Revelation 7:9 Part 3

Welcome to live church this morning, if you have your Bibles, go ahead and pull them out and turn with me to the Book of Revelation, we’re going to look at chapter number seven, verse number nine, Revelation Chapter seven, verse nine. And if you would, because I like just watching you get up and get down and struggle with that if you want to rise and stand in honor of God’s word for our initial and primary reading of it today. Revelation Chapter seven, verse nine after this, I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne. And before the lamb clothed in white robes, the palm branches in their hands. You may be seated. We’re in the middle of a series called Omega it’s a study on the Book of Revelation and the end times. And when I hit this verse, I felt a deep conviction that we need to set up camp here for a little bit because I want to make sure that everybody that the Lord directs to listen to one of our messages. They know for sure that they’re going to heaven. There is a way to know and that is that the Lord Jesus Christ seeks and saves the lost. And for those who turned to him in faith and repent of their sins and confessing his name, they will be saved. And so I wanted as many people to know about this as possible. So what I also want to share with you as a text that we’re using during this pause on verse nine that helps us sort of process what happens when the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached. This text is found in the gospel of Matthew. There’s also two parallel accounts found in the other synoptic gospels called the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke but we’ll be reading from the one in Matthew. So if you want to turn over with me to Matthew Chapter 13, we’re going to begin reading in verse number three Matthew, Chapter 13, we’re going to start reading a verse three. This is called the parable of the Sower that is delivered by the Lord Jesus Christ himself to a group of people that was standing around watching him. That includes his disciples. He says a sower went out to sow and as he sowed some seeds, fell along the path and the birds came out and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up and since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on the good soil and produced grain. Some 100 fold, some 60, some 30. He who has ears let him her. And then he goes on for a discourse for a little while, explaining why he teaches in parables and most of his crowd leaves at this point in the juncture. So we’re going to skip down to verse number 18, where he actually sets up and explains the parable that he’s just told. So Matthew, Chapter 13, verse 18 hear then the parable of the Sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word immediately, he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and proves it unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case, a 100 fold and another 60 and in another 30. We began this conversation a couple of weeks ago, and this parable is referencing the different responses that are elicited when the Gospel of Jesus is proclaimed. It’s important that us, as followers of Christ, proclaim the truth. Some people say that my form of evangelism is just the way I live. The problem is is that your own personal morality will not save anyone. Certainly, it’s important that you live the truth so that when you proclaim the truth, you’re not found to be a hypocrite. Right? But your morality and your good acts don’t lead anybody to Christ. That is the proclamation of the truth in the gospel of Jesus that leads people to Christ because your morals won’t save anyone, just like my morals won’t save anyone. So essentially, what this parable is teaching us is that not the gospel, the seed, it doesn’t land all on the same soil. In this parable, the seed is the word of God. The planter is either the Lord Jesus himself or a. Believer in Christ that is being obedient to proclaim the gospel and the soil represents the condition of the heart of the hearer or the receiver of the seed. Two weeks ago, we got as far as the example of those who when they hear the Gospel of Christ, they’re the hard soil. They immediately reject it. Their heart is hardened, likely due to their condition of being self-sustainable, self-sufficient and self-righteous. They don’t need a god to save them. They’ve already save themselves. And the idea of acknowledging their own sin and repenting of it is the furthest thing on their radar. Hard, soiled individuals are or ones that with a seed too scattered along the path they are. They cover a wide spectrum of people all the way, from a staunch atheist to a pharisical religious type that actually utilizes religion and leverages the name of God in blasphemous ways to satisfy their own fleshly desire to be righteous on their own. Those with hard soil are subjected to the interaction of Satan by this text, the only one that is Satan, which is depicted as the bird swoops in and steals what seed has been planted and takes it away. Oftentimes, those that fit into this category are more subject to falling into the deception of false teachers. What has been long the judgment of God against people who reject the true gospel. God is Basically saying, OK, if you won’t believe the true gospel, I will send you an agent of the enemy that will propagate the gospel you will listen to, and it will insulate you even further from the truth. Last week, we looked at the seed that’s been sown in the soil that has rocks in it, rocky soil. This is the superficial convert. This is the person that initially receives the gospel with joy. Then the hardships of true Christianity come and they fade away. They’re scorched. They wither. This is proving that they accepted some version of the gospel that promoted the benefits as watered down