What Would You Give Up to Be a Disciple?

Let's title here, What Did You Give Up to Follow Christ? And What Will You Do in Order to Remain Faithful? And then, What Will God and Christ Do in Return? What Did You Give Up to Follow Christ? What Will You Do in Order to Remain Faithful? And What Will God and Christ Do in Return? So, what did you give up in order to be a disciple of Christ? What of Christ's disciples?

The word disciple literally means a learner, a follower, a learner and a follower of Christ. There are six principal things mentioned in the Bible. Of course, this is not all-inclusive. There are others as well. Six things here that I want to talk about, along with several other things today. That we must be willing to give up in order to be one of Christ's disciples. First, let's note the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19. Remember this rich young ruler came to Jesus asking him, What good thing must he do in order to inherit eternal life?

So, we'll go to Matthew 19 and we'll begin in verse 16. Matthew 19 and verse 16. And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why call you me good? There is none good but one, that is God. But if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. So, if you are going to be a disciple of Christ, contrary to what the religious world may say, you have to keep the commandments. Christ Himself says, if you would enter into life. Of course, that's not the whole story by any means.

But if you want to even get to first base, as it say, if you want to even get started, keep the commandments. Then the man said which commandments? And then Jesus enumerated several there. And then verse 20, He says that He had kept these from His youth. What else did He lack? So He claimed, well, I've kept the commandments from my youth. Of course, some detractors who try to limit the Ten Commandments to six or seven, say, well, Christ didn't list the Sabbath there, or He didn't list another commandment.

But He gave some of the heart of the matter, and obviously all are included. But He said He had done this. What else do I need to do? To be your disciple, to enter into life. Jesus said unto Him, if you will be perfect, go and sell what you have. Give it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven.

Come and follow Me. Come be My disciple. Come learneth Me and be My disciple. Follow Me. So, if you want to be perfect, do this. What is this? If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor. And you shall have treasure in heaven, and come and follow Me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. He was rich.

So, this young ruler who says he wants to enter into life and to be a disciple of Christ, he could not even rend his material goods, much less rend his heart and become a living sacrifice. Then Jesus, verse 23, said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

And there are various translations with regard to the eye of the needle. There was a gate into the old city that was called the eye of the needle, in which a camel could go through that particular gate, but we don't want to be sidetracked with the minutia. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

So, here we see two commandments, two requirements to be a disciple. One, keep the commandments if you would enter into life. Two, you have to be willing to give up everything that you possess. Now, God doesn't always put us to that test, so that we have to give up everything that we possess, but He knows our heart. And this young man was not willing to rend his garments, much less his heart.

In Luke 14 and verse 25, and if you have gone and had baptismal counseling, you're a baptized member of the Church of God, whomever counseled you for baptism, read this particular section of Scripture here. In Luke 14 and verse 25, we start, There went great multitudes with him, and he turned and said unto them, If a man come to me, he wants to be my disciple, really learn of me, if a man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife, and we know it is to love God more than all of them, and children and brethren and sisters, yes, in his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

So here we have two other requirements. You must be willing to give up relatives if necessary, leave family and friends.

That's one of the most difficult things that my wife and I did, to leave family and friends, and be willing to give up your life for the faith as well.

Says he cannot be my disciple. He's not willing to do that.

And whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. You have to be willing to do whatever is required and do more than what is required if you really want to grow in faith.

Then he goes into the analogy and the parable of building a building. If you're going to build a building, you have to count the cost, what it would cost, lest you build a foundation, you don't have money to finish it. And you see a lot of projects like that. Some are advertised for sale. Great opportunity, they say. Come in and finish the building. Choose your own whatever.

And he talks about going to war, a king going to war. If you're going to go to war, make sure that you have wherewithal to win the war. So we see here, very clearly, to love God more than relatives, and to love God more than self, willing to give up self, not get caught in the sea of self-pity in a state of vengeful spite. Of course, those are sort of the opposite ends of the spectrum, but both can do you in. Let's note Romans 8. It was one of our all-time favorite verses. There are several in Romans 8. Of course, in the sermon at you heard Romans 8.28, all things work together for those who love God and called according to His purpose. Romans 8.31, if God be for you, who can be against you? Verse 33, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is He then that condemns or judges? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that has risen again. Who is even at the right hand of God, as you heard in the opening of prayer, who also makes intercession for us?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Who shall be at the right hand of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, nakedness, or peril, or sorrow? Can any of these things separate? Verse 36 is one of the greatest key verses in the whole Bible.

