1 00:00:00,750 --> 00:00:01,650 Speaker: We may be seated. 2 00:00:04,650 --> 00:00:07,710 It is good to be with you here at Men's Retreat. 3 00:00:07,710 --> 00:00:09,060 We've already had a great time. 4 00:00:09,060 --> 00:00:10,170 I know I have. 5 00:00:10,530 --> 00:00:13,380 Uh, it is good that you are here and it's good that we come 6 00:00:13,380 --> 00:00:18,000 together this morning to open God's word yet again at Men's Retreat. 7 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:19,620 What a good thing that is. 8 00:00:20,010 --> 00:00:23,640 I think most of you know who I am, but just in case you don't know who I am, my 9 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,480 name is Pastor Mark and among a handful of other things at Compass Bible Church. 10 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:32,670 I oversee our kids' ministry and what a joy that is to do. 11 00:00:33,300 --> 00:00:35,430 We've had a busy season here at Compass. 12 00:00:35,460 --> 00:00:37,740 Uh, it's been a, it's been a busy few weeks. 13 00:00:37,740 --> 00:00:40,230 Easter was a great success and there's been a number of things 14 00:00:40,230 --> 00:00:41,400 we've been doing around that. 15 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,620 Um, it's been a busy season. 16 00:00:43,620 --> 00:00:45,450 It's been a great season. 17 00:00:45,990 --> 00:00:47,910 Eddie, there's the wifi password for you. 18 00:00:48,090 --> 00:00:48,450 Um. 19 00:00:50,580 --> 00:00:53,970 The, uh, it's been a good season, but I want to thank you for being 20 00:00:53,970 --> 00:00:57,990 here at the other side of a busy season at Compass Bible Church. 21 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,080 'cause it could have been tempting for you to say, I need a break. 22 00:01:01,140 --> 00:01:01,920 I need a week off. 23 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:06,060 But you made a good choice by being here this weekend to hear God's 24 00:01:06,060 --> 00:01:10,320 word, to enjoy the fellowship and the accountability of brothers in Christ. 25 00:01:10,590 --> 00:01:12,870 And I trust that God will bless you because of it. 26 00:01:13,470 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaking of Easter, my family had a, uh, a pretty funny story come out of it. 27 00:01:17,685 --> 00:01:18,914 Uh, I have four kids. 28 00:01:18,975 --> 00:01:19,515 Four kids. 29 00:01:19,515 --> 00:01:20,505 The oldest is six. 30 00:01:20,804 --> 00:01:23,985 And so as you can imagine, they thoroughly enjoyed extravaganza 31 00:01:23,985 --> 00:01:26,054 on Saturday before Easter. 32 00:01:26,475 --> 00:01:29,145 Uh, one of the things you may remember if you were there is we had face painting. 33 00:01:29,175 --> 00:01:30,225 Did you guys get face paint? 34 00:01:30,315 --> 00:01:31,275 Anybody here got face? 35 00:01:31,455 --> 00:01:31,695 No. 36 00:01:31,725 --> 00:01:33,525 None of you guys took up on the face painting? 37 00:01:33,854 --> 00:01:37,695 Well, my kids very much took up all the opportunities they 38 00:01:37,695 --> 00:01:38,925 could to do face painting. 39 00:01:39,164 --> 00:01:43,664 And Shirley, who is my youngest daughter, is two years old and she got bunny ears. 40 00:01:44,310 --> 00:01:45,300 On her forehead. 41 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:47,370 She was very proud of those bunny ears. 42 00:01:47,430 --> 00:01:49,530 She was very excited about those bunny ears. 43 00:01:50,310 --> 00:01:58,020 She is, uh, she's also the grubbies of our kids by a, a margin. 44 00:01:58,350 --> 00:02:02,790 All our kids need baths, but she makes bath time every night a necessity. 45 00:02:03,180 --> 00:02:07,740 So, Saturday night, you know, for other reasons, those ears come off as, as all 46 00:02:07,740 --> 00:02:09,630 the goo from the day also comes off. 47 00:02:10,500 --> 00:02:12,660 Well, a couple days later, a couple days later. 48 00:02:12,705 --> 00:02:17,355 Her, she is running around our house playing, uh, imagining 49 00:02:17,355 --> 00:02:18,975 things as a 2-year-old does. 50 00:02:19,185 --> 00:02:23,085 She's hopping and she's singing little bunny fufu. 51 00:02:24,015 --> 00:02:25,245 I don't understand that song. 52 00:02:25,245 --> 00:02:26,625 I don't understand how she learns it. 53 00:02:26,625 --> 00:02:30,405 What is it about little bunny fufu and bopping people on the head? 54 00:02:30,645 --> 00:02:36,525 She's jumping around our house singing that song until she jumps in front of 55 00:02:36,525 --> 00:02:41,925 the full length mirror that's in our room and she stops mid, mid sentence. 56 00:02:42,345 --> 00:02:46,245 And she goes, where are my ears? 57 00:02:48,315 --> 00:02:52,695 She had been going around for two days thinking that she had ears on 58 00:02:52,695 --> 00:02:54,975 her face that she did not have, right? 59 00:02:54,975 --> 00:02:57,825 She was imagining all these little games and things in her head. 60 00:02:57,825 --> 00:03:01,155 I'm certain for the full two days, thinking that she was a bunny. 61 00:03:02,055 --> 00:03:02,895 She didn't have that. 62 00:03:03,885 --> 00:03:07,065 It wasn't until she looked in the mirror that she recognized that she was 63 00:03:07,065 --> 00:03:08,955 missing something she thought she had. 64 00:03:09,465 --> 00:03:11,745 In a similar way, our Christian life. 65 00:03:12,090 --> 00:03:13,739 Can be the same. 66 00:03:14,340 --> 00:03:17,220 We can think that we have character qualities. 67 00:03:17,579 --> 00:03:20,459 We can think that we have resistance to sin. 68 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:25,380 We can think that we have the attributes of a Christian that we ought to 69 00:03:25,380 --> 00:03:30,630 have, but not until God holds up the spiritual mirror, do we realize 70 00:03:31,170 --> 00:03:34,109 actually I don't have those things. 71 00:03:34,380 --> 00:03:35,760 Those things are missing. 72 00:03:35,850 --> 00:03:36,810 Those things are weak. 73 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:38,579 Those things are fading in my life. 74 00:03:39,615 --> 00:03:43,635 And the parable of the sowers is a great opportunity for you to see 75 00:03:43,635 --> 00:03:48,465 into the spiritual mirror and to assess whether or not you have the 76 00:03:48,465 --> 00:03:52,605 character qualities, the fruit of the spirit, the things that God provides. 77 00:03:52,845 --> 00:03:54,825 And so it's a good thing for us to do that. 78 00:03:54,825 --> 00:04:00,870 Even this morning, uh, pastor Rod did Mark, pastor PJ did, uh, Matthew. 79 00:04:01,065 --> 00:04:02,445 So we're gonna do Luke this morning. 80 00:04:02,625 --> 00:04:06,855 So will you turn with me to Luke chapter eight and we're gonna briefly look. 81 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:12,900 At the parable of the of the sower in Luke chapter eight. 82 00:04:13,590 --> 00:04:15,840 I'm not gonna read the whole thing, but we're gonna be focusing on the 83 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:21,329 thorns, and Jesus says in verse seven, and some fell among the thorns. 84 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:28,620 So some of the seeds fell among the thorns and the thorns grew up with it. 85 00:04:28,950 --> 00:04:32,460 Grew up with the seed, and choked it. 86 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:33,420 Choked it. 87 00:04:34,110 --> 00:04:36,115 Well, Jesus interprets this as he does with the other seeds. 88 00:04:37,484 --> 00:04:39,495 In verse 14, so just a little bit down. 89 00:04:39,914 --> 00:04:44,474 He says this in verse 14, and as for what fell among the 90 00:04:44,474 --> 00:04:46,575 thorns, they are those who hear. 91 00:04:46,604 --> 00:04:47,804 We've already talked about that, right? 92 00:04:47,804 --> 00:04:51,885 But those who hear in fact may be people that are in our church, right? 93 00:04:51,885 --> 00:04:53,414 They may be people who come to church regularly. 94 00:04:53,414 --> 00:04:55,784 They hear the truth of who God is. 95 00:04:56,984 --> 00:05:02,205 Maybe they're even in a community group, but as they go on their 96 00:05:02,205 --> 00:05:04,094 way, they are choked down. 97 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,520 By the cares and the riches and the pleasures of life, and 98 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,469 their fruit does not mature. 