and softened up, and has no real cost of discipleship. The superficial believer is exposed when the heat is turned on, and they have no root system to help sustain them through the trial that comes upon them because of the word of God. The rocks in the soil represent the hard parts of a person’s heart that they are unwilling to give to the Holy Spirit to till up and get rid of a heart that is in partial rebellion to the work of God is still a heart that’s in full rebellion to God. Today, we’re going to talk about the seed that is sown amongst the soil that has thorns and weeds in it, and it gets choked out. And we’re also going to finish with the good soil, the seed that is sown amongst the soil that has thorns and weeds and gets choked out. This is the worldly hearer. Here we see this in verse twenty two, it says. As for what was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and proves it unfruitful. This person is different than the other two. They don’t immediately reject the gospel, as the unresponsive hearer does. They also don’t immediately receive the gospel with joy as the superficial hearer does. This hearer doesn’t really seem to make a decision one way or another. In fact, there is no rejection of gospel, nor is there an acceptance of the gospel. There is a dilemma that is presented OK. The battle in this case is not whether the gospel is true is is it worth it? OK. The individual making this consideration may actually understand the full cost of the true gospel and they are weighing if it actually is worth it, to make the sacrifices necessary to follow Christ. It’s almost like they’re stuck in this indecisive state. In love with both the world and in love with the Kingdom of God at the same time trying to put one foot in the world, one foot in the Kingdom of God and live with the benefits of both. The truth is, though, that there is no such thing as an indecisive state regarding the gospel. You’re either in full acceptance of it or you’re in rejection of it. Simply choosing not to choose is actually making a choice to default to the results of your fallen sinful nature. Now you may not get out a set of horns and worship the devil, but he’s still your lord. That’s one of the crazy things that sometimes we don’t consider is that before you come to Christ and subject yourself to the King of Kings and the Lord of the Kingdom of God, you’re actually under the authority of the ruler of this world, Satan himself. And so if you don’t, and that’s how you start out. So if you don’t make a choice deliberately to put yourself under the lordship of Jesus, you’re still under the lordship of Satan. The person with a heart full of weeds is one that is caught in the middle but likes to ignore that reality. A person that has had the real gospel proclaimed and understands that, but knows that the preoccupation with the things of the world is dangerous and it’s an impossible thing to have in conjunction with being a fully devoted follower of Jesus. So not wanting to outright deny Christ they will try to live with both feet in both worlds. They prefer to be the recipients of the benefits of the world and the benefits of the Kingdom of God, but that is a biblical impossibility. First, John Chapter two, Verse 15 do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes. The pride of life is not from the father, but is from the world. Matthew, Chapter six, verse 24, no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one who despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. You can’t serve both of them. Here are some important things to note. Number one, a love for the world has a lot to do with money. But it’s not just money. All right. Oh, money is often surrounded by its closest friends. Possessions, prestige position. Kevin O’Leary. One person got that joke. It’s hard pressed to see money not connected to one of these things. These are the things that the world loves and clamors for people have killed, stolen, lied, cheated for these things. Our human flesh is weak to resist the influences of them? Because our desire just the same desire that our other, the the ruler of this world had to be like God. All these things fuel, but this temptation inside of us to hold all of these things. Money provides us with security, with power, with influence, with comfort, with prestige. We get to be self-sustainable. We get to be self-important and self-righteous. Prestige makes us known by men to be important and revered and respected. Position seeks to move us up the ranks of the human race, to have one who has less to be in subjection to you and to have the ones above you, the positions that you’re shooting for. Possessions are the mark of one’s own self-importance and affluence. The boys and their toys. This world is not without its things that it can offer us. There’s a lot of things this world can offer us. But just like the world, it’s all temporary, it all fades away, it’s all going to be destroyed and it leaves you empty and unsatisfied. Sure, that big paycheck that enables you to to to to go out and do this thing you want to do or buy this thing you want to, that feels really good in the moment. At the end of day, you’re still empty without Christ. Number two, having money is not sin, but loving money is. Some people have a lot of money. Some don’t. Thank you, Captain Obvious. Some people have a lot of money and they’re true believers. The true Christians, just like some people, are poor and they’re not Christians. It has nothing to do with quantity is has everything to do with how much of your heart it takes up to. Poor people can be just as greedy and sinful about their worldliness as those who actually have money. Yeah. In fact, the temptation is pretty strong. Oh, it’s going to squeak it, but it wasn’t really squeaking for me. Sometimes poor