Because it is related to what Christ said, if you're not willing to forsake the relatives and give up your own being, if necessary, yourself, you cannot be my disciples. And here is the attitude that is described in a little more detail here in Romans 8.36.

As it is written, For your sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Now, one way to put this more in the vernacular, so that it might be more easily translated to everyday living, is that anything that we get above death is a gift.

Because all of sin comes short of the glory of God, therefore the death penalty is on us. And we are in heart and attitude. That's what he's saying, counted as sheep for the slaughter. And anything we get above that is a gift, because we're all worthy of death.

So that is the key part of this, is the attitude, the frame of mind. If you are in that frame of mind, you'll know and know that you know that no matter what comes your way, God will deliver. Know in all these things.

We are more than conquerors through him that loved us, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, or things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So this verse 36, we're counted all day long as sheep for the slaughter, the attitude and frame of mind of heart and being. The other thing you have to do, as we've already mentioned, about if you're going to build a building or go to war, is count the total cost of the commitment. Some people, when they go to make a purchase, just a material purchase, it may be, of course, perhaps the greatest purchase that most of us make in life is to buy a house. And then when you're buying a house, the price of the house is one thing. It may be $200,000. But then, what about taxes? What about insurance? What about maintenance? What about this? What about that? By the time you add all of this up, you may say, I can't afford to buy a house. So you have to count the total cost. Same thing with an automobile. And so many things in life, you have to look at all of the factors, not just with rose-colored glasses or with a narrow focus. You have to try to take all factors into consideration. Now, in Romans 12, another requirement for being Christ's disciple and a follower of His, Romans 12 and verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. That's what God can reasonably expect of us, because He gave the ultimate sacrifice that we might live. So, in turn, He's asking us to become a living sacrifice. Now, to become that living sacrifice, these other things that we have mentioned, willing to keep the commandments, willing to give up physical things, love God more than relatives, love God more than self, count the total cost, keep looking at everything, and then, in addition, become a living sacrifice.

So, in summary, with regard to living sacrifice, God expects and He requires total surrender, total submission, and service to Him. I call it the three S's. We talk about the three C's, conviction, commitment, and courage, but here are the three S's, surrender, submit, and serve.

So, once again, let's go back to our initial question. What did you give up to follow Christ?

What will you be willing to give up and do to remain faithful? He that remains faithful to the end, to Him, the crowd of life will be given. Those who will return with Christ as victorious conquerors will be those that are called, chosen, and faithful. Note Revelation 17, verse 14.

On the way there, we can note in one of the parables, Christ said, many are called, but few are chosen. The Apostle Peter writes about, make your calling and election sure. In Revelation 17, verse 14, a picture of Christ returning, and of course, trumpets on Thursday of this coming week, picturing that time of the resurrection and the return of Christ. Note those that are with Christ. In Revelation 17, 14, these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. For He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and they that are with Him, and those in the first resurrection, those that are with Him, are called and chosen and faithful. In Revelation 19, I love this section of Scripture because it's like the great battle, the great confrontation here in which all the forces of evil that have opposed God and Christ and the saints through the ages, Satan the devil, the beast, and the false prophet, going to gather the nations of the world together, as described in Revelation 16, to fight against the returning Christ and the saints. And here we see a description of that.

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no man knew but he himself.

He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. See, that Word of God begins in John 1.1. John is the author of Revelation. Remember John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.

John is the one that God chose to be the revelator or of this term, the Word.

So we see here, his name is called the Word of God, and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen white and clean. Now you look at verse 8 up above, and to her that is the bride who is called to the marriage of the Lamb.

To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.

So these, verse 14, the armies that were with him were clothed in fine linen white and clean.

And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations, he shall rule them with a rod of iron, he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of the heavens, come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God. See the contrast between the marriage supper of the Lamb, a time of great love and joy, praising God and feasting, in contrast to this supper in which the nations are being have, they'll be stirred up by Satan, the beast, the false prophet, that's Revelation 16, 12, and they'll be gathered together here to fight against Christ and the returning saints. And we read from Revelation 17, 14, those that are with him are called, chosen, and faithful.

Then it goes on to talk about here that they shall eat, and that's in the figurative sense, the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses, and all of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. So we are hoping to be a part of that mighty force that comes and brings peace to this earth. I don't think we really know altogether what we would be willing to give up, and surely we don't know for sure all the things we'll be asked to give up in order to remain faithful and be a follower and disciple of Christ. Remember the things we've already said, keeping the commandments, giving up physical things of required, love God more than relatives, love God more than self, count the total costs, become a living sacrifice so you can be chosen and faithful.

