Fan or Follower, Part 2

And for the sermon today, Mr. Van Light.

Well, thank you very much, Mr. Richards.

You know, the last time that Shannon and I were here was the last weekend of October. It's been about a month ago now. And the last time that we were here, we considered the concept of Christians, Sabbath-keeping or not, in the world today. Following on to a continuum that went from an enthusiastic admirer on one end, which we turned to a fan, to a follower on the other side. And we examined what defines someone as a fan. We concluded that a fan was an individual that was hesitant to make the necessary commitment to the way of life that Christ has called us to lead. They were interested in the benefits provided, but maybe not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to obtain them. They profess to love God, to love their neighbor, but the weightier matters of the law are truly lacking in their lives. On the other hand, the follower was the person whose life and actions truly reflected their beliefs. Instead of putting on a mask once a week, going to church, going through the motions, the follower truly lives the way of life that they profess to believe in. Not just in public, but also behind closed doors when they are accountable only to God and themselves. Their belief is reflected in their actions. We took a look at various examples within Scripture of individuals that filled both camps, from Abraham and Elisha, to Nicodemus, Simon, and others. And the overall purpose of the last message was to simply introduce the topic, to get it out there, to get it on people's minds, get us thinking about it, and allow us to take a look at that continuum and try to make a diagnosis as to where we fit on this continuum, from one extreme to the other, where we're at in this process. As the message progressed, we visited a number of passages that showed us time and time again what Christ wants in His disciples and therefore us. The conclusion was that Christ wants committed and dedicated followers. He wants followers who will put themselves to death daily and choose to follow Him, not just when it's easy, not just when it's convenient, and most importantly, not on their own terms. In this relationship, God gets to call the shots. God gets to define the terms of this relationship. And as we mentioned in the last message, God says we don't get to see other people when it comes down to it. The final thing that we left off with last time was the idea that we are all culled from very different backgrounds and very different places. Some of us get the ball on the 50-yard line, others get the ball on the 10-yard line, but we also said that regardless of where we got the ball, that we were expected to move that ball forward. So where the focus of our last message on this topic was diagnosing, the focus on this message is how do we move the ball? How do we move the ball?

How do we move that ball forward? How do we pick ourselves up and march upfield through the attacks, through the struggles, and gain ground? And during the sermon today, I'd like to dig a bit further into this topic. And in the time that we have today, focus on examining tangible things that we can do that will help us to make these spiritual gains that we need. The title of the message today, second part in this series, is Fan or Follower Moving the Ball.

In the time that we have left today, we'll take a look at three points. And all three of these points are ways to move the ball forward, different ways for us to work towards becoming a more dedicated follower and never looking back. Recognizing full well that there's always room for improvement. Wherever we happen to find ourselves on this continuum, because in this life we are expected to grow until our last breath. The level of dedication that we're looking for and that God is desiring requires us to do three things. It requires us to become one, unencumbered, two, unmasked, and three, unified. Those three points again are unencumbered, leaving our pasts behind, unmasked, and unified. And so what we'll start with today is taking a look at the idea that we need to be unencumbered. And we're all called with a very certain amount of baggage from our past.

Some have just a carry-on. Others may be hauling three suitcases, a carry-on, and a personal item. But regardless of what amount of baggage we're carrying, no matter what, we all bring some degree of our past lives with us when we've been called. This can be a strength in some ways, because we all have different experiences, different educations, different backgrounds.

But if we're not careful, our past experience can be detrimental as well. That past life and its encumbrances can kind of continue to crop up and continue to cause us to struggle. You know, several years ago there was a movie that came out with Will Smith playing the role of the lead character.

The movie was called The Pursuit of Happiness. Some of you may have seen the movie, but it told the real-life story of a young African-American man named Chris Gardner, who his early life was very, very difficult. I don't know that the movie really went much into Chris Gardner's early life. But when Chris Gardner was eight years old, his mother tried to burn their home down in order to kill his stepfather. She was the only stable force in his life, and so when she went to prison for her crime, his life, as you might imagine, spun out of control.

He bounced from home to home to home for the next four to six years, despite all of it. Still managed to graduate from high school, despite the chaos of his home life. He married young, had a young child, and he began his pursuit of a job as a stockbroker. In the process of working for this job while raising his young son, his marriage fell apart, his wife left him, he became homeless, and while taking care of his son on the streets, he worked his way up in a brokerage firm from an intern to finally a full partner.