people or people who grew up that view themselves as not having a lot. But walk around with chips on their shoulders, their entire lives. Acting like victims because they don’t have what other people have. They weren’t able to do what other people were able to do. Despising anyone that has more than what they do. It’s a sad state of heart. One that is so preoccupied with money that they will hate people who have it. They will believe that people with money owe them something. They believe that the world owes them something, the government owes them something, their boss owes them something. This is a disgusting sin before the Lord. It’s raw and it’s detestable discontentment. When I grew up, I didn’t have a lot of money. We didn’t, we didn’t have a lot of money as a family. My parents got divorced when I was five and we we were struggle fest. OK. Now we had a car, so we’re in the top one percent of the wealthiest people on the planet. Right. We didn’t have a lot in conjunction with the narratives of the people that I went to school with in the community that I was in. Mom worked three jobs at one point she was worked at a seamstress factory during the day, she worked as a waitress at night and she had a paper route for Tulsa World in the middle of the night. I would get up at two o’clock in the morning throughout the duration of my junior high years. I would get up at two o’clock in the morning and go on this paper route and we’d be out until 5:00. I’d come home. I’d go to bed for an hour or get up, go to school. This is what we did. Sometimes Christmas was repackaged blankets, socks. The other kids were walking around with a starter jacket, you all remember those starter jackets. Yeah. Didn’t happen. We got to the point when I was in high school, I worked, I had a choice of doing sports or working, and I worked because this was how I was going to be able to get through. I worked from the time I was 12 years old, I was a sweeper boy in an elementary school, cleaning chalkboards and and gum off the bottom of seats. I wash dishes at a local diner. I have missed three weeks of consecutive work, only one time since I was 12 years old. I look back on the experiences of my life of myself at one point I was working a full time job, going to college, volunteering at church in a leadership role, and I started my own business. I look back over my life. I don’t blame anybody for how I grew up. I don’t blame a soul. I’ve never been mad at my parents. I’ve never been mad at the world. I’ve never been mad at society. I’ve never been mad at the government. I have never been mad… well about this. I have never been mad about my situation. Never. I never once looked at people and said, You owe me something. It developed a grit inside me, and I knew that if I wanted to have a car, I paid for my first car with cash. I paid for my own insurance and these things called cell phones that just started coming out when I was 16 years old. I’m dating myself and the Motorola ones. You remember where you had flip open. It had the antenna that you would pull out and if you were lucky, had one game called Snake. That was my first phone, bought it myself paid for my own plan. Did everything on my own, do I look at anybody and say I’m frustrated with the kids that got a car bought for them, got college, bought for them, got insurance, paid for them, their parents put money in their gas. Do I look at them and say, it’s not fair? You owe me something? No, because God put me in the position that he put me in for a reason, and it’s made me who I am today. And it’s no better for them or no worse for them. No better for me, no worse for me. God put them in the situation they’re in for a reason. And he took people that were poorer than me and put them in the situation that they’re in. So you can either look at your situation to blame the world and become a victim, or you can accept the fact that God’s sovereign divine will placed you where you were at to develop a purpose within side of you through your situation and develop you into who you are today. Part of going through that made me who I am, and I appreciate that because there is qualities about me today that I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for those seasons in my life. I don’t blame anybody for that. I’m thankful to the Lord that he allowed me to endure those things on a count that someday he may receive glory to his name because of it. God gives to each person, according to his plan. Our job is not to question why God doesn’t give equal amounts. It’s to be content with what you have and steward it properly. We’re not the owners of what we have. We’re the stewards. The same God that gave it to you can take it away from you in an instant. Amen. And we have to live with that fear. Not fear is in fear gripping my heart, but fear of the Lord. It is his he gives and he takes away. I don’t deserve any of it. You know what I deserve. Hell. I’m a manager. Of any resources I’ve been allowed to manage. And you know what? More than anything, it is a test of my heart. Any money that I possess, possessions that I possess, even kids that come into my care. I am a I am a steward of their lives. I am a steward of these resources and how I steward. It reflects whether my heart is in alignment with the father or whether my heart is in alignment with the world. You know why some of us don’t have more money, sometimes this is God’s divine sovereign plan and will sometimes just because we can’t be trusted with more. Because what we have, we don’t steward well. Luke, Chapter 16, verse 10. One who is faithful and very little is also faithful with much and one who is dishonest and very little is also dishonest with much. If we don’t take care what we got now and we’re out of control. Why should we ask God for more? He knows that giving us more