99 00:05:12,780 --> 00:05:15,690 We need to make sure that we are looking in the spiritual mirror to make sure that 100 00:05:15,690 --> 00:05:20,099 we do not have thorns that are encroaching on our life, on our spiritual life. 101 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:26,010 We need to make sure that that is indeed not true of our own lives. 102 00:05:27,450 --> 00:05:30,599 I'm gonna turn us to a place where Jesus gives an example of 103 00:05:30,599 --> 00:05:31,919 somebody through another parable. 104 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:36,120 Of a life that is indeed choked out by thorns. 105 00:05:36,300 --> 00:05:39,420 So will you turn with me to Luke chapter 12? 106 00:05:39,750 --> 00:05:41,340 Luke chapter 12. 107 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,390 We're gonna begin looking in verse 13, but we'll really settle in. 108 00:05:48,390 --> 00:05:49,200 Verse 16. 109 00:05:50,580 --> 00:05:52,980 Read with me starting in verse 13. 110 00:05:53,460 --> 00:05:54,810 Someone said in the crowd to him. 111 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:59,640 So there's a crowd that Jesus is teaching and they say to Jesus, they say, teacher. 112 00:06:00,330 --> 00:06:03,030 Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. 113 00:06:03,750 --> 00:06:10,650 But Jesus says to him, he says to him, man, who made me an judge or arbiter over 114 00:06:10,650 --> 00:06:13,469 you, ironically, he is indeed the judge. 115 00:06:13,469 --> 00:06:18,090 An arbiter over all, all people, all situations. 116 00:06:18,510 --> 00:06:22,469 But he's responding to this man who misunderstands what Jesus is doing right. 117 00:06:23,549 --> 00:06:26,250 And then he continues and he turns to them to the crowd. 118 00:06:26,250 --> 00:06:28,950 And he uses this as an opportunity to begin to teach them. 119 00:06:29,250 --> 00:06:32,190 And he says to the crowd, he says to them, take care and be on 120 00:06:32,190 --> 00:06:33,930 guard against all covetousness. 121 00:06:34,409 --> 00:06:38,430 For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. 122 00:06:39,390 --> 00:06:41,370 And then here's where we'll kind of settle in. 123 00:06:41,370 --> 00:06:46,440 Now that we have what came before and he told them a parable saying. 124 00:06:47,745 --> 00:06:50,085 The land of a rich man produced plentifully. 125 00:06:50,354 --> 00:06:55,305 And he thought to himself, notice, he thought to himself, what shall I do 126 00:06:55,365 --> 00:06:57,765 for, I have nowhere to store my crops? 127 00:06:58,215 --> 00:07:00,284 And he said, I will do this. 128 00:07:00,735 --> 00:07:04,724 I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. 129 00:07:04,995 --> 00:07:08,474 And there I will store all my grain and my goods. 130 00:07:09,435 --> 00:07:15,675 And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. 131 00:07:16,380 --> 00:07:20,790 Relax, eat, drink, be merry. 132 00:07:21,900 --> 00:07:28,440 But God said to him full this night, your soul is required of you and the things 133 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:30,990 that you have prepared, who will they be? 134 00:07:31,950 --> 00:07:39,000 So is the one who lays up his treasure for himself and is not rich towards God. 135 00:07:40,290 --> 00:07:43,980 Being dominated by worldliness destroys our effectiveness for God's kingdom. 136 00:07:43,980 --> 00:07:48,090 And Christian men need to have their, make sure their effectiveness 137 00:07:48,090 --> 00:07:52,710 is not dampened by the anxieties and the promises of this world. 138 00:07:53,190 --> 00:07:58,770 This farmer, I call him, the foolish farmer, thinks that he has control. 139 00:07:59,190 --> 00:08:03,960 He thinks that through his wealth, through the abundance of his possessions, he is 140 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:06,810 able to definitively say to his soul. 141 00:08:07,740 --> 00:08:13,530 That he need, not worry, he need not be concerned, he need not have anxiety, but 142 00:08:13,530 --> 00:08:15,870 he misunderstands what he ought to do. 143 00:08:15,900 --> 00:08:20,550 He thinks he needs to control those things, but instead he 144 00:08:20,550 --> 00:08:22,560 is condemned for those things. 145 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:24,750 He is judged for pursuing that. 146 00:08:25,290 --> 00:08:29,430 And that leads us to our first point for this morning, and that is recognize 147 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:31,950 that you do not control your life. 148 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:35,155 Recognize that you do not control your life. 149 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:39,690 The rich farmer thought he had control. 150 00:08:40,110 --> 00:08:43,110 He thought he had control, and he acted on that control that he thought 151 00:08:43,110 --> 00:08:45,960 he had, and it ended in disaster. 152 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:52,560 We need to heed that warning and avoid the fate of the foolish farmer. 153 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:58,260 I think if I asked you on a multiple choice test, you would confidently put 154 00:08:58,260 --> 00:09:00,060 down that God is perfectly sovereign. 155 00:09:00,180 --> 00:09:05,460 You would be willing to say if you were writing a paper that God is. 156 00:09:05,475 --> 00:09:10,575 A hundred percent in control, but we quietly live our lives in 157 00:09:10,575 --> 00:09:13,935 such a way that reflects, that's often not what we actually think. 158 00:09:14,325 --> 00:09:17,145 We may be able to answer that question accurately, but the way 159 00:09:17,145 --> 00:09:19,485 that we live our lives reflects that. 160 00:09:19,485 --> 00:09:21,675 We actually think that we have some control. 161 00:09:22,185 --> 00:09:26,355 We actually think, oh, well, again, maybe not actively, but deep down in 162 00:09:26,355 --> 00:09:30,285 our heart we think, oh, actually I am in control of this thing, and if 163 00:09:30,285 --> 00:09:35,265 I just do this or I just do that, or I say this, then I will demonstrate. 164 00:09:35,595 --> 00:09:39,645 That I have control and I will be able to solve my problems. 165 00:09:39,975 --> 00:09:40,935 Yes, indeed. 166 00:09:40,995 --> 00:09:43,035 God has given you some control over things. 167 00:09:43,035 --> 00:09:45,435 You can manage your investments, you can care for your home. 168 00:09:45,585 --> 00:09:50,445 You can raise your kids, but all of those things are derived and it is ultimately 169 00:09:50,445 --> 00:09:52,875 God who controls those things, right? 170 00:09:52,875 --> 00:09:56,925 It is God who controls those things and has even given you the abilities 171 00:09:56,925 --> 00:10:00,495 and the functions that your soul and your body have to be able to carry 172 00:10:00,495 --> 00:10:02,775 out that, so we can't conflate. 173 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:08,640 The control that God has given us in a sense with the absolute perfect control 174 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:11,760 that God does indeed have for us. 175 00:10:11,939 --> 00:10:14,160 You cannot keep the stock markets from crashing. 176 00:10:14,220 --> 00:10:16,560 There's nothing you can do to to stop that. 177 00:10:17,130 --> 00:10:20,699 You cannot actually permanently in some sort of absolute way, 178 00:10:20,699 --> 00:10:22,050 keep your house from burning down. 179 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,970 You cannot make your kids who you've poured your life 180 00:10:26,970 --> 00:10:29,459 into love you no matter what. 181 00:10:29,850 --> 00:10:35,280 There are things in life that you do not control, and this foolish farmer 182 00:10:35,340 --> 00:10:36,900 realized he has attained it all. 183 00:10:36,900 --> 00:10:40,230 I don't think anyone in this room has the wealth and the prosperity and 184 00:10:40,230 --> 00:10:44,340 the possessions to be able to say, with this absolute sense that the 185 00:10:44,340 --> 00:10:46,680 farmer says that, oh, now it's time. 186 00:10:47,250 --> 00:10:48,870 Now it's time that I can relax. 