Some things are more precious to us than our life itself. A lot of people would say, well, I'd give my right arm if my wife or child could be healed, or I would give my life that my wife or my husband would be healed. And God knows our heart. Abraham, the father of the faithful, was asked to give up his son, not only to give up his son, to be the one, the instrument through whom the life of his son would be taken. Abraham was called to be the one that brings the knife down on the throat of Isaac. And Abraham was willing. Let's notice in Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11 and verse 17. Hebrews 11 and verse 17.

Hebrews 11 verse 17. Hebrews 11 called the faith chapter. Several examples of faith from the patriarchs and great men and women of God through the ages.

Hebrews 11 and verse 17. By faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. This word here, only begotten, is monogenesis, monocacy, and something like that. They pronounce it. But it means the only one begotten in that manner. Abraham remembered Abraham and Sarah were passed away of childbearing when God promised them they would have a son in their old age. And God performed a miracle so that they could. So that's the only begotten part there. Of whom it was said that in Isaac shall your seed be called. We talked about that last week from Romans 9. Why are we called in Isaac? Because Isaac was born of faith, and we are called to live the life of faith. And it's through faith in the sacrifice of Christ that we could be justified. It's through living the life of faith as you heard in the sermonette last week. The just shall live by faith, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. What that means is that in Abraham's mind, Isaac was as good as dead. When they left on their journey to Mount Moriah, Isaac said, well, Father, where's the sacrifice? God in Abraham says, God will provide.

And just as Abraham was bringing the knife down, and think about the submission of Isaac in all of this, a type of Christ, Abraham's hand was staid. They saw the lamb caught in the thicket, and God provided a sacrifice instead of Isaac. So God will know and know that he knows that we have no greater affection for anything than him before he gives us eternal life. Let's turn to Genesis 22, where this account will read the last part here. This account of Abraham and Isaac being asked to sacrifice Isaac.

See, most of us won't be tested in the literal sense to this point. In the literal sense to this point, but in other ways, we may not be asked to take our child and go sacrifice our child. In today's world, you'd be locked up in a flash. But whatever the situation or circumstance is that God may require, it may require, quote, as much confidence and faith in God as this did. Genesis 22, 16. In the age of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, By myself have I sworn, says the Lord, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven. Now, I have covered several times in the last two years what this promise is about first and foremost. It is not first and foremost about physical blessings.

That is included to some degree, but it is first and foremost about life eternal and being and God bringing sons and daughters to glory in His family. The wild-eyed fundamentalists who continually preach Israel right or wrong in every situation that comes up in the world scene are what to quote especially the last part of this verse, that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is on the seashore, and they shall possess the gate of His enemies. And of course, that has a physical implication as well, and in your seed, and Paul explains in Galatians 3, verses 14, 15, 16, that this seed is Christ, and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.

So Abraham, the father of the faithful, obviously, he passed the test.

Now bear with me as I speak personally here for a while, share a little bit of the story of my wife and I as we made our journey to the church of God. I grew up in a very religious kind of family. Wanda's family was not religious at all, but they were not people. They were very law-abiding kind of people and believed in helping their neighbor and all of that. They didn't go to church on Sunday, but my family did. I grew up in a community in which most of my relatives were from my mother's side of the family, and it was a very religious community. My grandfather was Justice of the Peace, and he was also a deacon in the church. Had an uncle who was a Baptist preacher. Of course, we went to the Baptist Church. Religion, to a large degree, was the glue of the community, and in some ways religion was thicker than blood. If you did something that got you this fellowship from the church, you, to a large degree, were also ostracized. In other words, to leave the religion and culture of the community resulted in being shunned to some degree, and everybody talked about you. I vividly remember the emotions, the various emotions that centered around church services and holidays like Christmas and Easter, and the emotional appeal that that had, and especially if it's ingrained in you from a child, and how difficult it is at times to break those emotional chains. It was very difficult to say the least, and I remember the pain in my mother's eyes as one and I, and Sherry and Donna, our two daughters, pulled away from my father and mother's home in our final goodbye before we came to Ambassador College in Big Sandy. Thankfully, we were able to maintain a reasonably good relationship with our parents, both Wanda and I. Wanda had five brothers, three of whom have died in recent years, and one sister, and her parents are dead, and I have one brother, younger than I am, and my parents are dead. Growing up, I had three major interests, and probably four, as I'll mention a little later.