money is not going to fix our problem, we’re just going to steward it. The same way just multiplied, right? But here’s another thing to consider if you are blessed, if you consider yourself blessed. Be careful. It does add additional weight of spiritual development, a pressure to not fall in love with that money and depend on it instead of God. Matthew 1924 again, I tell you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus isn’t just using hyperbole here. He’s actually there was a hole in the wall. They called the eye of the needle, and in order to get through it, you had to take everything, all your possessions, all your things, your backpack, everything you owned off of you to slither through the whole. And he’s saying to get to the kingdom of God, you have you didn’t you don’t come into this world with and you didn’t even come into this world with pants on. You’re not leavin them with pants on. You ain’t leaving with nothing. You’r, you’re leaving with your relationship with Jesus and what you stewarded it for, for the eternal matters. That’s it. You’re not leaving with anything. And he’s saying, Hey, he’s not saying it for a rich man, it’s impossible to get in the Kingdom of God. But it’s so difficult because that rich man is going to have to leave everything, not love any of it and slither through just himself and his relationship with Christ. So. Sure, it’s a blessing if you’ve been blessed and listen, if if you own a car, you’re the top one percent wealthiest people on the planet. OK. You’re blessed in some way. We’re all eating. We all have something to drink, clean water supply. Sure, it’s a blessing, but what it really is is it’s a calling. Having money or wealth is a calling. It’s a huge responsibility. Some people are walking around saying, I wish I had more money. I wish I had more money. I wish I had more more money. I think if you saw the pressure that is applied to Christians that have more money, the pressure they’re under to steward it well and the pressure that they’re under to not make it God. I don’t know that you’d want that responsibility. It’s like being a teacher of the word, I know that sounds crazy, but hang with me. People think they want to teach God’s word. Just give me a microphone. I just want to preach. James three one. Not many of you should become teachers. Why my brothers for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. You pick up a microphone and you teach the word of God. I’m going to stand before God someday I’m going to be judged stricter than any of you who are not teachers. I still accepted the call. But it is a huge responsibility that means when I get up here, I don’t get up here without praying. I don’t get up here and just talk to you about what I want to talk to you about. I’m accountable to the Holy Spirit and to the scriptures to preach them faithfully. And I know that my hy-knee is on the line. So if you want more money, just understand you’re going to be judged with greater strictness because you have more resources to manage and God is going to bring you to the test. Come on. It doesn’t make your life easier. It actually might give you more of a burden, so be careful when you ask for that. Well, we should really be asking for is not more money, but that we would steward what we have more faithfully. Number three, sometimes the love for money is the root for the worldly pursuit, so the individual may deny that they love money. You may say, Well, you love money like, no, I don’t, I don’t love money. But the the thing is, is that money helps us satisfy our needs for our idols. That’s why people will sin for money for their pursuit of fashion and career and sports and leisure. It may not be the dollar dollar bill, y’all, that you desire. You may not be sitting there like Scrooge McDuck. You know wallering and around in your safe and throwing it up in the air. But that money enables you to pursue other worldly pursuits that you do love. Oftentimes, people will trick themselves into believing I don’t love money. Will you do it because money enables you to get the things that your heart does love? Matthew, Chapter six, verse 24, no one can serve two masters for either he will hate to one love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. There’s that scripture again. We cannot love God and money. You love God and you put money under the authority of God’s word. And if you love money, you’re trying to put your life under it as Lord. It won’t work. It will end in destruction and ruin. You’re going to end up hating one of your masters. You’re either going to end up hating money because of the damage it does in your life, you’re going to hate God because God won’t give you everything that you want. So the way to get rid of the the weeds and the chance for the thorns to come up around us and choke out the fruitfulness of the word is we ask the Holy Spirit to kill up the ground and or come on deeper students. This is one of our core values. Pull the weeds. That requires repentance, cleansing confession and a trust in Christ that he is able, willing and capable of doing all of the above. A person that professes to be a Christian but is unconcerned about their sin in this life and does not hate evil is showing strong evidence of a heart full of weeds and thorns. It is quite the issue that professed believers will go on sinning, sometimes even right out in the open, as if they’re almost mocking God. They don’t care about the fact that they’re getting intoxicated, looking at porn, lying, cheating, gossiping, dishonoring their husbands, dishonoring their wives, overspending, overeating. They don’t care. They’ll just go on. Keep on doing that out in the open as if to mock God. Even more tolerating evil, turning their head and looking the other way. Whenever things that offend a holy God occur right before them, we need to ask the Lord to till the soil of our heart and to get rid of the weeds. The next type of hearer is the response hearer. This is the good soil verse 23. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it or as the Greek also indicates, accepts it. Considers it. He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case, 100 fold. In another case 60 and another 30. The last here has good soil. Not because. This person has less sin. What makes up the good soil is not that the person was more holy and more righteous before they received the gospel. It’s true that they are just as ridden, if not more, with sin and deception as the other hearers is that bad soil. So what’s the difference? Well, the only barrier to salvation is what, unbelief. And anyone who is willing to accept Jesus on Jesus’ terms is good soil. All the other hearers accepts Jesus on their terms or rejects them, which is all rejection. I’m either going to outright reject Jesus as the unresponsive hearer. I’m going to accept Jesus on my terms. That’s going to be the superficial hearer and the worldly hearer says I’m going to accept Jesus so long as I can keep one foot in the world. The good hearer or the responseive hearer does what? I’m accepting Jesus on his terms. He’s Lord, not me. And when this occurs, a crop is generated and the seed is produced from the fruit. The key central proof to a converted believer is that they bear fruit in their lives. Galatians chapter five, verse 22 and 23 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things. There is no law and we read that list and we’re like, I’m pretty good at those things. Well, the dashboard camera in your car says otherwise. Right. And listen, these aren’t just moral things from our own abilities. These are supernatural fruits enabled to us by the power of the Holy Spirit, God working through us. It’s not just love that I smile at you and say, Love you, bro. It’s love that I love my enemies and. It’s not just peace that I like peace to the world, goodwill to men, but it’s peace that in the middle of chaos. I’m a peacemaker, not a chaos maker. Colossians Chapter one, verse six, which has come to you as indeed in the whole world that is bearing fruit and increasing as it also does among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. Psalm chapter one, verse two and three. But in his delight, it is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. That doesn’t mean makes a lot of money. That means he prospers in righteousness. The result of fruit bearing is that it multiplies. What do healthy crops and healthy trees do? Well, it produces seed, the fruit itself becomes an agent in spreading the gospel. The word is passed from one disciple to another, planting it into the soil of another, and sometimes it gets planted on the hard path. Sometimes it gets planted in the rocky ground. Sometimes it gets planted in the weedy soil and the thorny soil. Sometimes it gets planted in good soil, but you plant. And it says some crop will yield of a hundredfold. One believer could win thousands of people to Christ. Do you believe that? Well, Billy Graham, no, no, no, no, no. You! A seed sown in one person today could become a harvest. That saves an entire village. Jesus met with the woman at the Samaritan. Well. She came to know, Christ, would she do? She went back to her village and started a revival. The Holy Spirit started the revival, but he used her as the seed that planted and boom. All of a sudden, all these Samaritans, these these these filthy gentiles outside of the law, all of a sudden they were worshiping this Christ. One seed, one move of obedience. One inconvenient conversation with you could bring thousands into the kingdom. You never know. Do you actually believe that? I bet most of us. Believe that it’s possible for other people. We don’t actually believe it’s possible for us. Second Corinthians Chapter five, 10 four We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body. Rather good or evil. Now there are two judgments. There’s a great there’s the great white throne judgment. This is where God will stand before all sinners, and He will condemn them to hell because of their sin. This is not the judgment that we go to as a follower of Christ, we go to the judgment seat of Christ. This does not determine heaven or hell. This determines our rewards for our good works done in the father’s name. And this is where he’s going to throw our works into a big fire and some are going to stand the test of the fire are going to be found pure and some are going to be burn up because they weren’t pure. You can do some really awesome things, but if you don’t do them in love, they’re not pure, right? So our actions and we will not all receive we will not all receive the same due reward. There’s going to be some person you never met before in your entire life, halfway across the world, in some country that they’re getting slaughtered for following the gospel that’s running a house church network underground that’s going to have like you’ve never heard of their name. They’ve never been on any chart topping lists. They’ve never been on any conference schedule and they’re going to have a big, booming mansion. And you’re going to be like who’s that guy? It ain’t about worldly influence. It’s about what they sowed for the kingdom in purity. And then there’s going to be a lot of people that were on those lists and you’re thinking, I don’t even see him here. Lord Lord, did we not? I believe that many of us on that day will stand on the judgment seat of Christ and we will see the opportunities that we missed because of our selfishness, because of our hesitations, our anxieties, because of our. Quite frankly, I’m going to speak on this laziness our apathy or all of these things