187 00:10:49,050 --> 00:10:52,949 Now it's time that I can eat and drink and be entertained. 188 00:10:52,949 --> 00:10:53,730 We don't have that. 189 00:10:54,795 --> 00:10:59,234 But even this farmer who does have that, demonstrates that he has no control. 190 00:10:59,234 --> 00:11:03,525 And if we pursue a life where we're after the things that the farmer has, 191 00:11:04,275 --> 00:11:07,755 and that's what we think is gonna solve our problems, we're gonna face 192 00:11:07,755 --> 00:11:09,464 the same judgment as the farmer. 193 00:11:11,084 --> 00:11:12,675 So we must watch this carefully. 194 00:11:13,035 --> 00:11:13,574 Perhaps. 195 00:11:13,574 --> 00:11:17,354 Perhaps you don't have a home yet and you are wanting a home. 196 00:11:18,224 --> 00:11:22,995 You think to yourself, man, I will finally feel at peace if I have that house. 197 00:11:24,540 --> 00:11:28,230 Man, it'll be so good to be able to raise my family in a home. 198 00:11:28,770 --> 00:11:30,090 My wife will be happy. 199 00:11:30,180 --> 00:11:32,580 She's gonna love the new kitchen that we're gonna put in there. 200 00:11:33,180 --> 00:11:36,450 If I have that home, then everything is gonna be all right. 201 00:11:37,140 --> 00:11:38,220 There's nothing wrong with a home. 202 00:11:38,220 --> 00:11:40,650 Don't hear me Saying that A home is inherently sinful. 203 00:11:40,770 --> 00:11:46,290 However, if we are building up metaphorical barns in our savings 204 00:11:46,290 --> 00:11:50,610 account because we are pursuing that home that we think is gonna make us happy. 205 00:11:51,225 --> 00:11:57,405 Then perhaps the thorns of the cares of this life are creeping up around us. 206 00:11:58,245 --> 00:12:01,995 Perhaps you have kids that are in high school, or maybe they're already in 207 00:12:01,995 --> 00:12:06,525 college, and you and your wife agree that college education is really important. 208 00:12:06,915 --> 00:12:08,535 It's what's gonna set them up for their life. 209 00:12:08,535 --> 00:12:10,725 They'll be able to make the money they need, they'll be able 210 00:12:10,725 --> 00:12:13,125 to take care of themselves if they get that college education. 211 00:12:13,125 --> 00:12:17,145 So I'm gonna do everything I can to do that for them. 212 00:12:18,165 --> 00:12:18,675 But if. 213 00:12:19,830 --> 00:12:23,490 The need for that means that you work extreme hours and maybe 214 00:12:23,490 --> 00:12:28,650 you're even away from the kids that you seek to care for and raise. 215 00:12:28,980 --> 00:12:32,460 And when you are home, you're too tired and exhausted to be around them. 216 00:12:34,500 --> 00:12:39,600 Maybe you are being choked out by the thorns of this life. 217 00:12:40,140 --> 00:12:43,110 Maybe you're nearing retirement or maybe you're already in retirement 218 00:12:43,500 --> 00:12:45,780 and, and you look at your portfolio. 219 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:52,560 And you recognize the years of toil and work and stress that allows you 220 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:54,030 to have that retirement account. 221 00:12:54,510 --> 00:12:57,990 And then Trump goes to war with Iran, right? 222 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:02,220 And the straight of war moves is open one minute and close the next minute. 223 00:13:03,090 --> 00:13:04,080 You need a retirement. 224 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,080 There's nothing wrong with a retirement. 225 00:13:08,430 --> 00:13:10,110 You in fact need that. 226 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:16,319 But if your life is consumed, especially during things like the last handful of 227 00:13:16,319 --> 00:13:20,069 weeks, with constantly opening up your phone with your Fidelity account and 228 00:13:20,069 --> 00:13:24,900 refreshing it to see the money come in and go out, and you're consumed with 229 00:13:24,900 --> 00:13:28,199 that and it causes you to be unable to do the other things in your life, 230 00:13:28,709 --> 00:13:34,199 perhaps you are entangled by thorns that are growing into your life. 231 00:13:35,670 --> 00:13:41,640 For men, anxiety is often, not always, but often associated and connected to the 232 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,880 control that we think we need to have. 233 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:48,930 How do we control our lives? 234 00:13:49,650 --> 00:13:54,525 Well, in most cases, the way we control our lives is through the wealth, 235 00:13:54,525 --> 00:13:56,430 through the finances that we have. 236 00:13:57,750 --> 00:14:01,755 We are either worried about the money that's coming in and out of the account. 237 00:14:02,595 --> 00:14:06,315 Or we're worried about how we're gonna use that money to be able 238 00:14:06,315 --> 00:14:08,235 to solve the problems that we see. 239 00:14:09,795 --> 00:14:13,965 What we learn from the rich, foolish farmer is that indeed, that that 240 00:14:13,965 --> 00:14:16,275 provides us no security whatsoever. 241 00:14:18,465 --> 00:14:20,475 And this is why Jesus connects the two, right? 242 00:14:20,475 --> 00:14:23,835 Even in the parable, the so sower, it's it's riches and 243 00:14:23,835 --> 00:14:25,695 pleasures and cares of this world. 244 00:14:26,310 --> 00:14:30,030 They are ingrained and connected to each other, and certainly there's other 245 00:14:30,030 --> 00:14:33,180 places that anxiety can flow from, like we've been learning on Sunday 246 00:14:33,180 --> 00:14:34,680 mornings and can come from suffering. 247 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,590 But I wanna focus in on this particular aspect because it is 248 00:14:37,590 --> 00:14:39,180 so prevalent to all of our lives. 249 00:14:39,689 --> 00:14:43,080 Well, maybe you're saying, you know, actually, I don't care about having 250 00:14:43,230 --> 00:14:45,600 the house and the high powered job. 251 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,810 In fact, I want to have a simple life. 252 00:14:49,530 --> 00:14:55,255 I just want a place in the countryside to raise my kids to take care of my wife. 253 00:14:56,010 --> 00:14:57,960 Away from the stress of the big city. 254 00:14:58,290 --> 00:15:01,770 I'm tired of the guy with his sports car revving it up at six in the 255 00:15:01,770 --> 00:15:03,270 morning and ripping down the street. 256 00:15:05,850 --> 00:15:10,470 I'm tired of having my neighbors look into my backyard from 257 00:15:10,470 --> 00:15:11,235 their second floor bedroom. 258 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:14,760 If only I could get out of here, right? 259 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:15,930 If only I could experience that. 260 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:18,060 I don't need all those possessions. 261 00:15:18,060 --> 00:15:19,110 I don't need all those things. 262 00:15:19,290 --> 00:15:23,580 Well, you still indeed may be ensnared by the cares of this world if it is 263 00:15:23,580 --> 00:15:26,040 your ultimate goal to be relaxed. 264 00:15:26,340 --> 00:15:29,940 To be entertained, even if it's in a simple way, right? 265 00:15:29,940 --> 00:15:32,640 To just eat simple food and simple drink. 266 00:15:33,510 --> 00:15:39,840 You may indeed still be ensnared by the cares of this world, and also recognize 267 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:41,490 that even in a situation like that. 268 00:15:41,834 --> 00:15:44,805 That doesn't require a New York City finance job. 269 00:15:45,225 --> 00:15:46,605 It still requires money. 270 00:15:46,605 --> 00:15:47,895 It still requires wealth. 271 00:15:48,255 --> 00:15:51,464 You still have to be able to pay for those things, and so the two 272 00:15:51,464 --> 00:15:53,805 are very intrinsically linked. 273 00:15:54,405 --> 00:15:56,745 The foolish farmer thinks that he can control his life by 274 00:15:56,745 --> 00:15:58,094 building these barns, right? 275 00:15:58,305 --> 00:16:01,635 By building these barns and storing these crops and storing his goods, right? 