He managed to pass his tests, he managed to pass everything that that firm threw at him. He was offered a position which he accepted. If you fast forward to today, Chris Gardner runs his own brokerage firm. He went past his circumstances. He didn't let his past define him. And, brethren, we have two choices when it comes to our lives. We can either continue to reflect on the difficulties of our past, continue to drag it around with us like some big ball and chain that we've got, you know, clipped to our leg, or with God's help, we can choose to move past our circumstances, to walk away from that past and to keep our focus forward.

We have to live a life that is unencumbered and leave that past where it belongs, in the past. Turn me over to 2 Corinthians, please. We'll begin there today. 2 Corinthians. We'll pick it up in chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5. And we'll go ahead and pick up the passage in verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, gets into the idea that, as we've been called and as we've been in Christ, we do become a new creation. Look at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things, our past, our background, our circumstances, have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. God planned for our reconciliation to him.

He knows our past. He knows we're not perfect. He knows that we might have come from very difficult circumstances, but he called us anyway. He called us to walk away from that, to overcome it, and to become a new creation. He gave us the invitation. Regardless of our background, he gave us that invitation. Kind of like he invited Matthew. When we come across Matthew in Matthew 9, verse 9—go ahead and turn over there.

We're not going to jump right away into it. We'll get some context first. But Matthew 9, verse 9—when we first come across Matthew, we see that he's employed as a tax collector. He's employed as a publican. And a tax collector in this time period was one of the most despised people in the land. They were viewed as traitors and Roman lackeys. And in a way, they were both.

The Romans would levy a tax on a certain area based on their formulas, and then conclude that the entire area and everyone that kind of lived in it—well, you owe this much tax. And then the Romans did something really ingenious. I mean, really truly, it's ingenious. They auctioned off the right to collect this task—or this task, rather. Task? Can I say task one more time? Tax. There we go. They auctioned off the right to collect this tax to the highest bidder. And because there weren't really any set tax rates, tax collectors could arbitrarily change them.

They could inspect the goods that people were transporting, and they could just levy random tariffs and taxes on them. And then, here's the genius part. Anything that you collected above the actual tax—tax? Why can I not say that word today? Tax that the Romans levied became yours. It went into your pocket if you collected more than what the Romans said. An unscrupulous man could become very, very wealthy.

Even if you were an honest tax collector, it didn't matter. You were still working for the Romans, and because those Romans required your collections at the end of the year, according to the histories, some tax collectors were known to use force, to use every tactic they could use to hustle their own countrymen out of their money. Sounds a little bit like debt collection today. You hear about some of the horror stories sometimes about people that just get hounded and hounded and hounded by debt collectors, and they used some pretty unscrupulous means to try to get your money.

But, as you might imagine, tax collectors were not well-liked. In fact, they were considered to be living a life of sin, and as a result, those that were of the Jewish persuasion were not even allowed to attend services at the synagogue. They were essentially worse off than the Gentiles at that point in time. So we have the example of Matthew, and when we analyze the writings of Matthew, we learn a few things about him. There are actually more references to the Old Testament in the book of Matthew than any other book of the Gospels, which indicates to us that it's very likely that he knew the Scriptures to a very high degree. Matthew was well-educated. His Gospel was written in Greek, despite the prevailing language at that time being Aramaic and Hebrew kind of fading out a little bit at that time. Additionally, there were certain details recorded by Matthew that are not recorded by the other Gospel writers. He was very meticulous with his detail, and often you'll see in Matthew's account facts and figures contract details, for example, in Judas Iscarias' contract that's recorded in Matthew but not recorded elsewhere. Things that would be interesting to a numbers guy. Things that would be interesting to a numbers guy. Let's turn over to Mark 2 real quick. We'll come back to Matthew 9. But essentially, Mark 2 is the parallel Scripture to Matthew 9 in the book of Mark. So Mark 2... Mark 2 will learn something else interesting about Matthew. Mark 2. Pick it up in verse 14. Again, parallel account to Matthew 9, but Mark 2, verse 14, we'll see that Matthew wasn't always known as Matthew. Mark 2, verse 14, we'll pick it up in 13. Then he went out again by the sea, and all the multitudes came to him, and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, Follow me, and so he arose, and he followed him. We see in this passage that Matthew was the son of Alphaeus, and he was given the name Levi.

Now, this could, this is speculation, but this could explain the reason for his education. If he was given the name Levi, given the significance of that name, it's entirely possible that Matthew's life was set aside from birth for service to God. That he was intended to go into the priesthood, destined to be a priest. Now, if that were the case, if that were the case, he would have learned the Torah from a very young age, he would have learned to read and write very well, and in his teen years, there would have been an expectation put on him that he would become a disciple to a rabbi somewhere along the line, that he would learn the ropes and become a member of the priesthood.

