Develop Endurance: Standing Strong in Christ | Randy Bell

Developing endurance in Christ involves making a big effort to add virtue to your faith.

This process takes years of preparation and consistent obedience to God's will.

As you study and apply God's word, you'll experience the mighty power of God to overcome sinful thoughts and habits.

The goal is to become a mature, consistent, and obedient follower of Christ, who can be trusted to serve God and others.

was once you become a Christian, you're a baby, an infant, he says. And the point is you're forgiven, but his point is to get you free from all those sinful habits you're under. And Peter's steps in that match what John taught in 2 Peter 1, because he said, when you get your faith, make all effort to add virtue to your faith. That virtue is the whole idea, then, of God's will to be full and completely repentant of your sin. Get away from every aspect of that sinfulness that's around you, by turning away all known disobedience, but then complete your obedience to everything that Jesus spoke to you and told you to do. Now, that's a big effort. It's not a little thing. That's a major issue. But that's what kids go to school about. It's not a one-day seminar and they know everything. Years of preparation takes the child to get through school and through high school before they're ready to move on to life. And so we understand that this is a big issue. The second level, once you finally get there, is that level of righteous character. God doesn't want you to just be free from sin as a kind of an idea for your own selfish goals or for your own personal blessing. The point of character is that God wants to then make you go into three different areas of your character development. First, get it in your head what God's will is, what his word talks about, and how it is to get there. It takes study. And then secondly, it says once you get that knowledge, you do something with the knowledge. And that begins you controlling yourself. You add God's grace with your knowledge and begin to walk in obedience on a consistent basis. And then that fourth step under righteous character makes you strong. You begin to have the perseverance that no matter what comes your way, you still obey. You still do what God wants. And so the explanation is we must study to show ourselves approved by God. As grace and knowledge unite, we experience the mighty power of God to overcome sinful thoughts, sinful intentions, and sinful habits, as you notice up here. As we get stronger, we have mature, consistent obedience. It's not a matter of knowing what you're supposed to do. It is a constant, strong ability. You're a man of integrity. You're a man of obedience. hands. You're a person that's greatly listened to and respected at that point. That gets you into that third level, which we haven't started yet, but we're at that verge of dealing still with the perseverance and strength necessary for us. But from that level, once you actually graduate from that level, God begins to instantly begin to call you to serve him. He wants you to become able to be discerner of good and evil so that you are able to be trusted in work for his kingdom. He wants you to understand that's why it says add godliness and then godliness add brotherly kindness. People that are children don't think about other children. They think about themselves. Maturity or godliness is thinking about others. And that's what brotherly kindness gets you to a place where it's a normal part of your life to think about other people. Our graduation from level two is made when we consistently obey all Christ's commands through the grace of God. Now we must act like Christ. we now serve God and do good works toward others. Jesus exemplified that in his ministry. He didn't go around looking for people to bow down to him and kiss his feet. He went around and served. He helped. He cared for others. He showed us exactly what that third phase of Christianity is all about. And finally, then, we go to the fourth stage, where he wants you to be actually a leader. A leader. He's looking for you to become a leader, a person that can be looked up to. That means adding agape love where your motive is purely never of yourself, but your intentions are always God's kingdom and others to be blessed from what you're doing. And so we see that as an experience that brings you to a point of leadership. We tend in our American culture to, if you go to some bigger churches where they have lots of folks, they'll have deacons and they'll have trustees. And you start watching how they get those and they vote them in, and they kind of become businessmen that are leaders and whatever. But the point is, if you go to the scriptures, Timothy tells you the way you pick them is not to do with whether you're a good businessman. It talks about character. And that's exactly what this leadership says. After you get your solid character and you can live it out in proof, then you're able to be a true leader. If you know how to raise your children, take care of your wife, your wife is faithful. Well, all the things that have to do with purely scriptural content that we're talking about only brings that. Well, we don't really follow that in general here, but we need to start. This is an important issue. Now, once we go through that, I want to make sure we focus today one more time on the idea of the strength or perseverance necessary. Now, I want to ask you a simple question. What is being shaken in our land? What is being shaken? I want you to look in your Bibles in the book of Hebrews. I've been going through the Hebrew section as I've taught this portion. In Hebrews, after the section out of chapter 12 that I dealt with last week, we move on further with verse 18 of chapter 12. And it begins to talk about the glorious company and the powerful presence of who God really is. Look with me if you look at verse 18. For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, that voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the words should not be spoken to them anymore. For they could not endure what was commanded, and if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow. And so terrifying was the sight that Moses even said, I'm