276 00:16:01,635 --> 00:16:04,665 He has so many goods, in fact, that he needs barns to store them 277 00:16:04,665 --> 00:16:08,685 in, and he thinks that the way that he'll be able to access what 278 00:16:08,685 --> 00:16:10,605 the world promises that he needs. 279 00:16:11,250 --> 00:16:16,860 Is through his wealth and that way he can relax and eat 280 00:16:16,980 --> 00:16:19,890 and drink and be entertained. 281 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:26,760 He comforts his anxious soul with the false assurance of worldly possessions. 282 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:28,410 But what does God say to him? 283 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,850 He says, fool, you don't get to have any of those things. 284 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:35,790 Follow the logic that Jesus is laying out here. 285 00:16:35,940 --> 00:16:39,780 The farmer was foolish because he thought that he could soothe his worries. 286 00:16:41,115 --> 00:16:44,834 He was wrong though because his and his death proves that, right? 287 00:16:44,834 --> 00:16:50,385 Because Jesus, because God was able to demand his soul that very night, 288 00:16:50,594 --> 00:16:54,974 it demonstrates that God is the one who is fully and completely in 289 00:16:54,974 --> 00:16:59,535 control of his life, and that is true of you and I as well, right? 290 00:16:59,535 --> 00:17:03,135 Your retirement accounts very well could have gone to zero, and there's nothing 291 00:17:03,135 --> 00:17:06,615 you could have D done to call Donald Trump and convince him to end the war in Iran. 292 00:17:07,545 --> 00:17:10,185 You could not have used your motorboat, that you just got to 293 00:17:10,365 --> 00:17:14,145 cruise over there and reopen the strait of horror moves by yourself. 294 00:17:14,473 --> 00:17:15,675 That's not something you could have done. 295 00:17:16,185 --> 00:17:22,305 There are plenty of houses that burn down with working fire systems. 296 00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:25,454 There are many children who choose. 297 00:17:25,815 --> 00:17:29,865 To abandon their parents after years of receiving care and instruction 298 00:17:30,135 --> 00:17:33,405 and provision, and there may be indeed nothing that you can do. 299 00:17:33,405 --> 00:17:38,085 The reality is that in you and of yourself, you cannot control your life. 300 00:17:38,805 --> 00:17:40,305 You aren't even at the elite level. 301 00:17:40,305 --> 00:17:41,355 The farmer is. 302 00:17:42,855 --> 00:17:47,115 But even just like the farmer, you do not control your death. 303 00:17:47,505 --> 00:17:51,585 And there are many aspects of your life that you do not control, but who does? 304 00:17:52,185 --> 00:17:54,615 Who does control your life? 305 00:17:55,620 --> 00:17:57,300 God controls your life. 306 00:17:57,330 --> 00:17:59,310 God controls what happens to you. 307 00:17:59,340 --> 00:18:03,990 God controls every aspect of it, and so we need to live. 308 00:18:04,710 --> 00:18:07,860 We need to live with that truth in our minds. 309 00:18:09,540 --> 00:18:11,700 Okay, so how do we do that though, right? 310 00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:15,900 It's one thing to know that, but how do we actually do that? 311 00:18:16,230 --> 00:18:20,790 How do we actually apply that into our daily lives? 312 00:18:20,790 --> 00:18:20,940 Well. 313 00:18:21,780 --> 00:18:23,760 Thankfully, Jesus does not leave us hanging. 314 00:18:24,300 --> 00:18:25,440 We're gonna keep reading. 315 00:18:25,470 --> 00:18:26,940 Now, there is a heading in the ESV. 316 00:18:26,940 --> 00:18:28,110 It says, do not be anxious. 317 00:18:28,110 --> 00:18:30,690 And that may suggest to you that this is like a new section or a 318 00:18:30,690 --> 00:18:32,760 new logical argument or something. 319 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,389 But I actually think that heading is fine, but I think it could actually lead 320 00:18:36,389 --> 00:18:42,659 us to misinterpret Jesus' full argument because verse 22 says, and right, and 321 00:18:42,659 --> 00:18:44,280 in connection to what was said before. 322 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:47,225 So in verse 22, it says, and he said to his disciples. 323 00:18:47,969 --> 00:18:49,919 Quoting Jesus, therefore, right? 324 00:18:49,919 --> 00:18:54,510 So because of the parable of the foolish farmer, therefore Jesus 325 00:18:54,510 --> 00:18:55,770 is going to give us instruction. 326 00:18:56,250 --> 00:18:59,939 He says, therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. 327 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:04,110 Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body. 328 00:19:04,530 --> 00:19:08,550 What you'll put on for life is more than food in the body, more than clothing. 329 00:19:08,879 --> 00:19:11,219 So the solution to anxiety is stop. 330 00:19:11,909 --> 00:19:13,050 Stop being anxious. 331 00:19:13,500 --> 00:19:14,250 No more. 332 00:19:16,230 --> 00:19:20,639 Well, yeah, actually that is what Jesus says, but you know well that if you just 333 00:19:20,639 --> 00:19:26,669 tell yourself, stop no more and you don't replace that thinking with something 334 00:19:26,669 --> 00:19:28,800 else, you're gonna go right back to it. 335 00:19:29,010 --> 00:19:30,540 And Jesus knows that as well. 336 00:19:30,750 --> 00:19:33,959 Keep reading with me what he says that we are to do. 337 00:19:34,169 --> 00:19:36,449 So he says, do not be anxious about your life. 338 00:19:36,449 --> 00:19:39,540 And in verse 24, consider the ravens. 339 00:19:40,409 --> 00:19:42,240 They neither sow nor reap. 340 00:19:43,544 --> 00:19:48,465 They have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them of how much 341 00:19:48,465 --> 00:19:51,345 more value are you than the birds. 342 00:19:53,324 --> 00:19:56,889 Our second point for this morning is think about God's B 343 00:19:57,014 --> 00:19:59,504 birds to increase your faith. 344 00:19:59,865 --> 00:20:03,975 Think about God's birds to increase your faith. 345 00:20:07,095 --> 00:20:10,095 Jesus is indeed saying, stop being anxious. 346 00:20:11,205 --> 00:20:13,335 But he's not just saying Stop being anxious. 347 00:20:13,335 --> 00:20:19,605 He's saying, be deliberate to replace what you were thinking about before with truth. 348 00:20:19,905 --> 00:20:25,365 Anxiety grows in our hearts when we think about, when we ponder, when 349 00:20:25,365 --> 00:20:29,835 we consider things that are not true or things that are uncertain. 350 00:20:30,705 --> 00:20:35,024 But faith grows in our hearts when we think about, when we ponder, 351 00:20:35,355 --> 00:20:37,665 when we meditate, when we consider. 352 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:45,720 Things that are true, like God's faithful provision, his fatherly care and his 353 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,290 absolute control over all of our life. 354 00:20:49,650 --> 00:20:53,700 The farmer, the foolish farmer wrongly, calms himself down by 355 00:20:53,700 --> 00:20:57,120 promising relaxation, food and entertainment that will come. 356 00:20:57,810 --> 00:21:01,615 You might, in a similar way, promise yourself things like, once I get that job. 357 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:05,670 Once I get that promotion, then I'll finally be able to pay for the mortgage. 358 00:21:05,670 --> 00:21:07,710 That's a little bit too much for us to handle right now. 359 00:21:08,070 --> 00:21:10,950 Once that comes my way, everything's gonna be okay. 360 00:21:11,460 --> 00:21:12,120 I'll be all right. 361 00:21:13,380 --> 00:21:19,260 You might need to tell yourself, I say need not in a true sense, but you 362 00:21:19,350 --> 00:21:23,940 feel the need to tell yourself that after a long day of work, the thing 363 00:21:23,940 --> 00:21:29,550 that you need is to open up a beer and that's gonna solve your problems or. 364 00:21:30,405 --> 00:21:33,165 Take drugs or do zen, 365 00:21:35,415 --> 00:21:39,675 you might tell yourself that in order for you to see your kids, your grandkids, 366 00:21:39,675 --> 00:21:43,725 rather, you need to have a healthy diet and a great routine of exercise. 