But we see in Matthew's life that wasn't the case. When we first see Matthew, he's a tax collector. Something went wrong in his life. Something went wrong.

In the book that we mentioned last time, and I'll hold it up once again in case you want to jot down the title again, the book is called Not a Fan. It's written by Kyle Eitelman. And in this particular book, he speculates that perhaps when it came time for Matthew and his young life to join a rabbi, to become part of what is called the Talmareim, which is like a group of followers that essentially become disciples of a certain rabbi, maybe he didn't make the cut.

Maybe he didn't make the cut, and he could not get a rabbi to take him on. And maybe it had something to do with his Galilean descent. Again, we don't know for sure. We really don't know for sure. And it is, again, speculation, but it offers an interesting possibility. If that were the case, and he couldn't get a rabbi to take him on, his options would be limited. All of that hard work, all that training, all that time, all that energy, and seeking out rabbis to follow, his entire life's work to that point, would be gone.

Everything he had strived for. What we do know for certain is that somewhere along the line, Matthew began to serve himself rather than serve God.

He became a tax collector. You can imagine he became an incredible disappointment to his parents, you know, joining a profession that was a byword among his own people, essentially hustling his own countrymen out of money for the Roman occupiers.

But in Matthew 9-9, let's go back to Matthew 9-9, we'll see the other account here. Matthew 9, verse 9, we see something pretty incredible.

Matthew 9, and verse 9, again, the parallel that we just looked at with Mark 2, it's going to sound the same. It's just going to use a different name in this case. Matthew 9, verse 9, As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew, this is again Matthew penning this, sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow me. So he arose, and he followed him. You know, Christ knew exactly who and what he was, and he called him anyway.

Christ walked up to Matthew, and maybe Matthew's heard of the amazing things that Jesus has done, maybe seen him walking in the streets, heard of his new rabbi who's doing things a little differently than before.

And instead of having to seek him out and find him and apply and go through all this rigorous testing process to be proved worthy of studying with him, Instead, this time, the rabbi comes up to him at his tax-collecting booth and utters two simple words, an invitation, Follow me. We see Matthew's response at the end of verse 9, and in verse 10, see at the end of verse 9, So he arose, and he followed him. No questions, no hesitation. Yes, sir. I'm yours. Now it so happened that as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax-collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. Now, in this particular passage in the New King James, it's a little bit deceptive. It makes a little more sense in Luke 5. Let's go over to Luke 5. Let's go over to Luke 5. The other gospel writers recorded is what it really is. I don't know if Matthew was trying to be a little humble when he wrote down what was going on, but Matthew's response is neat. It's a very cool response.

Luke 5.

And verse 29. Verse 29. Actually 28, so we can see the last piece there. It says, So he left all, rose up, and followed him. Walked away, got up from his tax-booth, walked away, turned the other direction, left his past in the dust. Verse 29. This was not just a basic dinner. Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house. And there was a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. So we see here that this particular meal is at Matthew's home. It's a huge feast.

It's a big celebration. Probably in honor of Christ, in honor of him becoming a follower of his. But you'll notice the guests at the dinner are a whole bunch of tax collectors and sinners. And it's quite possible that that was Matthew's only friends at that point in time, given his occupation. It could very well be that he could only hang out with those who were similar to him.

Really, though, this is a dinner and this is a meeting with the dregs of society and Jewish life at that time. The Pharisees in verse 11 of Matthew 9—let's go back to the Matthew account. I know we're flipping all over the place here. But back to Matthew 9. I should have told you to keep a finger in there.

I'm sorry. That's a can. So Matthew 9, verse 11, we see the Pharisees call him out. He says, And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

Just point blank. No, like, dancing around the topic. No, like, tactful attempt at it. Hey, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and with sinners? And when Jesus heard that, he said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but call sinners to repentance.

Christ informs them that when it comes to whom he is planning on calling, he's planning on calling sinners. The spiritually broken, the ones in need of a doctor. And brethren, that's us. That's us. We sometimes get this idea that we're so righteous, you know, that God has called us. Take that world. You know, I've been called. I have all these things, and I know something that you don't know.

And we look down on others from this little pedestal that we've created for ourselves because of the truth and the grace that we've been given. But we were called because we are broken. We were called because we're broken. We're not the mighty of the world. The idea being that God can do amazing things through us, and we can't claim the glory because we're too weak.