exceedingly afraid and trembling. Now this is going back to the time when they got the Ten Commandments. Do you remember? Now remember, they found this mountain over in Saudi Arabia. The top of the mountain is black, burnt, even to this day. They know there was no volcano there, but yet the top of this mountain is black. They have found the place where the water came down through when God allowed Moses to strike the rock and it split and water came down. They have geological evidence of where the water flowed from that rock at the top of the mountain. They have found the big altar with the bulls of Egypt on the side of the stones there. They found all this. They know exactly where this was. And at this place when Moses and all Israel was going to get the Ten Commandments, they found that God's presence came down upon that mountain with such reality that it scared them to death. God's presence is not a joke. I wish God would come down to America just for one minute like that. We have lost our fear of who God is. This God so scared an entire nation, it says that they shook and they said they didn't want to hear God talk any longer. They're so afraid of him. They were so petrified at the presence of who God is. Even Moses, the great leader, was so afraid, he's quoted as saying that I'm exceedingly afraid and trembling. That's your God. No joke. He's a God of such reality and power, he's like walking into an atomic bomb blast. His presence is overwhelming in reality. And if you saw him once, I think your faith would change. How would your faith change if you saw God like they did? Anybody have any thoughts? How would your faith change if you saw God like Israel did at that point in history? What would be different about what you do? They refuse to worship Him. 24 hours a day. We need help every hour, every day. There you go. It would definitely change your praise. It would change your mind at all times. It would change your focus. It would change your mindset. Okay. Anything else you got any ideas? How would it change you? If you saw the living God in that light to it so shook the mountain, burned the top of the mountain, would it shake you and scare you like it did them? His presence is powerful. With that in mind, He says here in Hebrews, this is the God we're talking about. Now why is He bringing this up? He's wanting to get our attention as Christians. He goes on and says that, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven. God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. He brings into mind that this God who scared them is the God who is the judge of all. You hear those words? He will judge you. You will answer to Him. You think, well, I'm a Christian, it's okay. You're going to answer to Him. No matter what you think, you're still going to be answering to Him. It talks about being taken to the judgment seat, but it's not the judgment of hell. It's the judgment of your actions, and you will be given rewards in heaven for what you've done. Or dishonored. Whew! It's one thing to get there, but remember, the big thing is, all the time in heaven there's certain people are going to be rewarded it says in in the book of revelation on their places what will your response be and how will god look at you when you get there it's very significant he gives different rewards to different believers when they're there and it all has to do with the fact that you're going to have to answer to him for what you're doing right today and tomorrow and this next week and so forth and then he goes on to verse 25 and and explains in a greater detail of what we're wanting to apply here. See that you do not refuse him who speaks. Notice Israel didn't refuse him when he spoke. They fell on their faces in fear and trembling. He says, now when God is speaking to you through his word, don't refuse what he's telling you. For if they did not escape who refused him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape. Excuse me. If we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven whose voice then shook the earth but now he has promised saying something even greater is going to happen Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. Now what's he talking about? He's not going to shake earth like he did back when Moses day. He's going to shake both heaven and earth. What's that mean? What's he talking about? When is God going to shake everything so severely that it's going to shake heaven and earth? Any ideas? When is that happening? What's he talking about? Is it just an illusion of a metaphor or is this a reality he's speaking of? His second coming. The Bible says in Peter that the elements are going to melt. Literally, he's going to take everything that you and I know away. Everything you're used to seeing here and being a part of is going to be taken away. Everything is going to be absolutely stripped from us. It's going to shake heaven and earth when He's done. Now that's the judgment day that He's talking about that needs to be implanted in your mind as you make your choices. Now this yet once more indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as of things that are made. That the things which cannot be shaken may remain. what things can remain after heaven and earth being shaken what's left what's left is there anything left what would be left after that any ideas what could be left after heaven and earth is shaken look at verse 28 maybe it'll help you get it therefore since we're receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken let us have grace by which we may serve god acceptable with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire. There's no doubt about the power of God to God, but do you understand how powerful he is? He's literally a consuming atomic fire, basically, if you understand. Now, I think God is warning us, like, remember in Matthew chapter 24, it talks about a warning in Matthew 24. Jesus is talking about the end when He's going to come back before He gets back. He talks about the way things will be in our world. In chapter 24, verse 4, He says, Jesus answered and said to them, Take ye that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you're not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you. And