Athletics, and to me there were only four sports, football, basketball, baseball, and fishing. Goth and tennis and Dolly Ball was for other things. Sorry about those who are playing volleyball. I used to tease Larry Hayworth, who is the volleyball coach and ambassador, and volleyball used to be sort of a different kind of sport, but now it can be quite savage.

They hit those serves and spikes over 100 miles an hour, and it's really quite something to see, really skilled, especially Olympic-quality volleyball. So those of you in volleyball, please forgive me. I always loved learning, and I was always interested in, I guess you would call, religion, the Bible, and reading the Bible. I grew up reading the Bible, and of course, we went to church every Sunday, usually twice, and usually on Sunday night.

But as a teenager, I began to see things in the scriptures that seemed contradictory to what they were teaching. I asked the Baptist preacher about it. Of course, he couldn't answer it, or he wouldn't answer it. Even if he knew the answer, he wouldn't answer it. And I think a lot of people in religion today, religious leaders, preachers, get caught up, and they know that a lot of things they say are not true.

Not long after high school, Wanda and I were married, so I guess I had a fourth interest, and her name was Wanda. Out of high school, I played a little professional baseball with the Cubs and their minor league system. I played alongside Billy Williams, who's in the Hall of Fame. And then I went to college on a football scholarship, played football, and even though technically I was ineligible to play baseball, I also played baseball in college. My college baseball coach was David Bufaris, who was American League Rookie of the Year with the Red Sox in 1946.

By the age of 20, I was teaching the young marriage Sunday school class at the church, and playing football, Wanda was working my way through college. And I was playing sports. Of course, that paid for my college expenses, room, board, and tuition, if you lived in college housing. Teaching seemed to come sort of natural to me, and it was one of my passions, continues to be. And so, when I first went to college, I started off in pre-med and did that for two years or more. And then I decided, hey, I want to be a teacher and a coach, and that seemed to fit perfectly my interest.

Teaching and coaching needs a foundation, and religion and character building was that foundation that drew the principles from in working with the youth.

So love of learning provided the spark in the classroom and the practice field.

By the age of 26, I was head football coach, one of the largest schools in the state. By age of 29, I was head baseball coach at the university that I went and attended, Delta State.

First three years there, we were in the national playoffs, finishing second in the nation. At one time, also, I was offensive coordinator in football.

But something else was going on in my life.

My interest in religion, my love of learning, had got me hooked on the World Tomorrow broadcast somewhere around 1961. So 39 and 10 make 49 7 7s. Of course, I had read the Bible from a youth.

So all of my life, to a large degree, I've to some degree had my nose in the Bible.

After college, we went out and we were teaching and coaching high school.

And I listened to Mr. Herbert Armstrong on Sunday night. Garner Ted was on some during the week at various stations throughout the nation. And when I got the booklet, Why You Were Born, I became convicted that I'd been led to the truth. And this, along with several other booklets, convinced me that sooner or later I had to make a decision that would involve giving up what I love to do. So it's sort of like the rich young ruler coming to Christ and saying, Good Master, what thing must I do to enter into life? And at first, I didn't learn about the Sabbath or write off. It was like, Oh boy, this is great. You know, I keep on doing what I'm doing.

And here's this great truth. And then I learned about the Sabbath and the Holy Days and all of that. And then it was a different thing. So after I read that booklet, my life was different because then I knew why God had created human beings. He had created them for a great transcendental purpose that was beyond belief. In the first few months of my intense study of the Bible and booklets, this was basically in the spring of 63, I think.

The Wanda was somewhat bewildered by my new obsession. I'd come home from whatever the activities were at school, teaching, coaching, and so on. And we'd have supper and immediately plop down in the chair and go till the wee hours in the morning, like two or three o'clock, reading and studying. Yeah, I guess she probably thought it lost my mind. But then one night when I was away after several weeks of this, I was away at some coaching event, she opened the booklets and said, I want to find out what all this is about. And she was like immediately convicted. We stopped attending church, keeping Christmas, Easter, birthdays.

And of course, we tried to... it was more me trying to convert my relatives. She did not much. She had more wisdom than I trying to convert the relatives.

The next six years, we struggle with this, sort of doing everything but really keeping them Sabbath.

And the conviction became so great, we could stand it no longer. So we were willing to cross the great father of waters, the mighty Mississippi, leaving the land of promise, the state of Mississippi, and coming to the great state of Texas, where independence reigns supreme.

So we had forsaken relatives, giving up most of our material possessions and any hope of fame and fortune. We had a little furniture, a car, clothes on her back, the promise of 125 a week.

