasure and illusion. That's all it is. It's like the matrix You know concept they were like trade-off everything that would trade off their health their family trade-off everything to just the illusion Just euphoria It's just a little pleasure. It's not even real pleasure Revelation chapter 4 listen to this this is Just hear this verse revelation 411 thou art worthy Oh lord To receive glory and honor and power For thou hast created all things And for thy pleasure They are And were created You know what god is all about pleasure it is for his pleasure. It's all done the whole program is for god's pleasure god Is in fact into pleasure C.S. Lewis in his genius word screwtape letters has one of the devils praising god, of course by a devil's complaint Complains that he our enemy is a hedonist at heart. He really lives for pleasure, which is true He's all about pleasure he is Involved in a program of sustaining all that he created for his good pleasure Consider this turn with me to luke chapter 8 in that Parable of the sower luke chapter 8 verse 14 Luke 8 14 hear these words from the son of god and that which fell among thorns are they which when they have heard go for it And are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection choked pleasure pleasures plural Have the capacity in our experience to choke out the very word of god that would produce fruit Cares Riches and pleasures. Is there anything wrong with pleasure? No, there's something wrong with the pleasures of this life Well consider this What is written about moses in hebrus chapter 11? That's worth noting and worth reading hebrus chapter 11 Speaking of moses choice, which was by faith it is written in hebrus 1124 by faith moses when he was come to years Refused to be called the daughter of the son of vero's daughter Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin For a season the pleasures Sin is in fact very pleasurable. It's the reason why people do it So much pleasure There's moses in a position that very few people find themselves in Well, the whole world has been given to him in a sense whole world. I mean, they have they've rolled out the red carpet He is so set up. He comes to a fork in the road A fork in the road where he has to choose not just between two peoples But between two ways of living Affliction and pleasure And it was by faith he chose against pleasure He refused there's quite a verb. He refused to be called the son of vero's daughter. He refused to be the prince of egypt He refused and refused all the pleasure that goes with it Think about moses. Where you think about him young moses Maybe he is somewhat full of himself. Maybe, you know, the you know, uh, steven's words At his trials steven gives that little history lesson mentions moses the guy's mighty in word and deed He's accomplished. He's educated. He's dynamic man. He's he's like a superhero and he thinks he is one He does He assumed that his own people the jews wouldn't recognize him as their savior. He he made all kinds of assumptions I mean, how could they not he's awesome How could they not he's like here I come to save the day Stop right there unhand him It he he's rejected Shocking absolutely utterly rejected. So he's got some things wrong with him some things that will be broken by suffering But ultimately ladies and gentlemen He was at a fork in the road Flawed know he may have been and by faith he saw down one road ultimate pleasure And that was eternal But in the immediate affliction Down those other road immediate pleasure and ultimate and eventual Affliction consider those two things. Will you please just consider the contrast between two different kinds of pleasure? One that is immediate, but temporary. The other one is eventual, but it's eternal immediate and temporary versus eventual and Eternal recently as we you know went past the Memorial of D-Day We force once again to think about that generation that fought the generation that formed an army built battleships built weaponry Took on the worst enemies of life on earth and beat them In less time than it took the Obama administration to get a website up months for the record That generation That generation that didn't borrow money They saved They saved they put off gratification. They had a concept of delayed gratification that whatever it is It is worth waiting for Something that their grandchildren their great-grandchildren don't know anything about no delayed gratification in this particular age. We live in instant gratification They understood that you save your sacrifice you work hard and ultimately you experience reward What happened since then in our culture that there's no waiting. There's no sacrificing Was that they say that Rich stay rich by living like they're poor the poor stay poor by living like they're rich Probably true, isn't it? By the way, I got a facebook page. Give me a friend request. Welcome. Yeah I'm I'm amazed I've always hated that just you know, I've always hated that medium. I've hated social media I've called it waste book and it is for so many But once I decided I'm gonna influence that once I said, you know, all right, it exists. I'm going in Once I just once I decided to do that and started collecting friends The kind of people that friend request me are people that know bible and they know Politics they know, you know world events and they got a sense of humor and the stuff they put they contribute There's nobody on my news feed. Nobody's welcome to go. Um at the donut shop now because that's stupid and I don't really care But you think you're the center of the universe you're gonna tell everybody where you are What in the world? Who do you think look just? Find something more important that you can contribute And the contributions that people have blown away But it's like all of a sudden I've got thousands of