will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and we’ll see the opportunities missed because we weren’t faithful to proclaim the gospel. We got comfortable and we shut our mouths. Why wait for the judgment seat of Christ to see what you missed? Take advantage of those opportunities today. It’s not too late. You’re breathing. You don’t have to stand here to proclaim the gospel. In fact, my job is to equip you to go do it into the world. It’s very quiet in here. Will there be anybody in a heaven on account of your proclamation of the gospel? Will there be anybody there? That’s a hard question we have to ask ourselves. Will there be those that are hindered in their faith because of her actions? I pray. I know there will be people hindered in their faith because of my actions. I know it, but I pray that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ covers that and that his grace is stronger than my failings. Psalm Chapter one verses one through four. I love this. I love this. Blessed is a man who walks not in the council, the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit and its season and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. This verse indicates here that believers will not all yield the same fruit. So do we settle for the lower class hundredfold 60 fold 30 fold. Do we just say I’m going to take a pass on the 100 go for 30? No. I coach a flag football team right now. OK. It’s six U they’re six year olds. All right. But it’s it’s a dream of mine to coach football. And so I’m starting out with six year olds. Pray for me. And I got there, and there’s this, there’s this mindset, I think with six U flag football that that everybody gets the ball. And I was like, You know, I’m not going to play that way. I’m not just going to put the ball in the hands of the most talented person on every play, I’m going to play that game that you don’t do that at six. But I pulled the boys together at our practice last week and I said, Listen up. I was like, Who wants to run the football? They were all, Yeah, yeah. And I was like, We are the Titans and on the Titans you earn a chance to run the football. I’m not looking for the most talented person, but I’m looking for the ones that are paying attention that will listen and know what to do when they get the football. If you get the football and you just stand there and you forget everything that you did in practice, you’re not getting the football. But if you get the football and you don’t have to be the fastest player on the team, you get the football and you know what to do and you try hard and I can tell you putting everything in your heart into it. I’m going to keep giving you the football. Because you’re going to have to earn it, I want to teach these boys at a young age that we’re not going to hand you things that if you work hard and you put something into it, we’ll give you the football and we’re going to give you a chance to score. One of my boys that that, you know, he probably doesn’t have the most talent in the world, but I could tell he really wanted it and he was trying very hard. So we put the ball in his hands and that boy ran off and scored a touchdown, and I was so proud of him. Like, you like to see that happen, right? Not the fastest kid on the team is not the most knowledgeable about football. Didn’t play before the man. He got that ball and it was. It was work time. It was busy. We’re going to work. And he took off as fast as those legs can run. And he scored a touchdown and it was like the moment of his life, right? Not all believers will demonstrate the same level of obedience. That’s the one hundred sixty three fold not all believers are going to demonstrate the same level of believers. So why are you showing up to the game comparing yourself to the bottom feeders that are barely getting by? Show up and model yourself after the one that is laying down everything for the gospel chase that guy. Don’t go don’t show up on the field at practice and just try not to be the worst person on the field and just barely skate by in heaven and and stroll up into your scooter that you get. OK, I like scooters, there’s nothing wrong with scooters, I’m just saying in comparison to a mansion. But show up to the game and look at the people who are not the people that’s always important is standing in a spot like this and all that. I’m talking about the people that, you know, going into prisons, proclaiming the gospel, even though he’s been getting persecuted, model yourself, lear, disciple, get discipleship from them, learn from what they got to say, house church leaders that are showing up important to people’s lives all time stop just trying to skate by in heaven and show up to work. Put your tie on. Put your tie on, ladies. Put your jacket. I don’t know where we show up. And go to work. We got work to do. Leave the excuses at home. Maybe your mama will listen to them. I don’t want to listen to them. Well, we got lots of people just trying to skate by. How about you start a ministry in your garage where people bring you stuff and you get tons of stuff away to the poor like Becky does? And she starts like a whole non-profit, and we realize she’s got like a five one three three out of her house right now because she saw problems is that I’m going to do something about it. I’m not going to sit around and wait for permission. I’m going to get on my knees and ask the Lord, What would you have me to start a business with a logo on the side of your truck? That says simply rooted. Starts many conversations about Jesus. I love that you have a cross on there. Tell me more about that. Stop walking in and comparing yourself to the bottom of the rung and saying, I’m just going to skate by. Show up. Put your tie on. Lace up your boots. Get to work because we got we got a lot of work left to do. Jesus is coming back soon.