A hundred of that each month would go to rent, then you had tuition, and so on at the college and a family to feed. Shortly after we arrived there on campus, there was an announcement that they really were having a financial crunch at headquarters, and could you send in money? So I took out my teacher's retirement, which amounted to about $2400 at that time, and that was, you know, what, maybe in today's world, $10,000? I don't know.

But anyhow, I sent most of that in to headquarters, so we were virtually hand to mouth.

You know, as I left there, where I was at Delta State University, they thought I was nuts. The registrar said, I've never heard of this place. I tried to look it up in the book of accredited schools. It surely isn't accredited. How are you going to get a doctor's degree at an unaccredited school? Of course, I had the catalog from Pasadena, and they offered some kind of pseudo-doctor's degree, but big Sandy didn't. So some of us went to East Texas State at Commerce and got master's and doctor's degrees.

So not only did I have the administration to deal with there, we're friends, peers, students, players.

I'd left a profound impression upon their hearts and minds. I still get tidbits of information from them, and every time my brother goes on campus, they're asking about me. In fact, one of the teammates I hadn't seen in, I don't know, decades, he found out that I was in the ministry. So he told my brother, he said, now when I die, I want Slim to do my funeral. That was my nickname in college, Slim and Cornstock. I weighed a grand 175 pounds, and me at 175 pounds, I looked like a POW.

So I guess you could say that we had met some of the basic conditions that Christ presented to the rich young ruler.

Keeping the commandments, giving up the physical. To some degree, we had met the requirements of Luke 14.26, forsaking relatives. But we still had a lot to learn about becoming a living sacrifice and counting the total cost. Why would anyone do these things? Why would you give up whatever it is that you gave up? For me, it was conviction of and love of the truth and knowing that God and Christ are true and the Word is true and you're faced with either life or death, eternal death or eternal life in the kingdom of God. My family thought that I was following a man that I had been somewhat duped or totally duped, brainwashed by Herbert Armstrong.

But my decision to leave what we had built behind and virtually everything we had had nothing to do with Herbert Armstrong except, granted, he was the instrument that God used to preach the truth to me. Now, could God use anyone else? Obviously, He could and He has used lots of people through the ages.

But God, through His grace, is the one who opens our eyes of understanding, as we heard last week. And it was the Spirit of God and the Word of God that convicted you and I of the truth. Yes, God works through men. Men are used as human instruments. But it is the Word of God and the Spirit of God. So once again, what have you given up? What would you be willing to give up to be a disciple of Christ and remain faithful?

Now, the things that I mentioned so far are really only the tip of the iceberg. Giving up family friends, giving up career material things, giving up one's ambition for fame and fortune, giving up self. You know, there have been monks and nuns who have given up these things in an attempt to please God. They have given up virtually everything and lived in abject poverty, wearing some kind of old robe and go moping around some monastery.

But I would say there is a great difference between them and what some of us have given up. They were convicted by the wrong spirit. And we are convicted by the Spirit of God. And how do we know? The Bible is our witness, our testimony. Even secular history bears out the roots of Christianity. It's not just some man-made religion that somebody thought up in the desert one day. It is from God Almighty. Of course, there are many other things that have to be given up, those that we have mentioned here today. As we have already noted, we must love God and the truth more than our own lives. Satan the devil is vigilant, always ready, walks about as a roaring lion. He never sleeps. He's always on the job. He's ready to accuse and slander you before the throne of God. Let's note Revelation 12 and verse 9.

The great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil and Satan.

Revelation 12.9. Who deceives the whole world he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying, In heaven now has come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down. Who accuses them before the throne of God day and night? And of course, when you enter into that mode, you are be an instrument of Satan the devil.

Who accuses them before the throne of God night and day.

He's cast down. And how did they overcome him?

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. What does that mean?

Of course, we have initial conversion and justification that through the blood of Christ, faith in his sacrifice, that we can be viewed as sinless without sin, without spot or blemish. And as we live our lives, and if we sin, we can come boldly before the throne of God. And God, through Christ, is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness. That's 1 John 1, I think, verse 8 or 9. And by the word of their testimony, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony. They say and so love the truth that was in their hearts, in their minds, in their being, that they were ready and willing to speak it.

And they love not their lives unto the death, giving up that self. So God is not looking for men and women who are willing to become one-time kamikazes, though there are times when maybe you are called on to give your life. And it may happen in a flash, in a moment. Who knows? But he wants us to be living sacrifices, as we've read from Romans 12.1. You know, I've had things happen to me since I've been in the church.