367 00:21:43,965 --> 00:21:47,835 And if you do those things, then you'll be able to see your kids and 368 00:21:47,835 --> 00:21:51,525 see them get married and do all the things that you want to do with them. 369 00:21:52,185 --> 00:21:55,635 But if you're struggling with those things or other things, if 370 00:21:55,635 --> 00:21:58,815 you're struggling with anxieties and cares over money, your career. 371 00:21:59,145 --> 00:22:02,625 The future, the prescription is not just stop worrying. 372 00:22:02,685 --> 00:22:06,165 The prescription is to replace wrong thinking, with the right thinking, which 373 00:22:06,165 --> 00:22:09,765 is why Jesus says to consider the ravens. 374 00:22:10,515 --> 00:22:16,035 Now, I could take that, make that a principle, and apply 375 00:22:16,035 --> 00:22:17,325 that in different ways. 376 00:22:17,655 --> 00:22:22,035 That wouldn't be wrong to do, but I don't want to miss the simplicity of 377 00:22:22,035 --> 00:22:23,985 what Jesus is telling us to do here. 378 00:22:24,915 --> 00:22:27,584 He is telling us very specific instructions, right? 379 00:22:27,584 --> 00:22:29,715 He says, consider the ravens. 380 00:22:29,745 --> 00:22:33,225 Look at the birds, and he even tells us how we're supposed to consider them. 381 00:22:33,225 --> 00:22:36,465 He says, you're supposed to think about how they don't sew. 382 00:22:36,524 --> 00:22:38,955 You've never seen a bird making a farm. 383 00:22:39,284 --> 00:22:41,925 There's never been fields made by birds, right? 384 00:22:41,985 --> 00:22:45,195 There are no birds getting into John Deere combines going 385 00:22:45,195 --> 00:22:48,645 out to collect their harvest. 386 00:22:49,034 --> 00:22:52,425 They have neither storehouse nor barn yet. 387 00:22:52,514 --> 00:22:53,024 God feeds them. 388 00:22:54,225 --> 00:22:54,885 Isn't that amazing? 389 00:22:54,885 --> 00:22:58,575 Think about the millions of birds that are in North Texas, just right around 390 00:22:58,575 --> 00:23:02,865 here that ha don't have any of those things and God provides for them. 391 00:23:04,514 --> 00:23:09,975 But he goes on, he says, of how much more value are you than the birds? 392 00:23:10,754 --> 00:23:13,304 You are made in the image of God. 393 00:23:13,395 --> 00:23:15,885 You are his son. 394 00:23:16,635 --> 00:23:20,534 And if he cares about the birds like that, then how much more 395 00:23:20,534 --> 00:23:21,855 is he gonna care about you? 396 00:23:23,250 --> 00:23:27,390 So this is a simple, in many ways, simple instruction, and we'd have 397 00:23:27,390 --> 00:23:33,630 complex hearts and complex lives, and the problems we face are not simple. 398 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,530 And we may be tempted to think that for those complex problems and those 399 00:23:37,530 --> 00:23:41,610 sophisticated things that are happening, we need really dramatic solutions. 400 00:23:41,850 --> 00:23:44,070 But Jesus gives us a simple one. 401 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:49,860 So don't be so prideful as to ignore this simple instruction from God. 402 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:51,750 Consider the bird. 403 00:23:53,340 --> 00:23:54,660 Let's keep reading a little bit. 404 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:57,510 Verse 25. 405 00:23:57,899 --> 00:24:03,120 Jesus is going to make sure that we don't miss the crux of what he presented 406 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:05,010 in the parable of the foolish farmer. 407 00:24:05,250 --> 00:24:09,480 And he says this, and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour 408 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:14,850 to the span of your life when you are anxious, it doesn't do anything for you. 409 00:24:15,855 --> 00:24:20,595 You are not in control through your anxiety or through your pursuit of 410 00:24:20,595 --> 00:24:27,885 soothing your anxiety to the extent that it will make an impact of even an hour. 411 00:24:30,885 --> 00:24:33,165 And then he says, why are you anxious about the rest? 412 00:24:33,705 --> 00:24:38,085 So if you recognize that you are in that little bit of control, and God 413 00:24:38,085 --> 00:24:42,945 is in perfect control and perfectly sovereign, and he cares for you 414 00:24:43,485 --> 00:24:44,805 and you are made in his image. 415 00:24:45,765 --> 00:24:47,565 Then why do you need to worry about the rest? 416 00:24:48,645 --> 00:24:52,635 Here we go with another simple set of instructions. 417 00:24:52,875 --> 00:24:55,875 Consider the lilies, how they grow. 418 00:24:55,875 --> 00:24:57,495 They neither toil nor spend yet. 419 00:24:57,495 --> 00:25:02,835 I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory with all the gold and the jewels 420 00:25:02,835 --> 00:25:06,525 and the temple and the gardens and everything that King Solomon had, 421 00:25:07,035 --> 00:25:10,995 even King Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 422 00:25:13,139 --> 00:25:17,070 But if God so closed the grass, which I hope you saw on the drive up here, 423 00:25:17,490 --> 00:25:23,490 the grass by the freeway is covered in flowers, yellow, purple, blue. 424 00:25:23,909 --> 00:25:27,899 If God is willing to decorate the sides of Texas freeways 425 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,210 and those are run over by mowers and thrown into the 426 00:25:36,210 --> 00:25:38,790 fire, how much more will you? 427 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:44,580 Will he clothe you, owe you of little faith, owe you of little faith. 428 00:25:46,290 --> 00:25:50,129 Jesus is connecting our faith to how we consider things. 429 00:25:50,129 --> 00:25:52,230 This is something Pastor Rod talked about in our first session, right? 430 00:25:52,439 --> 00:25:57,360 Your Heart is a product of many things, but Jesus is telling us very clear that 431 00:25:57,629 --> 00:26:00,060 we are to consider these things, right? 432 00:26:00,060 --> 00:26:00,959 It's not just. 433 00:26:01,275 --> 00:26:04,155 That we are to have some sort of ones and zeros about this. 434 00:26:04,155 --> 00:26:05,715 It's not just that we're supposed to have some sort of 435 00:26:05,715 --> 00:26:07,035 bits of information about this. 436 00:26:07,125 --> 00:26:08,985 We are to consider them, we're to ponder them. 437 00:26:09,195 --> 00:26:13,995 If I told you that the barometric pressure in this room dropped a hundred millibars 438 00:26:13,995 --> 00:26:17,205 in the last minute, why would you care? 439 00:26:18,045 --> 00:26:19,065 Why would that matter? 440 00:26:19,455 --> 00:26:20,385 It's maybe true. 441 00:26:20,385 --> 00:26:20,895 It's not true. 442 00:26:20,895 --> 00:26:21,315 Don't worry. 443 00:26:22,455 --> 00:26:23,445 Maybe it's true though. 444 00:26:23,985 --> 00:26:24,945 But why would it matter? 445 00:26:25,065 --> 00:26:28,755 Unless you understood the implications of that and you had considered 446 00:26:28,755 --> 00:26:32,565 what that meant, which might mean that a tornado is upon us, right? 447 00:26:32,595 --> 00:26:35,625 Which would then cause you not to just sit in your chair and stare at 448 00:26:35,625 --> 00:26:37,035 me as I told you that information. 449 00:26:37,155 --> 00:26:39,285 It would cause you to get up and do something different. 450 00:26:39,285 --> 00:26:43,095 Maybe, I don't know where you would run, but I don't know. 451 00:26:43,155 --> 00:26:45,405 But maybe into the closet back there. 452 00:26:45,405 --> 00:26:46,935 We'd all cram into that closet. 453 00:26:46,935 --> 00:26:48,555 I don't know where you, but you do something right. 454 00:26:49,139 --> 00:26:52,320 And in a similar way, we're not just supposed to know things about God, 455 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,730 but we are to consider and ponder the amazing reality of the fact 456 00:26:56,730 --> 00:26:58,800 that he cares for us and loves us. 457 00:26:59,370 --> 00:27:03,959 And so, uh, Jesus is calling us to consider that and he condemns those 458 00:27:03,959 --> 00:27:08,280 who do not do such consideration with having little faith. 