The things that God does through us, we have no power in doing on our own. Matthew was broken when he was called by Christ, and God put him back together. He walked away from his past. He left his tax-collecting days in the dust. And he went ahead and unclipped that ball and chain that was attached to his ankle from that past that he was dragging around, disappointing his parents. You know, being a part of a profession that was just despised. All of those, all that baggage, all those failures, his shortcomings.

He became a new creation in Christ, and he moved that ball forward. In addition to being unencumbered, it is extremely important that we unmask. It's extremely important that we unmask. Sadly, religion and hypocrisy go hand in hand. And it's been that way for a very, very long time. Nothing new. There's actually a very famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi that when asked why he didn't convert to Christianity. There was a reporter that asked him once, why you don't convert to Christianity? Much of your teachings and your ideas are very Christian, their approach. Why, why have you not converted to Christianity?

His response was sobering and extremely thought-provoking. He said very simply, I like your Christ. I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

You know, Gandhi can see it. And so can we. You know, many professing, rather, Christians today are nothing like Christ. Nothing like Christ. That was the essence of this entire book. The idea that when it comes to interactions with our fellow man, it is unnatural for us to turn the other cheek. It goes against our grain of human nature. It's unnatural for us not to seek revenge. It's unnatural for us to do good unto others. It's foreign to our human nature. Human nature is me, me, me, me, me. But it's God's Holy Spirit in us that allows us to begin to make gains in these areas of our life. But again, if we're not letting that spirit lead us, or we're ignoring it, we will see a life that looks a lot like the rest of those people in the world around us. The only difference is it'll be labeled Christian. But is it really? You know, Christ had a word for these folks in Scripture. It's a painful word. It hurts to hear. They called them hypocrites. They called them hypocrites. The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word kupokrisis, meaning to play a part, in other words, to be an actor. That's what a hypocrite is in Greek. It's an actor. It's a person who was in a Greek play. They were hypocrisis. They were playing a part.

Greek plays were famous for their use of masks. In fact, that was one way that you could differentiate one character from another, was they wore a different mask over their face. In fact, we've seen these. They're actually the symbol for theater nowadays, the happy face and sad face. That was Roman comedy, or that was Roman, rather, Greek comedy and Greek tragedy. And so these masks had their origins in Greek. And these masks would, again, indicate to the audience what part each character was playing in this particular play. Underneath that mask was the real person, the actor. But on the front of that mask was the character that they were playing. And you know what? In our world today, our world's a lot like that. Everyone that we run into, people everywhere, they're wearing masks. They wear a mask to make themselves appear more well-to-do. They wear a mask to make themselves look tougher than they really are.

They wear a mask to make themselves look better than they really are. You know, I see this kind of thing in my education career all the time. I teach in a very low-income school. And image is so important. You know, parents are poor as dirt, but they're driving a brand-new escalate that they've financed with whatever they can put together with these huge rims and everything to make the appearance of having money.

There's no money for food, but the kids are wearing the nicest clothes and brand-new Nike Airs that cost 150-some bucks apiece, and they're all carrying iPhone 5s. But they can't afford to eat. They're wearing a mask to show the world around them that they're better than they are. Our kids wear gang clothing all over the place to show how tough they are, when in reality, they're not tough at all. It's an outward show. It's a complete outward show.

And sometimes, in religious circles, a mask is worn to make people look more righteous than they really are. On the outside, they may look very pious. They may appear to be living right and very godly, but behind closed doors, that mask comes off, and it's a facade. Ultimately, they're really just fans. They're not truly following God. They just work hard to make it look that way. And, brethren, I've been there. I've been there. There was a time in my life where my church attendance was mostly a facade. I wasn't living anywhere close to life God had called me to lead. Six days a week, I did what I wanted to do. One day a week, I went ahead and put on my church mask, and I showed up to services, and I did what God wanted me to do. I cleaned up my app. I put on a great show. And then I went home, and I promptly took my mask off.

I once chose—this is hard for me to admit, but I'm going to anyway—I once chose to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in Kelowna, British Columbia, because the drinking age was 19. A true story that was THE deciding factor as to where to attend God's Feast. I looked back on that time in my life, and I just shake my head. I felt like I had everybody fooled.