That have hurt me a hundred times more than leaving family, friends, and career in order to come into the church. Now those things were emotionally hurtful and it's hard to explain. Some of you have gone through the same thing. But there are other types of hurt. The real arena of testing is in the household and family of God.

The principal way whereby God knows that we love Him is through our treatment of one another. I mean, we say it over and over. We basically say it every Sabbath. You basically hurt it for 50 years plus. You go on back to those of you who have been in the church for 50 years or more and some have that are sitting here today.

The love of God and neighbor in the truth must transcend all other ambitions and desires. And we don't possess this strength and power just by ourselves. Let's go now to 1 John 4, 16 and be reminded of what Christ says here.

There are two places in the Bible that just says God is love and they're both found in 1 John 4. 1 John 4, 8 and 1 John 4, 16. We want to start in 1 John 4, 16. If any man see his brother, sin is sin. This is 5. I'm going to read 4.

1 John 4, 16. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love and he that dwells in love, in God. He that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment.

You see, if we are reconciled to God and reconciled to our brothers and sisters and our neighbors, as you've heard me speak at least twice, one directly on the judgment, mercy and faith theme, the weightier matters of the law, and another time somewhat indirectly on judgment, mercy and faith, in recent days, recent Sabbath, you may have boldness in the day of judgment because there's nothing to fear. It's all been reconciled. It's all been paid for. You are viewed as sinless. You can stand boldly before God because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us. And if a man say, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he that loves not his brother, whom he has not seen, how can he love God whom he have not seen? Of course, we mentioned the fact that it's a sobering fact that we're made in the image of God. And this commandment, have we from him, that he who loves God loves his brother also, who, soever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is Ganau, and depending on the action of whichever being that it is, whether it be in the masculine or feminine sense, depends on how it's translated, whether it's born or begotten, in this case, it should be begotten. Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is begotten of God, and everyone that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him. So you have to love God and the one that he begats.

By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. For whosoever is begotten of God, been Ganau, overcomes the world, and this is a victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

So we see here that we must never forget these passages. A delage degree, once again we quote Matthew 22, 37 through 40. The two great commandments, it's always in our faith. The judgment, mercy, and faith is always in our faith, just as these words are in my faith sitting here at this table today. That's always there.

We must keep the big picture of what life is all about. Must keep it ever burning brightly in our minds and heart. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5, 19, if we have hope only in this life we are of all men most miserable.

Oh, Stephen Hawking says, and a big stare all over the news, great professor of mathematics or whatever it is, University of Chicago, that it was not necessary for God to exist to create the universe. Then what he said, the laws of physics could have done it. Now, where did the laws of physics come from? And where did the physical come from? So he starts with matter, and he starts with the laws of physics. But it wasn't necessary. Well, if you have all those things, obviously some laws of physics are involved in all of this coming together and being created.

We've discovered a lot of those laws, but that very key, like one of the keys that's talked about in the sermonette of that, what is that key of what's called consciousness or mind in a human being? You know, I have sat there through the years in the ministry, and there's no telling how many people I have been at the bedside when they died and had done their funerals. And you see this mind that's in this person, makes this person what it is. And as long as they have breath within them, they have this mind, they have this consciousness. And then when that's gone, there's just a body there. So God does something. And we quote that there is a spirit in man. There's this what we call an animating kind of something that gives life. And there's something that holds this universe together. It talks about in Hebrews upholding it by the word of his power. And man will never be able to discover what all of that is just on his own.

You know, Satan is going to utilize every, and he is utilizing every deceptive trick in the book to try to throw you and I off track. The fastest way I know to throw someone off track is for them to believe they got a raw deal that seems to justify wrong attitudes.

And if I have a way to justify the way that I feel, then it's like it's okay if I'm in a bad attitude.

Well, that's not what the Bible teaches. It is not what it teaches.

You know, if it were possible to catalog every person who failed to repent because of bitterness, the list would be quite long.

Let's look quickly at Proverbs 14.12. Proverbs 14.12.

I understand now that they are even having Facebook wars.

Are you involved in Facebook wars?

It's highly comforting to be involved in Facebook wars. It solves a lot of problems. I speak as a fool. I speak facetiously. It may make you mad.

But it profits nothing.

In Proverbs 14, I said verse 12, but I want 10.

The heart knows his own bitterness.

For some people, their cause in life is their cause. Whatever it is, now they may be in a church and may have a creed of faith, but they have a cause beyond the creed of faith.

They are going to set the world right.