I got a staff of thousands of researchers And they're sending news that put it on there and then I am putting it out to all my friends It is amazing to me Actually amazing no trivia You know, I anybody's putting trivia on there anything stupid. I'm friend you I will And I'll tell them You are not unworthy But it's quotes like that, you know the the rich Many of them are rich because they live like they're poor many of the poor Are poor because they live like they're rich way above their means because they want it now because they borrow they go and set deep debt pleasures contrasted here in scripture As is in the parable of the sower Pleasures of this life in here in the quote in Hebrews 11 About moses choosing To suffer affliction with the people of god rather than the pleasures of sin for a season Realizing that that's temporary that pleasure is going to be short-lived and then on the other side of the pleasure You got to pay It's an old expression. You got to pay the piper I haven't dug into that one. Who's the piper? I don't get what is what piper? It has to have something to do with you got to pay the band I guess for the gig that you know you I guess party's over now. You got to pay the piper. There must be that whatever Look at this verse This is to me. This is an apt description from 2nd timothy the description Of the last days the end of time And the reality of people's heart condition. Tell me. Tell me guys that this is not. Oh, by the way on this subject of Drugs and people living for pleasure It is not as far as i'm concerned the illicit and illegal drugs and that whole massive evil market this this pharma kia the sorcery That ultimately has people doing things that they would never do in their right mind. It's turned everyone completely rabid That Bad as it ends as far as i'm concerned pales To the damage that is done by the pharmaceutical industry Do you know what every single mass shooting has in common? Not a gun A drug you never hear about An antidepressant That not only keeps the bad guy from feeling depressed. It also keeps him from feeling any empathy Any compassion Makes him capable of doing the worst kind of things that we've ever heard done rental cars got the box news channel satellite radio and i'm listening to that on the way here today You guys are in las vegas two cops are shot sitting in pizza just people walk in and just shoot them And then take their weapons and go to walmart and start killing more before they shoot each other That's insane. I guarantee the thing you will not hear Is the drugs played a role you don't hear it that that information is suppressed You don't hear you gotta dig to find that That's all this, you know, doctor confidentiality thing and they act as if it is irrelevant. It is not irrelevant Anyway, this second timothy passage Second timothy Describes in chapter three verse one Know this this know that this know also that in the last days perilous times shall come When men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers Disobedient to parents unthankful and holy without natural affection truce breakers false accusers incontinent fears despisers of those that are good Traders hairy i-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of god Lovers of pleasure More than lovers of god That kind of pleasure the kind of pleasure that would rival God such idolatry Likewise in titanus chapter three this statement also by the apostle paul Titus three three We ourselves also were sometimes foolish disobedient sometimes we once were deceived Serving diverse lusts and pleasures Living in malice and envy hateful and hating one another But after that the kindness and love of god our savior toward man appeared Not by works of righteousness which we've done But coding to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the holy ghost Which he shed on us abundantly through jesus christ our savior It's where we once were before the grace of god interrupted us We live for pleasure. Did we not? I said we then can identify With a generation the world around us that has actually gone mad in their lust for pleasure, but consider this Back in psalms turn back to the old testament with me And look at what david wrote in what is a prophetic psalm psalm 16 The 16th psalm i'm turning with you psalm 16 look at the description We have in the 11th verse That 10th verse is the prophecy that peter the apostle peter quoted it on the day of pentecost Act chapter 2 when he said this is you know that will not leave my soul in hell was a prophecy david Prophecy concerning christ Yeah, we killed him We rejected him we rejected the prince of life And asked for a murderer to be released to us Peter indicted the whole Jewish people and said But god will forgive us But he points out that david prophesied that christ would die and would rise from the dead And then on the other side of that verse verse 11 Thou wilt show me The path of life And in thy presence Is fullness of joy At thy right hand our pleasures forever more You get that At god's right hand Pleasures like no one could ever imagine pleasures that are eternal pleasures forever more at god's right hand Eventual also in the 36th psalm Look at that one Psalm 36 Verse seven how excellent is thy loving kindness oh god Therefore the children of man put their trust under the shadow of thy wings They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house Thou shalt make them drink of the river Of thy pleasures That's that That's a nice verse right there There's a concept The river Of thy pleasures Drink of it But it is not here and now and this is not heaven And in fact heaven will not be found on this earth. You know i'm amazed those who don't run to a chemical They just live for pleasure live for their their their drug Is just eros Romance their obsession Is the euphoria