I thought I had everybody fooled. I figured I was doing such a great job of playing church that no one knew. It turns out I was wrong. Actually, it's kind of a funny story. Sad at the same time, but when I was baptized at the Feast of Tabernacles in Bend back in 2000, a little older woman from the Spokane congregation came running up to me after it was announced at services that day, gave me this huge hug, and said, We thought you'd never make it. So the mask that I was wearing, in retrospect, may not have been as good as I thought it was, but from that moment forward, I have worked hard to eradicate those parts of my life that are not in line with God's instructions, a fight that I'm sure many of you can relate to. And I still have work to do, as I'm sure many of you are in the same place. You know, the hypocrite is not just someone who doesn't do what they profess to do. Often, the hypocrite is the one who are doing the exact opposite of what they're professing to do. And again, this is nothing new. Nothing new. Christ was very clear, as he spoke out about the hypocrisy of the religious leaders at his time. The gospel accounts are full of the attacks on the Pharisees. He's very clear in these passages that hypocrisy is not tolerated, whether they're making themselves appear more pious than they really are, or sounding the trumpet to announce their good deeds, or focusing on man's traditions above God, as a point is the same. They're acting. They're playing the part. That's not their true character, that they are hypocrites. Let's turn over to Revelation 2.

This passage gets thrown around a lot, because no—I'm sorry, Revelation 3. This passage does get thrown around a lot, though, because nobody wants to cop to being Laodicean. No one wants to. Everybody points the finger and says, no, no, no, you're Laodicean. And they point the finger and say, no, no, no, you're Laodicean. And back and forth and back and forth it goes. But let's go over to Revelation 3. We're going to pick it up in verse 14. It says, I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were cold or hot. And so then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say I am rich and I've become wealthy and have need of nothing, you're wearing a mask. You're making yourself out to be more rich than you really are. You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

I counsel you to provide for me gold, refined in the fire, that you may be rich, white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and to anoint your eyes with eyes, Sav, that you may see.

Essentially, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, you make me sick.

I will vomit you, spew you out of my mouth. The level of disgust that God views this particular church with is palpable.

Notice, too, if you read through Revelation 2 and 3, this is the only church in the entirety of Revelation 2 and 3 that God has nothing good to say about. The other ones, they give a good and a bad. This one is nothing but bad in the Laodicean. Which is the reason why we bant to get back and forth and we point the finger and go, No, you're Laodicean! No, you're Laodicean! I couldn't be Laodicean! You're Laodicean!

The people of Laodicea thought they were something pretty special.

They were wealthy, they had money, they didn't need anybody. So they thought. In fact, an interesting historical aside, when the city was destroyed by an earthquake, just flattened by an earthquake in 60 AD, they absolutely refused help from the Roman Empire. They financed the entire rebuilding of the city of Laodicea with their own funds. The wealthy people stepped up and they paid to rebuild the place essentially with their own wealth. They didn't need anything or anyone. That attitude translated over to the church in Laodicea as well. Despite their perceived awesomeness, they had a slight problem. The location where their city was built was a terrible place to put a city. There were no water sources close to them. They had to pipe water in via aqueduct from surrounding areas. One side they brought hot water in from a hot spring. Through the aqueducts it comes. By the time it got to them, it was a nauseating tepidness.

The cold water from the same kind of a distance that by the time it got to them was also lukewarm. And you know, the Romans at this time, they kind of... They were warm. They're like hot baths and things. They were famous for this. This is something the city couldn't have. And you can imagine it was a point of contention with them. As awesome as they perceived themselves to be, this would be something that visitors would complain about.

How come I can't get a cold drink of water on a hot day? Or why in the world can I not have anything more than a lukewarm bath? He says, miserable. And God really gives it to them in this passage on all fronts. He attacks their pride via their water sources, their wealth. They had a famous ice sabb that they produced.

They had this notable black wool that they produced as an export. And He takes them down a peg or two on every single one of these things. The message to the Church of Laodicea is that you are not as good as you think you are. You're not as good as you think you are. And brethren, this is the era in which we live.

This is the era in which we live. They're not as good as they think we are. Okay, we're not as good as we think we are, perhaps. We have the potential to be lukewarm. Not hot, not cold. And God very explicitly states that He wishes they would choose one or the other. Essentially, God is telling His people through this particular passage, Get off the fence. Make the call. Either you were in or you were out. But stop playing the part. Quit acting. Take off the mask and make the call. We see the rest of Revelation 3, picking it up again in verse 19.

As many as I love, I rebuke, and I chasten. Therefore, and this is the response that God wants from His people, Be zealous and repent. Be zealous and repent. He doesn't want them to walk away, but He wants them to make a choice. Be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and I knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into Him and dine with Him, and He with me. To Him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne.