Now, there is a proverb that says, that which is crooked cannot be made straight. And I did not write it. There are just some things you are not going to make straight. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. So don't jump in the other ditch and say, he said that or this or that.

You have to look at all angles. The heart knows his own bitterness, and the stranger does not inter-metal with his joy. That's his thing. That's his baby. Take that away from me. What I have, I just have, love your neighbor as yourself.

Boy, what a let-down! I have no cause other than love my neighbor as myself.

Now, let's notice Hebrews 12. As I said, if it were possible to catalog every person who failed to repent because of bitterness, the list would be long. I can tell you for sure.

It is one of the things that I have battled mightily in the Church of God. Because you feel like, well, they did me wrong. And in some cases, they did.

But as I have said, and everyone should learn this very clearly, that when you are, quote, done wrong, the test initially is on you.

But in the end, if you respond as God says to respond, the test will be on them. God is righteous, and He judges righteous judgment.

And we may never get righteous judgment in this life.

In Hebrews 12, in verse 12, Hebrews 12-12, Wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees. Make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.

Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.

Holy things follow holiness.

God's active presence is what makes things holy. God is holy. And Peter writes, Become you therefore holy, as he is holy, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.

Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as he saw, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For we know that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, it was his, he was the first born.

When he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected.

For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. See, there comes a point in which, if the conscience becomes seared, and it talks about, and Paul does in 1 Timothy 4, I believe it is, 1st verse, where it says, In the end times, many will give heed to seducing spirits, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. And after that conscience is seared with a hot iron, there's no way back. You know, I have blood relatives who are dear to me, and you just hope and pray that their conscience is not seared with a hot iron. Or no one's conscience is seared with a hot iron. Apparently Esau's was.

One place it says, Therefore Esau hated Jacob.

You know, Esau and Jacob met up at one time and fell on each other, and hugged and kissed, and all of that, and you might have thought they were reconciled, but they weren't.

They went through the motions, apparently, but in their heart, they were never reconciled.

And perhaps the greatest hurt is to be stabbed in the back, but those you are trying to help. And I will tell you this, that of all the hurts that I have ever received in the Church of God, it most often came from a person that I was trying to help the most. As ironic as that may be.

In Psalm 55, we read of this in Psalm 55.

In the last days there that I was an ambassador, and certain people knew, certain administrators knew that I was not going to remain. They knew where I stood, and they feigned to be right where I was. I remember one sending me a really nice note, and a special pocket knife that he had gotten when he attended the feast in Germany. And if I were to call his name, he was an evangelist, you would know him.

And, oh, Don, so thankful for the stand you're taking, and blah, blah, blah, and this special knife. That was in February. In April, it was late Friday afternoon, you were ready to leave the office, and from the weekend, and from the Sabbath, and all that, he called up and said, hey, Don, I just got this really nice bottle of imported bourbon from Canada. How would you like to come down to the house and sip a little on that bourbon as we watched the sun set over Lake Loma? I said, sure, I'll come down. So, we go out on the patio. It's April. It's a very nice evening. The sun is setting, beautiful sky over the lake, and he begins. Well, Don, you know, since such and such gave that sermon, I am now, I've reconsidered all of this. I had never really given this new teaching a chance. But now, I've given it a chance. You know, he said, he was quoting, quoting Karen Catharwood, who's urged everybody to give it a chance.

So, now I now see the light. Then he began to talk about all the things that had been taught that were wrong. And I said, one thing he talked about was DNR, in his first baptizing tour. He was over in Abilene, Texas, and he meets this poor woman at the bus station who'd bused in from somewhere. And one of the first things he had, you know, who are you, how are you, and so on, she was there to be baptized. What about your life?

And she said, well, I've been married, and I'm Mr. Boris, and I'm married again. And he said, the first thing I had to tell her, you gotta go leave your husband. He said, now, Don, that wasn't right. I said, well, it probably wasn't right. I mean, it was adultery, the only sin you can't be forgiven for, or wrong marriage. And of course, you know, that quote teaching was changed after really focused on it. Any similar things like that. But my wife, I said, that's true, but the administration of a doctrine, per se, does not change the truth of God or the core or the trunk of the tree. Then there were others who were feigning to be the friend who were at the same time calling the administration of Pasadena and reporting on me. It was quite funny.

In Psalm 55, in Psalm 55, verse 12, For it was not an enemy that reproached me that I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me. Then I would have hid myself from him. You know, if I really knew who my enemy was, I didn't really know who my enemy was because he was pretending to be my friend.

But it was then a man, mine equal, mine guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God and company.