459 00:27:10,439 --> 00:27:16,199 I know the male brain is different from different from the women folk. 460 00:27:16,679 --> 00:27:19,080 My wife accuses me of this sort of stuff all the time. 461 00:27:19,949 --> 00:27:23,250 She does this in a joking way, but she says, you forget about me all the time. 462 00:27:23,610 --> 00:27:25,050 You forget about me all the time. 463 00:27:25,050 --> 00:27:26,490 And I'm like, no, what are you talking about? 464 00:27:26,490 --> 00:27:27,570 I'm going, don't forget about you. 465 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:28,590 She's like, yes, you do. 466 00:27:28,620 --> 00:27:31,080 Every night when you go to sleep, you forget about me. 467 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:32,850 I'm like, what? 468 00:27:33,149 --> 00:27:34,350 What are you talking about? 469 00:27:34,770 --> 00:27:36,899 And she's like, you don't remember me? 470 00:27:36,899 --> 00:27:37,350 I'm like. 471 00:27:38,310 --> 00:27:39,720 And I'm like, do you remember me? 472 00:27:39,750 --> 00:27:40,680 And she's like, yes. 473 00:27:40,710 --> 00:27:42,660 I think about you all night as I sleep. 474 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:43,740 I think about you all night. 475 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:45,780 Right? 476 00:27:46,770 --> 00:27:48,360 I'm like, okay, okay. 477 00:27:48,420 --> 00:27:53,610 But, but I imagine I've had this experience where I go to work and I put 478 00:27:53,610 --> 00:27:59,310 my head down and I have forgotten about my wife because of how my brain works. 479 00:27:59,310 --> 00:28:03,480 I'm so focused in on the things that I need to do that day, and it's not 480 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,760 until I pull my head up at the end of the day that I'm like, oh wow. 481 00:28:07,185 --> 00:28:07,365 All right. 482 00:28:07,395 --> 00:28:08,325 What, what, where am I? 483 00:28:08,325 --> 00:28:08,865 Who am I? 484 00:28:10,725 --> 00:28:11,175 Right? 485 00:28:11,595 --> 00:28:14,295 You've gone through your days with your head down, not thinking 486 00:28:14,295 --> 00:28:15,555 about the promises of God. 487 00:28:16,155 --> 00:28:20,385 You've put your head down and done your work, done your tasks, 488 00:28:20,655 --> 00:28:22,965 and not thought about who God is. 489 00:28:23,295 --> 00:28:27,555 And so, as men, I think we need to build into our lives points of interjection 490 00:28:27,765 --> 00:28:29,835 where we can break that habit. 491 00:28:30,405 --> 00:28:33,585 Uh, you know, I know for many of you, I, I don't know specifically, but I know 492 00:28:33,645 --> 00:28:34,935 it's probably likely for many of you. 493 00:28:35,294 --> 00:28:37,875 'cause I've heard this many times is that, you know, Monday morning you can 494 00:28:37,875 --> 00:28:42,915 have that swell of anxiety as you walk to your car to get in, to go to work. 495 00:28:43,274 --> 00:28:46,935 Or as you walk into your home office, you can think about the week and 496 00:28:46,935 --> 00:28:50,114 all the things ahead of you, and you can feel that rush of anxiety. 497 00:28:50,294 --> 00:28:54,104 Well, maybe you need to, you use the door to your office or the door to your 498 00:28:54,104 --> 00:28:59,084 car as a reminder that now I'm gonna begin to think about the promises of God. 499 00:28:59,354 --> 00:29:02,864 Instead of thinking about the anxious things that are gonna consume my mind. 500 00:29:02,864 --> 00:29:03,375 Now I'm gonna. 501 00:29:04,185 --> 00:29:08,655 Literally, maybe think about the birds, think about the lilies. 502 00:29:09,074 --> 00:29:11,834 Maybe you need to set a reminder for you, maybe not one that goes 503 00:29:11,834 --> 00:29:14,685 off, but set a reminder for you that pops up on your phone for the 504 00:29:14,685 --> 00:29:19,635 middle of a stressful meeting so that you can, oh, wait a minute. 505 00:29:20,175 --> 00:29:21,405 I need to snap out of this. 506 00:29:21,645 --> 00:29:25,844 I need to remember that God cares for me, that he's gonna provide, that he loves me. 507 00:29:26,475 --> 00:29:29,865 Even in the middle of that meeting, maybe you need to talk to your wife 508 00:29:29,865 --> 00:29:31,965 and say, can you please help me? 509 00:29:32,340 --> 00:29:35,100 Talk about the promises of God at the dinner table. 510 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,960 It's good to talk about the struggles of life, but maybe at the dinner table, 511 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,710 you can take that as an opportunity to say, we're gonna talk about how 512 00:29:43,710 --> 00:29:48,210 God provides for us, how God loves us, how he made us in his image, and what 513 00:29:48,210 --> 00:29:50,340 a wonderful, amazing thing that is. 514 00:29:51,690 --> 00:29:56,070 Maybe go on a walk, leave your earbuds behind your AirPods and 515 00:29:56,070 --> 00:29:58,805 listen for the birds, and use that to prompt you to remember. 516 00:29:59,445 --> 00:30:03,585 Who God is and what he's done for you, and to look at the flowers as you walk 517 00:30:03,585 --> 00:30:06,735 by them and to remember those things. 518 00:30:08,175 --> 00:30:09,975 I don't want you to miss the simplicity of this. 519 00:30:10,215 --> 00:30:12,405 There's certainly other ways we could apply this, but we should 520 00:30:12,405 --> 00:30:17,055 at least begin by doing the simple instruction from God to help us 521 00:30:17,055 --> 00:30:20,535 with the anxieties that we may face. 522 00:30:20,955 --> 00:30:21,915 Why does this work? 523 00:30:21,915 --> 00:30:24,735 We already talked about that, but just to make sure, you know, it doesn't work 524 00:30:24,735 --> 00:30:27,345 in some sort of just automatic sense. 525 00:30:28,275 --> 00:30:28,785 Practice. 526 00:30:28,785 --> 00:30:32,445 This is a training, this is a con consideration that goes over 527 00:30:32,445 --> 00:30:34,365 multiple days, multiple weeks. 528 00:30:34,965 --> 00:30:41,595 But if we are to not be anxious, this is ultimately how we are going to do that. 529 00:30:41,925 --> 00:30:42,165 Okay? 530 00:30:42,165 --> 00:30:44,145 Up to this point, we've considered the things that are in our 531 00:30:44,145 --> 00:30:49,935 hearts, in our minds, how do we, how we do things on the inside. 532 00:30:50,715 --> 00:30:51,795 But as you know. 533 00:30:52,290 --> 00:30:56,820 The things that happen on the inside flow outward into external action, right? 534 00:30:56,820 --> 00:31:00,719 We heard the foolish farmer tell himself things, right? 535 00:31:00,750 --> 00:31:01,739 They were wrong. 536 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,949 They were incorrect, but he was telling himself things. 537 00:31:05,909 --> 00:31:10,620 He was addressing himself, and because of the things that he told himself, he 538 00:31:10,649 --> 00:31:14,879 then went and did things right because of what he talked to himself about. 539 00:31:14,939 --> 00:31:16,260 He went and built Barnes. 540 00:31:16,649 --> 00:31:21,540 He went and pursued the promises of relaxation and food and drink 541 00:31:21,540 --> 00:31:24,060 and entertainment and merriment. 542 00:31:24,450 --> 00:31:30,540 He acted because of what he was thinking, and we should expect that when we act 543 00:31:30,540 --> 00:31:33,570 in accordance to what God is calling us, that we will act differently. 544 00:31:35,220 --> 00:31:35,790 Let's keep reading. 545 00:31:36,865 --> 00:31:37,495 Let's keep reading. 546 00:31:39,645 --> 00:31:43,425 Verse 29 in Luke 12 where we've been says this. 547 00:31:44,024 --> 00:31:46,155 And do not seek what you two are. 548 00:31:46,215 --> 00:31:49,305 You are to eat and what you are to drink nor be worried. 549 00:31:49,395 --> 00:31:52,004 So before he was saying, do not be anxious. 550 00:31:52,155 --> 00:31:54,495 Now he's saying, do not seek. 551 00:31:54,705 --> 00:31:57,510 Do not seek for all the nations of the world. 552 00:31:57,885 --> 00:32:03,375 Seek after these things and your father knows that you need them. 553 00:32:04,260 --> 00:32:09,300 Instead, seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you. 554 00:32:10,140 --> 00:32:13,350 Well, obviously you're gonna have to seek the dining hall, right? 555 00:32:13,350 --> 00:32:15,180 You're gonna have to get over there for lunch. 556 00:32:15,510 --> 00:32:19,440 So it can't be that you are to just go home and sit on your couch, right? 