As I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. God chastens those whom He loves, and He clearly desires repentance from His people. He's standing at the door, He's knocking, He's putting out the invitation to us all, and He desires that we, like Matthew earlier, accept it. He doesn't want us to leave. He also doesn't want us playing games. The choice is before us. He wants us to choose. Either be a follower or be done. Being a fan isn't going to work. You're wearing a mask, you're not living the life you're professing to live.

Being lukewarm, take off the mask and be real. Be real. Until we're real, until we're honest with ourselves and with God, we can't expect to move the ball. We're running sideways and we're getting nowhere. Being real moves the ball. Forward or backward, it moves the ball. Lastly, it is really important that we become unified, and not just with men.

You know, our unity with one another is extremely important, and I do not want to downplay that at all. But our individual unity with God is far more important. If we're truly unified with God, we will be unified spiritually with our fellow men. The definition of unify means to make or to become united, to be uniform or to be whole.

Some synonyms for the verb unify are marry, merge, fuse, integrate, bind. God has invited us to be a part of a long-term relationship with Him, and as we mentioned earlier, God gets to dictate the terms of the relationship.

We don't get to tell God what we think this relationship would be like. We don't get to set our own terms. God invited us. He said very simply, here are my terms, and then He asked us a very specific question. Are you in, or are you out? There's an old country song that's kind of like this. I don't know if you remember hearing it or not, but it's the idea of a kid on a little recess out, playing recess at school, and he gets a little note from a friend that says, Do you love me?

Check yes or no. That's kind of the gist of it. Check yes or no. Are you in, or are you out? Let's go to Deuteronomy 30. Deuteronomy 30. The passage is pretty well known. Deuteronomy 30. We'll take a look at it again.

Deuteronomy 30. Deuteronomy 30. In this particular passage, the overall context is ancient Israel, but the message is as important to us today under the New Covenant as it is to them under the Old. Deuteronomy 30. We'll pick it up in verse 15. Deuteronomy 30 verse 15. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. In other words, here is my terms. One road leads... In fact, he just got done giving them, essentially, his terms.

One road leads to life and good. The other road leads to death and evil. Make your choice. Which one's it going to be? Verse 16. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, you will rest with your fathers, and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the forerunners of the land, where they go to be among them.

I mean, 31. Let me go back real quick. I'm sorry. 30 verse 16. Scary that one chapter later God already knows they're going to break it. But verse 16, in Deuteronomy 30, I'm sorry. In that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments and statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish.

You shall not prolong your days in the land to which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. The choice that God wanted them to make was to follow him. The message was, I want you to be my people, but the choice is up to you. If you choose rightly, I will bless you exceedingly. You will be my people. But if your heart turns away, if you choose to see other people, I will denounce you and you will perish.

Verse 19, I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. Choose life. Choose life. Verse 20, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey his voice, and that you may cling. The old King James uses the word cleave there, that you may cleave to him. For he is your life and the length of your days, and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

Choose to love God, to obey him, and to cleave unto him, or to cling to him. That particular word is the Hebrew word dawback, and it's rendered specifically to cling. That's why it's that way in the New King James. But it's also to hold fast or to join with. There's a couple examples. It's actually kind of a utility word. It gets used in a lot of different contexts throughout the Old Testament. But in one situation, 2 Samuel 23, after Eleazar slays all the Philistines, the sword cleaved to his hand, was stuck in his hand after all of the Philistines that he had killed.

Ruth to Naomi in Ruth 1, Ruth clung to Naomi. She cleaved to her when she held her so tightly, she just refused to let go. You know, treat me not to leave you, kind of thing. Or in a few isolated examples, we see it in use in an intimacy of relationship, like we see in Genesis 2. Let's go over to Genesis 2 and we'll see that.

You see the word used in that particular context. Genesis 2, and we'll pick it up in verse 24. Every wedding we have, this is one that gets read. It's a good passage. Genesis 2, verse 24, says, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined, cleave, to his wife, and they shall become one clash. So in the situation of between two individuals, it seems to signify a unifying or a binding, a closeness of relationship.

And God desires that we cleave unto him, that we cling to him, that we unify with him, we establish this intimate close relationship with him. And this relationship can only come through love, obedience, and service. In my marriage, if I completely ignore Shannon from the time that I wake up in the morning until the time that I go to bed, I don't even talk to her. I just forget that she even exists. When she's talking to me, when she's trying to engage me, I'm doing the, uh-huh, yeah, sure, uh-huh, yep, uh-huh, okay, yep, uh-huh, sure.