Let death seize upon them and let them go down quick into the grave. In this case, a shield, a grave, not the hell that the preacher talks about. For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them. As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me.

In Matthew 24, Matthew 24 is far more about personal relationships than the beast and the seals of Revelation than some think it is, apparently.

In Matthew 24 and verse 7, you know, they come and ask, they being the disciples, ask Jesus what are the signs of the end of the age and the sign of his coming. Two questions there. Matthew 24 verse 7, the nation shall rise against nation. We see that happening today, earthquakes in different places. We had a terrible earthquake over something like 7.2 in Christ Church, New Zealand yesterday. These are the beginnings of sorrow.

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, shall kill you, and you shall be hated of all nations for a namesake. And then shall many shall be offended, shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. See, everybody else is doing it, so that is my justification for doing it. That's the battle cry of the youth today. Everybody else in the Church is doing it, why can't I? Their parents let them do it, why can't I? Well, because it's wrong. You need another answer? The love of many shall wax cold, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Brethren, there's no question we're living in trying and troublesome times. Are we going to make it? Am I going to make it through the fiery furnace of life? You know, trials and tests come in different ways in different times. They come oftentimes in ways that you least expect, but God expects us to live by faith, to never turn back. You know, I never thought I would be, and you can fill in the blank of what it is. I never thought I would be accused of this. I never thought I would be whatever it is.

You may never have thought that you would have whatever disease that it is. Why me?

You may have never thought that your father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife would die in the way that they died. But at baptism, God accepted our confession and profession if our hearts were right that we were going to enter into a covenant of sacrifice with God and Christ and be faithful unto death. We are living in the most surrealistic period of human history. Now surrealistic means an attempt in literature and art to show the workings of the subconscious mind through an irrational, non-contextual arrangement of material. Sure, realistic, it's not real, but you try to picture the abstract, what's the metaphysical, that which is beyond human grasp. And now we have, I saw a story this week of a kid splashing paint on a canvas and making a lot of money. Life in a lot of ways just seems almost like it's a merry-go-round. It's just going around in circles. It doesn't seem real at times. And at times you want off and we've talked about that recently in a sermon. People are living their lives vicariously, and they're more interested in Lindsay Lohan. If I hear Lindsay Lohan's name again, I'm going to throw up. I mean, we had all of these one morning this week, I turned on ABC News, and Matt Lauer, the first thing to pop out of the box. And we have new information on Lindsay Lohan. And I mean, the world was going to, you know, the hot place in a basket, as they say. And we're going to talk about Lindsay Lohan. I mean, where are we? Where are we? The age of romance, fantasy, fictitious and fanciful stories, without basis in fact, not practical, escape from reality, unrestrained sensuality. So all of these stars carry a little bag of cocaine or marijuana, and then they cry when they get caught. Mommy comes and bails them out, and Mommy makes all kinds of excuses, and they make up all kinds of lies.

So what is the beautiful and fulfilling life? The beautiful and fulfilling life is the life that understands, is more blessed to give than to receive. So, brethren, now is the time to cling to the truth. Now is the time to cling to the author and finisher of our salvation. Now is the time to put away all bitterness and clamor, malice and evil speaking. Now is the time to gird up the loins of our mind. Now is the time to really trust in God. If God allows you, and has allowed you to be metaphorically cast into the lions' den, or in the fiery furnace, don't bow down and worship, do as the three Hebrew children did in Daniel.

If you've been unjustly accused, take it to God. Do you really believe He has our best interests at heart? Now is the time to love the truth more than anything else. Is there anything more precious than the truth to each one of us? God has entrusted us. He's committed to us. He's placed in sacred trust, just like you would put your money in the bank and say, I'm putting it in trust with you, or you put your precious jewels in a safe and say, I am. It's in sacred trust. God has placed this sacred trust in our hearts and our minds. So, what would you give up to follow Christ? What would you do in order to remain faithful? I believe we were willing to go all the way to overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and love not our lives to the death. What will God do?

God will provide for our needs. He will give us angelic protection.

He will renew our strength as He did for me today.

He will provide companionship and help. He will remember our frame that we are as but dust. He is personally aware of us. He will help us to defeat the four enemies of faith, anxious care, fear, doubt, and human reasoning. He will help us to overcome Satan in this world.

Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. Do we pray every night to Hebrews 7.25? He ever lives to make intercession for us. Therefore, He is able to save us to the uttermost. He will finish the work that He has begun in us.

And we will become a new creation. And we will live and rule and reign with God and Christ forever and ever.