associated with a new romance What is it about a kiss a kiss on the limbs? Between two people Of opposite gender. What is it about that event? That is merely joining the sweet end of 30 feet of digestive system that makes fireworks happen Mind-blowing rush of euphoria the thrill of it When it's new when it's new man, that's fireworks I can testify to you Haven't been married to a good woman for 30 years That 1984 late july When I planted that first kiss I thought it was gonna faint I was trying to act like a man Trying to be tough I played like I was cool But I fluttered all the thrill of it All the rush I'll never forget it 30 years later we find wow we can forget to do that There's so no fireworks. I mean, I should say seldom Well, maybe it's there's little firecrackers Look we're getting old. We're like we're like we're not tired of each other nothing. I love that girl. She loves me But oh yeah, if I kissed you today, no, I don't think so. Okay, come over here. There's a little Sometimes it's that little spark like when you're taking off a wool sweater a little static Now you know what I'm talking about you married people He's like you want to make it thrilling Make it forbidden somehow another somebody gotta come along and forbid you from kissing your eye And all of a sudden the thrill comes back. Well sneak around you're gonna find a way Because we're stupid because we're all messed up But see as louis he points out in his book the four loves I highly recommend that book he points out in that eros chapter that eros is the really temporary kind It's really of all of the loves. It's almost like the more the most inferior of the four You know, it's it's fleeting. You can't count on it. It will not keep two people together People do not stay bound together by eros. Nobody does it's why you make vows It's why you make commitments. You have all your friends and family come over You go, I want you to watch this because you hold me to this Because I've chosen this woman Though I can't imagine it today. I know the day will come Well, I'll question that choice and I know she will tomorrow so So I want you guys to witness we're making promises that we're saying we're gonna stay together till we die Nothing but death will part us That's what we do marriage for that's why But see as louis says it has to be that way it has to eros has to sort of fade It can't be like it is when it's brand new Or you'll get nothing done You will sit around and his kiss you stay locked up and do nothing you won't even you won't accomplish anything There'll be no you won't pay the bills. You'll be like an addict. You'll be a die must have this the cash That's all I must have the cash You'll wear your lips out. You'll end up with calluses. You'll look weird Imagine your lips being like the bottom of your feet in summertime It's cracked and peeling It's quite a thought to explore isn't it? But he's right if it stayed like it was the summer of 1984 from then till now Nothing, but I think that I could be just waiting around going where you coming home Can we kiss again? I wouldn't act like that on the outside by me thinking it pleasures eternal God offers to us drinking of the river of god's pleasure What an expression The river of thy pleasures Tell them more verses before I before you before I let you Or you can leave anytime. I'm sorry. I shouldn't say before a formal dismissal Who do preachers think they are? Anyway, get all done. I go you're dismissed. What do they think they are? And finally in closing you don't do that in any conversation, do you? Wouldn't that be wouldn't that be an absolute absurdity and finally in closing Luke chapter 12 look at this Luke chapter 12 right in the middle of this beautiful picture in this parama in Luke chapter 12 verse 32 Look at the Lord Jesus and this is right after saying, you know what? Don't fear anybody can only just kill your body and that's all they can do I'll tell you who to fear Look what's fear god fear him who has the power to send body and soul to hell Yeah, I say to you fear him and then he goes put them again verse 32 fear not little flock fear not little flock For it is your father's good Pleasure to give you the kingdom Give it to you not make you earn your way into it. Now. He's it's his pleasure to give it and to give it to you It's a father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom God says in Ezekiel 18 and also again in Ezekiel 33 both those places in the Old Testament He said I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked But rather than he would turn What the Son of God say about there is more rejoicing in heaven Over one that repents than over the 99 and needed no repenting So God is all into the pleasure of going. Yes, everybody in heaven is cheering No pleasure in the death of the wicked And yet the wicked do in fact die God has made promises to us. I'm amazed by what he's promised Giving us life You ever lasting life for free He gave us life for free. He gave it to us. It's free a free gift Then once you receive that gift, he makes you to suffer. Tell you what work for me and I'll pay you Go to work for me and I'll pay you because if heaven's not enough, he's like I will reward you In fact, he keeps saying in the Sermon on the Mount your father that sees what you're doing secret will reward you openly He's like these other these losers these The Lord goes don't when you pray and you fast or you give to the poor and those things Don't do it like these hypocrites Make a big show out of it So everybody thinks they're awesome He goes truly i'm telling you they got all the reward they're ever going to get He said truly they have the reward. It's actually implied in the language. They have all the reward. That's a puny little That's not even good math To look at that go. Yeah, I just want everybody to pat