If she asks me to help out in some way around the house, and I basically tell her, yeah, forget it. No, I'm not going to do that. I'm really not that interested. She tells me, hey, look, we really need to cut the lawn. It's maybe been eight months. You know, we really need to cut the lawn. And I just go, yeah, I don't think so. I'm just going to let that go. Grass is three feet high.

And time and time again, when she needs something done, I just blow it off. I just, yeah, nah, I'm not going to do that. When she wants to go do something together, I go, yeah, no.

What does that tell her about my level of commitment to our relationship? It should tell her that there's very little. It should tell her there's very little in that regard, in that set of examples. And likewise, if God's given us the terms of His relationship, and He said, here are the things that you must do, our obedience to these things show our willingness to cling to Him, to cleave unto Him. Our willingness to do them illustrates our love for Him, and our level of service to that way of life shows Him that we are all in.

Now, consequently, if we blow Him off and we go, yeah, I'm not really going to mess with that. Sabbaths, yeah, I don't really care to keep that holy. Whatever. It's just another day. Look, I've got stuff to do. I'm not going to worry too much about lying, especially when no one's going to be hurt by it. I mean, come on, seriously, everybody does that. Loving my neighbor? What? I hate that guy. That guy's awful. He's such a jerk.

No way. I'm not going to do that. I can't stand him. Turn the other cheek? No, forget it. That bull's getting knocked out. Study? Who's got time? Prayer? I could do without. After a while of observing these actions and these attitudes in our life, God's got to start wondering exactly where our relationship lies. Let's turn over to Matthew 25. Matthew 25. Again, another of those passages that we go to a lot.

We do go to a lot. Matthew 25. Keep thinking, if we go to it a lot, that means it's important. Matthew 25. Matthew 25 contains the parallel or the parallel, the parable of the virgins. Matthew 25. We'll pick it up in verse 1. Christ once again explaining the basics and the concept of the kingdom of God.

Matthew 25 1 says, Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, five of them were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps, took no oil with them, no preparations. We're not ready to go at all. But the wise ones took oil in their vessels with their lamps. They prepared. They were ready. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and they slept. Now, they're all sleeping at this point. The only difference is the wise ones are prepped and ready to go.

This is like when you go hunting in the morning and you sleep with your clothes on. When you just roll out of bed, grab your gun and you go. That way you don't have to spend a bunch of time trying to get ready, because you're asleep. Same basic idea, only with virgins and oil and lamps. But at midnight a cry was heard. Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him. All those virgins arose and they trimmed their lamps.

And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. We might have forgot to hit the hardware store and pick up some lamp oil. So the wise answered, saying, No. No. Lest there not be enough for us and you. Rather, go to those who sell and buy for yourselves. And so they did. They went to go try and find somebody to buy oil from. Trying the last minute eleventh hour preparations. And the bridegroom came. Those who were ready went in with him, to the wedding and the door was shut.

Afterwards, verse 11, the other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. But he answered and he said, Assuredly I say to you, I do not know you. I do not know you. I had an interesting experience happen several years ago. Actually, in the middle of the night, like this particular example. We were living in a house in a pretty rough neighborhood near the school that I teach at. About two o'clock in the morning, there's a banging on our front door. I came to the door. I looked through the little peephole. I saw there was a woman standing on the front steps. I quickly assessed the situation. I noticed I could see both of her hands.

She wasn't carrying any weapons that I could see. We had a security chain on the door. I thought, okay. She wasn't stopping knocking. I was like, okay, let's figure out what's going on. I opened it up to the point where the security chain would allow me to open it. I just said, what's going on? She informed us that she was looking for money for gas. There were two other people that were with her. I could actually see them just on the very outside part of where the porch light went to. They were just outside of the light. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't see them hardly at all. I told her, I'm looking around, I don't have any cash at all.

Anything whatsoever. I was really sorry, but I couldn't help them. She asked if she could come inside to use her phone. I told her, absolutely not. Absolutely not. I said, I would love to help, but you're not coming in my home. The primary reason was, I had no idea who these people were. I had no idea what their intentions were. I didn't know that if once inside she decided to pull a knife or a gun, and suddenly my attempt at being a good Samaritan ends in a robbery.

I really had no idea what was going to happen. I didn't know them. At that time, there was no way they were coming in my home. Between us and our roommates, we did manage to turn some couch cushions and managed to scrape together five bucks between the five of us to send them on their way. We tried to help as best we could, given the circumstance. But we didn't know who they were. We didn't know their intentions.