557 00:32:19,470 --> 00:32:20,820 That that can't be the case. 558 00:32:20,850 --> 00:32:24,420 'cause if you were to go home and sit on your couch and wait for God to 559 00:32:24,420 --> 00:32:28,590 bring Uber Eats to your house to feed you, and for money to get deposited 560 00:32:28,590 --> 00:32:30,600 into your account by tariffs that. 561 00:32:31,094 --> 00:32:34,125 Trump collected or whatever, it's not gonna work. 562 00:32:34,215 --> 00:32:40,544 You know that what we are to do here is not to pursue after those things. 563 00:32:40,695 --> 00:32:44,354 Those things are not to dominate the way we make decisions. 564 00:32:46,334 --> 00:32:48,824 Jesus continues Fear not little flock for it. 565 00:32:48,824 --> 00:32:51,615 It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 566 00:32:51,705 --> 00:32:53,834 That's such a sweet reminder in this, right? 567 00:32:53,865 --> 00:32:54,405 It is. 568 00:32:54,465 --> 00:32:58,514 God's kingdom that he is going to give you is his. 569 00:32:58,814 --> 00:32:59,895 You didn't make his kingdom. 570 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:05,820 You didn't invent what his kingdom looks like or how it works, but it's 571 00:33:05,820 --> 00:33:07,650 his pleasure to give that to you. 572 00:33:08,340 --> 00:33:09,690 And in a similar way, right? 573 00:33:09,690 --> 00:33:15,090 The seed that goes into the good soil will produce 40, 60, 80 fold. 574 00:33:15,300 --> 00:33:19,980 But again, we can't just go home and sit down because Jesus has given us 575 00:33:19,980 --> 00:33:25,380 instructions, even in the context of this, to do things right, to seek, to not seek. 576 00:33:25,905 --> 00:33:29,145 What you are to eat and what you're to drink, but to instead seek the kingdom. 577 00:33:29,235 --> 00:33:30,195 Well, what does that look like? 578 00:33:30,195 --> 00:33:37,544 Well, verse 31, he gives us yet another, it feels like overly simple instruction. 579 00:33:38,085 --> 00:33:40,575 Sell your possessions and give to the needy. 580 00:33:41,774 --> 00:33:43,845 And in fact, he doesn't give us more, at least here. 581 00:33:43,845 --> 00:33:46,065 And what will that do? 582 00:33:46,514 --> 00:33:51,405 That will provide for yourselves or you will provide yourselves with money bags 583 00:33:51,405 --> 00:33:53,565 that do not grow old in a treasure. 584 00:33:54,105 --> 00:33:58,455 In heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth 585 00:33:58,515 --> 00:34:03,615 destroys for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. 586 00:34:04,005 --> 00:34:06,975 So our third point for this morning is be ready to give up 587 00:34:06,975 --> 00:34:09,255 everything for God's kingdom. 588 00:34:09,255 --> 00:34:13,395 Be ready to give up everything for God's kingdom. 589 00:34:14,324 --> 00:34:15,495 It's his kingdom. 590 00:34:15,699 --> 00:34:18,465 Don't forget that, but he has called you to do things. 591 00:34:19,065 --> 00:34:25,574 And we are not to seek, we're not to act out in seeking what we are to eat and what 592 00:34:25,574 --> 00:34:27,014 we are to drink like the foolish farmer. 593 00:34:27,014 --> 00:34:30,255 Instead, we're to do something that's kind of radical. 594 00:34:30,795 --> 00:34:34,545 If you were talking to somebody and they told you, wow, I had just invested in 595 00:34:34,545 --> 00:34:39,435 this stock and it made me tons of money, or My business venture has gone so well 596 00:34:39,495 --> 00:34:41,655 in this last year, it's just amazing. 597 00:34:41,925 --> 00:34:43,665 Or I got this big inheritance. 598 00:34:44,460 --> 00:34:44,850 I doubt. 599 00:34:44,850 --> 00:34:47,730 Our first instinct would be to say, oh, well great. 600 00:34:47,730 --> 00:34:50,100 You get to now sell that and give the money to the poor. 601 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:52,080 Uh, we wouldn't do that. 602 00:34:52,304 --> 00:34:54,239 And, and don't, don't hear me wrong. 603 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:55,770 We don't wanna be legalistic about this. 604 00:34:55,770 --> 00:34:56,129 Right. 605 00:34:56,310 --> 00:34:59,910 The farmer is not condemned because he was rich. 606 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,419 He's not condemned because he had a plentiful crop. 607 00:35:03,419 --> 00:35:06,839 He is not condemned because he even had one barn. 608 00:35:06,870 --> 00:35:09,450 He's condemned because he wasn't being rich. 609 00:35:09,900 --> 00:35:13,200 Towards God, an Anais and sfi, right? 610 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:18,870 They are judged by God, not because they didn't give every cent of the 611 00:35:18,870 --> 00:35:20,760 proceeds from their land to the church. 612 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:23,250 That's not what they're judged for. 613 00:35:23,670 --> 00:35:26,850 They're judged because they lied, because they were trying 614 00:35:26,850 --> 00:35:28,620 to control their situation. 615 00:35:28,620 --> 00:35:31,260 Or think of the rich young ruler, right, who does all of 616 00:35:31,260 --> 00:35:33,720 the things that the law demands. 617 00:35:34,410 --> 00:35:37,710 But then Jesus says, go and sell your possessions, and what that reveals 618 00:35:37,710 --> 00:35:39,420 about his obedience to the law. 619 00:35:40,380 --> 00:35:43,380 Is that he was doing those things because he wanted to make himself righteous. 620 00:35:43,380 --> 00:35:45,300 He wanted to make himself right before the Lord. 621 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:50,580 And when Jesus says, go and sell your possessions, it reveals to him, reveals to 622 00:35:50,580 --> 00:35:53,310 us at least that his heart was not right. 623 00:35:54,090 --> 00:35:55,440 Sell your possessions. 624 00:35:55,620 --> 00:35:59,340 So again, not a legalistic way of you all need to now go 625 00:35:59,340 --> 00:36:00,720 and make your net worth zero. 626 00:36:00,900 --> 00:36:03,030 That is not what Jesus is commanding us to do. 627 00:36:03,300 --> 00:36:09,300 Rather, we are to be ready to have a heart that has the things that God has given us. 628 00:36:09,690 --> 00:36:13,860 Held in our hands ready for him to do with them as he wills. 629 00:36:15,210 --> 00:36:19,170 I do want to say though, that it may be the case this morning that 630 00:36:19,170 --> 00:36:20,970 you have an idol in your life. 631 00:36:21,150 --> 00:36:26,250 There may be something in your life that you look at and you say, this 632 00:36:26,250 --> 00:36:32,130 is the thing that's gonna provide me all the comfort of the world. 633 00:36:32,865 --> 00:36:34,005 It could be a lot of things, right? 634 00:36:34,005 --> 00:36:37,635 It could be your house, it could be a car, it could be your retirement. 635 00:36:37,935 --> 00:36:41,505 It could be some sort of prize possession, some sort of collectible. 636 00:36:42,195 --> 00:36:44,085 Consider your things. 637 00:36:44,145 --> 00:36:47,925 Is there an idol in your life that you are relying on? 638 00:36:49,035 --> 00:36:54,525 And if there is an immediate application of this as you in are trying to 639 00:36:54,525 --> 00:36:59,775 seek the kingdom may be to sell that thing and not just keep the profits. 640 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:04,890 So that you can buy it again later or so that you can, so that you 641 00:37:04,890 --> 00:37:08,670 can buy something else, but give that money to the poor, right? 642 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:13,200 Get rid of the idle, cut off the vine that has thorns on it 643 00:37:13,259 --> 00:37:14,759 that may be dragging you down. 644 00:37:16,049 --> 00:37:20,339 But we may not all have idols like that in our lives, so at the very 645 00:37:20,339 --> 00:37:22,680 least, we ought to be ready, right? 646 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:25,415 We'd be ought to be ready for God to take things. 647 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:27,629 Think about something you love. 648 00:37:27,629 --> 00:37:28,740 Maybe you don't idolize it. 649 00:37:28,799 --> 00:37:34,560 Maybe it's not to that level, but would you be ready without flinching to sell 650 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:37,439 that thing for the sake of the kingdom? 