me on the back and say wow, you're really spiritual And that's it when what you could have is God himself saying well done good and faithful slave Enter thou into the joy of your lord Enter to the joy of your lord You were faithful and that was his little I'm gonna give you that which is great the promise of God to you and me Of reward of great riches Of drinking from the river of his pleasure Is on the other side Of our own cross the invitation you're gonna follow christ deny self take up cross and follow What is written in hebrus chapter 12 to the believer On the other side of that whole thing we're in the hebrus 11 we hear we hear about moses and his choice We hear about ebra and we hear about all these other people they testified to us that this is a good deal We have in hebrus chapter 12 the statement Well seeing that we're surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses Witnesses let us run with patience the race that's set before us Those witnesses aren't up there cheering stupid christian songs that have them in the stands Got check this out. They got better things to do All those who've gone on they're not up there cheering they're not up there witnessing our race No, they're witnessing to us by their life the record of their life is testifies to us that This living for eternity choosing as moses did and as others did For something that was way off. They all they died having not yet received people like abraham Living in tents with the pager yaks Making a statement. He's looking for something permanent. He's looking for a city these builder and maker is god He's looking for something that's eternal They're all testifying to us and since we're surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses Testifying to us of the faithfulness of god the worthiness of this deal That let us run with patience the race that's set before us looking unto jesus the author and the finisher of our frame Who for the joy that was set before him that right there christian The delayed gratification the joy that was set before him it was set before him and it was way out there ahead of him Who for the joy that was set before him endured the immediate? endured the cross despising the shame And is now seated the right hand of the thrown up god We got stuff to go through Some of which may even involve persecution bring it Some of it may involve the shame and humiliation being labeled as haters extremists all those things We have to endure temptation. We have to in this life right now Say no to a whole bunch of stuff even as moses did we must refuse the illusion of the world of pornography 80 percent of all the men in this country right now including the christians regularly view pornography This is another fantasy land. It's another form of drug another attempt at euphoria. It's not even real 30 percent of all the women The numbers are the same inside what is called the church in this country as they are outside living for pleasure No, we now have to refuse All of that Choose rather to experience affliction with the people of god and enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season We got to do a little bit more math than now. We got to look ahead Got to look ahead Brothers listen listen to me Brothers We are all right now Vulnerable this man if you've got vision still and you have gadgetry There are safeguards you got to take You got to do whatever you got to do man. You just got to get serious about this You know what sometimes it blows my mind a rat a rodent Can do this math A rodent can find one of its limbs in the trap weigh it all out And go you know what? I could stay here And die Or I can chew that off I can cut my tie to this death trap And live on a tripod And a rat will do the math There are ways it's amazing the primates are supposed to be so You know intelligent so much, you know, I mean the evolutionist and there's the same thinking that we're like related to them The one time you think it might be is when you consider the monkey trap The monkey trap that involves the gourd with a hole Just big enough for a piece of fruit to fit in Monkey he sees the fruit And he looks in And he can't get his hands out With the fruit the hole's not big enough for the fruit and his hand and he won't give it up He'll freak out and panic he'll scream his head off He'll like lose his mind as they're coming to take him away But he won't give it up Let that not be any one of us men Do not let that be us That alone that one illustration that one mental picture right there ought to cause every man In this room with internet access to go get some software To keep himself from being the monkey With his hand stuck I personally believe in I do covenant eyes as an internet browser. No, it's not anywhere in here as good as safari Oh, well, it's a dream safari is way more efficient. Everything wants to work off safari covenant eyes less efficient, but I'm not alone I don't live in a secret. You know, I got a brother reports to You do what you got to do You take whatever measures you have to take You cannot hear and now live for the pleasures of sin for a season And still plan on eternal pleasure Drinking of the rivers of God's pleasure Do you understand the theme of this message tonight couldn't be any planer? I don't think It is either we choose the immediate And temporary But we choose the eventual And the eternal pleasure Man if you will appell him I wrote it myself This here was written by me So don't laugh at it You'll hurt my feelings You'll hurt my feeling I have one With regard to choices sacrifices with regard to giving up what one loves Waking it all out and seeing what has to be done consider this Love went bad In eden It did the reason why Adam at that fork in the road that he came to between the creator The giver of the gift and the giver the woman