And you know, the unwise virgins in this parable, those who didn't prepare themselves properly, they had no oil in their lamps or banging on the door in the middle of the night, demanding to be let in, saying, Lord, Lord, open the door for us. And Christ's response is sobering. His response is, I don't know you. I don't know you. You haven't done anything to establish a relationship with me up to this point. You haven't even made an effort.

But now that the time is at hand, now that it is the eleventh hour, you're trying to worm your way in, and I'm not opening the door. The relationship that we establish with God regularly through prayer, through study, through meditation on His Word, service, love, obedience, is absolutely essential. Because I can tell you right now, those are four words that I sure don't want to hear. And I'm sure you're in the same boat. I do not want to hear that, that I don't know you.

That I haven't done my part to maintain a relationship and set up a relationship with God. That, yeah, I don't want to hear that. So we see in this case, one hand these unwise virgins didn't prepare properly. They didn't do what they were supposed to do. They hoped at this eleventh hour to find some way in, despite their lack of preparation.

But then on the other hand, we see in Matthew 7, others were trying to bank on their actions, getting them in. Yet their heart was nowhere near where it should be. Let's go to Matthew 7. We'll pick up the account in verse 21. Matthew 7, 21. We'll see two ends of essentially the same continuum. Matthew 7, verse 21. Same continuum, but both, in this case, are fans. One not doing what they should be doing, the other doing everything they thought for the wrong reasons. Matthew 7, verse 21. Matthew 7, verse 21.

We have a little bit of a context in this particular analogy. The verse right prior to this says that we basically will know people based upon their fruits. So we pick it up in 21, and it says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Have we not cast out demons in your name? Have we not done many wonders in your name? And I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness. These individuals are crying out to God, but Lord, didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we prophesy? We did all these mighty works in your name! In other words, don't our actions and our works ensure us a place in your kingdom. And again, in verse 23, we see Christ's response. I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness. Christ informs them, despite all of your works, despite all of those things that you did in my name, I never knew you personally. We didn't have a relationship at all. And this is why our heart is so important in what we do, because it is by our heart that we do our actions for the right reasons. If we're doing things to be seen, or if we're doing things to be considered righteous, we're in very serious danger of getting it wrong. Our salvation, our eternal life, is a gift that we cannot earn. It's freely given by God to those whom he chooses. And as James said, faith without works is dead. So what we do is essential, but we don't earn it through what we do.

When we have a strong enough relationship with God, when we love him, when we obey him, when we serve him, our works will follow. They will come as a result of our relationship with God, when we establish a relationship with God. And it's that relationship that's purposeful. All of you know relationships take work. Relationships take work. You have to maintain relationships. And our relationship with God is no different.

God gave us the invitation. God offered us the opportunity. And the question he's asking is, are you in or are you out?

And, brethren, that's the question that's been offered to us all.

Wherever we find ourselves on that continuum of fan or follower, this is the question that has been given to each and every one of us.

Whether we have the ball on the 10-yard line, whether we have it on the 50, God's asking us all, are you mine or not?

Are you willing to work to move that ball forward? Will the actions of your life reflect your belief in me?

Will you show the world through your life whom you serve?

And that's the core of this concept. The fan has a lot of knowledge. They have a lot of understanding on the things of God. They know scripture. They know concepts. But the application is lacking.

They can rattle off, quote, scripture locations, concepts, but at their core, they're not living what they know to be true.

Christ said at one point, even the demons can quote scripture.

Even the demons can quote scripture. James 1, verse 22.

James 1, verse 22.

So we'll go to our last passage for today. James 1, verse 22. But be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourself.

We've got to be doers of the word.

We've got to hear what God wants us to do, and we've got to actually then follow through.

That's what defines us as a follower, whether we live the life that God has called us to live.

We call that in the vernacular, walking the walk. We walk the walk. We don't just talk the talk. But only through walking the walk can you move the ball forward.

Talk doesn't move the ball. Talk does not move the ball. In fact, there's a saying in basketball culture, put up or shut up. Basically, put your money where your mouth is, either do it or don't. But that's really what our life has got to look like. We've got to walk the walk. We've got to put up. We've got to make it happen.

Action moves the ball. Hard work moves the ball. Obeying God moves the ball. Loving God moves the ball. Loving our fellow man moves the ball. Denying the self moves the ball. Serving God moves the ball. Turning the other cheek. Forgiving. Not repaying evil for evil. Giving, reconciling, moves the ball.