651 00:37:38,910 --> 00:37:41,939 You should be able to do that with all the things that you have because 652 00:37:41,939 --> 00:37:43,410 you know that those belong to God. 653 00:37:43,470 --> 00:37:46,020 You know that you actually don't have control over those things. 654 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:48,839 He's the one that has control over those things. 655 00:37:49,859 --> 00:37:52,290 So that's another way that you might apply this. 656 00:37:52,770 --> 00:37:54,240 I know there's people in our church that. 657 00:37:54,765 --> 00:37:57,195 I'm not gonna name their names, but are good examples of this. 658 00:37:58,125 --> 00:38:02,115 There's a couple guys who I've talked to in our church who have given up careers. 659 00:38:02,565 --> 00:38:04,875 They've given up careers that hold so much potential. 660 00:38:05,175 --> 00:38:07,305 There's so much earnings, so much power. 661 00:38:07,605 --> 00:38:11,205 They've given up careers so that they can just have jobs so that they can 662 00:38:11,205 --> 00:38:17,445 raise their family, so that they can serve their church, and they've held, 663 00:38:17,625 --> 00:38:21,705 in a sense, their possessions openly to God and have been willing to do that. 664 00:38:22,544 --> 00:38:24,075 That's a remarkable thing. 665 00:38:24,524 --> 00:38:29,325 There's some people who live in smaller homes or live in apartments because they 666 00:38:29,325 --> 00:38:31,424 recognize the way that God has given them. 667 00:38:31,725 --> 00:38:35,205 The access to wealth means that in order for them to have that dream home, they 668 00:38:35,205 --> 00:38:39,404 would have to commit so much of their life, so much of their time to earning 669 00:38:39,404 --> 00:38:44,805 money, that it would indeed pull their attention away from seeking God's kingdom. 670 00:38:47,234 --> 00:38:51,430 I know we don't have specific names, but those of you who tithe. 671 00:38:52,575 --> 00:38:53,535 Or doing the right thing. 672 00:38:53,535 --> 00:38:56,355 You're recognizing that this money is God's money. 673 00:38:56,774 --> 00:39:02,055 You're recognizing that this is not my own, but that it is something that belongs 674 00:39:02,055 --> 00:39:04,245 to God, and that is an act of worship. 675 00:39:04,245 --> 00:39:07,035 That's an act of faith as you hand that money over, right? 676 00:39:07,035 --> 00:39:11,865 You're not storing it in your barn, you're handing it to God and recognizing 677 00:39:12,254 --> 00:39:17,924 that he is the one who is sovereign, who is in control of every dollar you have. 678 00:39:18,134 --> 00:39:18,555 So. 679 00:39:18,915 --> 00:39:21,674 If you don't tithe, maybe this is the time to tithe. 680 00:39:21,674 --> 00:39:24,794 I know it's always awkward for a pastor to mention that, but maybe now is 681 00:39:24,794 --> 00:39:29,294 the time for you to tithe as a way of demonstrating and, and seeking the kingdom 682 00:39:29,774 --> 00:39:32,024 as opposed to building your own barns. 683 00:39:34,604 --> 00:39:35,595 Maybe you've thought about heaven. 684 00:39:36,285 --> 00:39:37,004 I hope you have. 685 00:39:37,004 --> 00:39:38,805 I, I hope you have. 686 00:39:39,044 --> 00:39:41,234 Maybe you thought about heaven, and if you think about heaven in the right way. 687 00:39:43,020 --> 00:39:47,880 I imagine that you have not been concerned about what sort of retirement 688 00:39:47,940 --> 00:39:49,890 plan is available for you in heaven. 689 00:39:51,270 --> 00:39:55,020 I imagine that you have not been anxiously wondering whether the 690 00:39:55,020 --> 00:39:59,250 deductible on the health insurance plan is gonna be $10,000 or $5,000. 691 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:02,070 You know, you're not wondering or worried is there gonna be 692 00:40:02,070 --> 00:40:02,790 food in the grocery store? 693 00:40:02,790 --> 00:40:03,210 I don't. 694 00:40:03,210 --> 00:40:04,320 Is there gonna be food in the grocery store? 695 00:40:05,100 --> 00:40:08,340 You haven't thought those things, I imagine, because you have a right 696 00:40:08,340 --> 00:40:09,810 understanding of what heaven is. 697 00:40:10,185 --> 00:40:13,665 You understand that God is sovereign over everything. 698 00:40:14,234 --> 00:40:17,415 He is the one who's going to provide for us into eternity. 699 00:40:17,625 --> 00:40:20,355 He's the one who is able to make all of those things happen. 700 00:40:21,194 --> 00:40:23,984 So in some sense, you have a right understanding of heaven. 701 00:40:23,984 --> 00:40:26,325 You have a right faith in who God is. 702 00:40:26,535 --> 00:40:31,245 But don't forget that the same God who is going to care for you for eternity 703 00:40:31,814 --> 00:40:37,310 in all of the ways that you know he will is the same father who loves you today. 704 00:40:37,965 --> 00:40:39,345 Who cares for you today? 705 00:40:39,945 --> 00:40:40,515 Yes, indeed. 706 00:40:40,515 --> 00:40:41,805 We live in a fallen world. 707 00:40:42,225 --> 00:40:42,825 Yes, indeed. 708 00:40:42,825 --> 00:40:45,495 The effects of sin are all around us. 709 00:40:45,765 --> 00:40:48,645 God is not necessarily gonna provide you the Lamborghini, but 710 00:40:48,645 --> 00:40:53,025 he does know that you'd need a job and you need a car to get to work. 711 00:40:53,055 --> 00:40:54,135 He's going to care for you. 712 00:40:54,525 --> 00:40:57,705 May not be in the way that you imagine, may not be in the way that you like, 713 00:40:58,065 --> 00:40:59,655 but he's your father and he loves you. 714 00:41:02,130 --> 00:41:05,400 We need to apply that sort of thinking that we have about God 715 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:07,980 and who he is to our daily lives. 716 00:41:10,380 --> 00:41:12,600 The warning of this thorny soil is sobering. 717 00:41:12,750 --> 00:41:16,860 If the cares and the riches and the pleasures of this life dominate 718 00:41:16,860 --> 00:41:19,800 us, the fruit will never mature. 719 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,770 We may look like Christians, but we will prove to have no 720 00:41:22,770 --> 00:41:24,540 real inheritance in the kingdom. 721 00:41:25,835 --> 00:41:31,620 And we should care deeply that we are looking into the spiritual mirror and 722 00:41:31,620 --> 00:41:36,720 recognizing where we may have thorns growing up around us, pulling us down. 723 00:41:37,890 --> 00:41:39,210 Where is your heart? 724 00:41:39,870 --> 00:41:42,900 Where is your heart for where your treasure is? 725 00:41:43,110 --> 00:41:43,530 There? 726 00:41:43,530 --> 00:41:48,660 Your heart will be Also, are you allowing it to be quietly choked out 727 00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:53,760 amidst the cares and the anxieties of this life, or are you courageously. 728 00:41:54,585 --> 00:41:56,595 Pursuing God's promises. 729 00:41:57,195 --> 00:41:58,155 Let me pray for us. 730 00:41:58,335 --> 00:42:01,515 Let's pray that God would search our hearts, expose any thorns 731 00:42:01,515 --> 00:42:04,065 that are choking us, and give us the grace to be rich towards him. 732 00:42:06,255 --> 00:42:07,215 Lord, thank you for these men. 733 00:42:07,215 --> 00:42:11,925 Again, thank you that they were willing after a busy season at Compass and many of 734 00:42:11,925 --> 00:42:17,325 them serving in many ways to come here, to take the time to open your word together, 735 00:42:17,325 --> 00:42:19,455 to talk to brothers about their faith to. 736 00:42:20,370 --> 00:42:24,690 To care about your things, to care about the treasures that 737 00:42:24,690 --> 00:42:26,009 we want to have in heaven. 738 00:42:27,300 --> 00:42:29,310 Lord, help us to inspect our hearts. 739 00:42:29,340 --> 00:42:30,210 Help us to, 740 00:42:32,460 --> 00:42:34,740 to love the things that you love. 741 00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:36,480 Help us to be humble. 742 00:42:36,870 --> 00:42:41,580 Help us to be eager or expose the things that may be wearing us down. 743 00:42:42,210 --> 00:42:46,259 Uh, whether it's the stones, whether it's the thorns, whatever it may be. 744 00:42:46,259 --> 00:42:48,000 Lord, uh, please help us. 745 00:42:48,660 --> 00:42:50,580 I pray this in your son's name, amen.