that he loved He came to that moment I'm telling you put it together The simple statement from 1 Timothy chapter 2 that adam the man was not deceived The man was not deceived and eaten. He was not deceived Nevertheless Genesis chapter 3 we have the words adam because you have done this because thou has done this because thou has harken Under the voice of thy wife cursed is the ground for thy sake Adam was not deceived yet adam harken to the voice of his wife. What does that mean? That means she pleaded with him Go where she's gone She pleaded She became the mother of all insecurity She pleaded and he made a choice an insane choice May sound all romantic. He chose to die with her. He took us all down with him Sent us all to hell every one of us In Adam all die It's idolatry romantic as it may sound. Oh, I loved so much. Yeah, wait He didn't do her any good by loving her More than god The first time love is mentioned in the whole bible first time it appears Genesis chapter 22 That's the story the account of god calling Abraham Abraham who was finally received the gift the the defining moment of Abraham's life There's a lot of things that happen in his life for which we should be grateful that he's not known for it The defining moment of his life was not when he's hiding behind his wife like some coward telling the half truth Um, he's my sister. You're my sister. Huh? Yeah, my sister be nice to me The defining moment of his life was not then otherwise Abraham would be the father of all cowards Cowards like how that did that all Cowards Sorry, you guys are working hard over there on the sound I know i'm a constant challenge on that Or that other occasion how about that one for which Abraham is in fact famous The occasion when he like a typical male heard his wife say something and he thought she meant that Instead of listening to her heart, he heard her words And she said you know, why don't you take this this maid servant of mine? Hey, ghar Yeah, go lay with her. Yeah, that's it. I want you to have sex with her. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, do that And maybe that's how we'll have a child You know what he was supposed to do ladies He was supposed to say what? How could you even suggest it? Baby no way That girl she way too young and pretty for me Way too skinny. No How could you even suggest it to me sara? This is no big thing for god all kinds of things he was supposed to say What did he say Sarah you are one insightful woman, you know, we're just thinking that very thing right there You are on to something girl I'm glad that's not the defining moment of his life. Are you not be the father of all idiots I thank god for the grace that took him to another place And the thing that he's known for is for god saying to him abraham I want you to offer up your son Your only son whom you love this first time the word love appears in the bible Now love was the issue back in eden man was tested and man failed The next big test that involves love is abraham You know how it turned out. Hebrews chapter 11 tells us that he did the math. He weighed it out And he determined you know what god told me he'd give me a son. He kept his promise He proved himself faithful. I believe in him if he Wants me to offer up my son and he must be planning to raise him from that debt He can do it He can do it. He can make an old couple like us conceive and our old age. He can bring this kid back to life I'll do it so I wrote this here I don't know if it's a poem as much as it's sort of a riddle. It's a riddle I have to read it here because I have a memorizing if I hadn't done in fact today's first time I really It's smorning at uh, can we shuffle upland? I I'm gonna break it out wrote it might as well do something with it It's the riddle of adam and abraham by king graves Try to follow me on this and then I'll let you go It's whatever you can go whenever you want try to follow this it is written in the form of a riddle the the phrase from the council of the three came the promise of the one Into a hill would come a tree Into a tree would come the sun multiple meanings He made one into two gave them to each other Two became one each one with a lover But the gift became a goddess to the one she was given and love became a demon by one cast out of heaven But her lover so loved her Yes, he loved her so When he hold on now or a musty let go was she to be damned then damn him as well the gift not the giver and the lover chose hell from the council of the three came the promise of the one to a hill would come a tree To the tree would come the sun The giver gave again and the gift was the sun And from the love of the two came the life of the one When given the choice what choice would he choose when to live you must die and to win you must lose Would this lover trust or act on his fear? Would he offer him up through the smoke in the tears? To pierce love's heart would break his heart too, but when love Asks for love What less can one do and from the council of the three Came the promise of the one To a hill would come a tree Do the tree would come the sun By love given back and through the gift that's been returned the mystery of one who would rise would be learned One came to die to die for the many And that grave that was filled is the grave that was emptied Thank you Thank you You don't have to do that just because I ended up on but thank you The the the wisdom of god Puts mankind in this place where we must choose and every one of us must continue to choose the choices are laid out before us The winners of history chose eternity eternal bliss Eternal pleasure the losers chose immediate If there's something that you have come to love and that love rivals your love for god Then choose Let it go author it up However that works out for you offer it up just Do what you have to do