you will be hated by all nations simply for my name's sake. You're going to be not liked just because you're a Christian. Even though you didn't do anything wrong, you're going to be hated. And then many will be offended and betray one another and will hate one another and so forth. Notice the thing that it's showing there is things are going to be shaking in the governments, shaking in the world, whether it's in the political realm, in the national realm, whether it's physical with earthquakes, whether it's wars against countries. All these are stirring up, it says, before he gets back here. Now we look and see, I see, because I keep an eye on it, I keep watching these shakings starting in our country. We're kind of the last country to have to face that. Go under Islam. Go under the Muslim world and so forth and watch what's going on. Let me give you some examples of what's just being shaken in our cultures and our world today. Here's a simple, you ever heard of the Gideons? The Gideons are people who give out Bibles for free. They put them in hotels. They have always, when I grew up, they're giving them to the schools to give to children. I forget what grade it is, but they give them a little New Testament. These Gideons in Florida, Plantation Key, Florida, two members of the Gideons International were arrested for distributing Bibles on a public sidewalk for freely giving out Bibles on a public sidewalk. They were in Florida. Arrested. It says here in this news report that I get, the first minute protects the right to engage in religious speech on a public sidewalk. But for some reason, our government forgot that, and they arrested them anyway in our state. Members of the Gideons have been highly respected for decades as peaceful providers of free Bibles. Now, this was in January. This is just a little few months ago this happened. Arrested simply because they gave out Bibles. Now, if they were giving out condoms, they would not have been arrested. I'm telling you, they would not have been arrested. I'm telling you, it's all got to do with hatred for Christians. Now, also another example, the homosexual movement has established a day of, I forget what they call it, Day of Silence was with the homosexuals. And all through all the high schools in the country, they're allowed to make a big deal in the school system about the Day of Silence for homosexuals. Well, being that our country believes in religious freedom and freedom of speech, supposedly, the Christians under the Alliance Defense Fund established a thing called the Day of Truth to give their side of the story for all the students in the high schools across the country. Now, that's interesting. The Day of Truth happened just last, a couple weeks ago now, it was in April. I forget what day it was. Now, in one instance, a Maryland high school told one student that she couldn't post signs or distribute any flyers about the alternative to homosexuals' day of silence. She was silenced for her daring to disagree. After receiving a letter from the legal counsel, that school did back off, but they had to be forced to by legal action before they would allow her to do the same thing the homosexuals can do freely in all our schools. Now, another case, and believe it or not, in my hometown, Muskegon, Michigan, there was a situation that this happened. I don't know what high school is, but I was born and raised in that town, so I saw this in the news thing and about jumped up and said, whoa. It didn't say what school it was, but it just says, if you know in the underlining, the issue in Muskegon, Michigan was that a student put a piece of duct tape on his shirt and wrote on it, I'm straight. Well, the point was the homosexuals put duct tape on their shirts and they said the opposite and nothing happened to them because he put a duct tape and said, I'm straight, he was attacked for it. Again, not by the students, but by the school. And that's still going to go to court. They wouldn't back off. The administrator considered the message offensive, yet protected the rights of other students to put on duct tape across their mouths to endorse a lifestyle of sexual deviancy that undermines personal health and undercuts moral norms, according to this report. So the homosexuals stuck it on their mouth to tell everybody you can't keep oppressing us. But he dared to put it on his shirt saying I'm straight and they didn't like it. They can't stand that we disagree with them to the point of force. Now remember, Christianity is what established freedom of speech. We allow the homosexuals to say that, but they can't stand us thinking or disagreeing by speaking. This is why these new laws are coming to oppress Christians even more in this day. Well, what's being shaken further? Liberals launched a full-blown attack on family values just this last week, introducing and debating bills that could significantly change America's criminal and employment codes. in the House Judicial Committee, the markup on thought crimes went on arguing until 9 o'clock at night that night. They're literally passing these laws of thought crimes, in part because the Republican attempts to include amendments that would make the bill's protected class more comprehensive about senior citizens, pregnant women, so forth. Every one of those by the Democrats' vote stopped, and they wouldn't allow anything to do with it. The only thing they're talking about is homosexuality. jamming immorality down our throat. The version that now heads the House violates the Commerce Clause and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. It federalizes a vast array of state and local crimes and threatens religious leaders with criminal prosecution for their thoughts, beliefs, and statements. Not my words, but theirs. They're literally aimed at the church. This is an absolute, outright attack upon Christianity. Now, another thing, notice, there's a homosexual group called the Human Rights Campaign. Human Rights Campaign. Notice how they pick words. They don't say homosexual rights. They make sure they mask it so you don't know what they are. You think they're human rights. Well, they claim that they're, and here's the crime law that they're trying to pass. This is called the H.R. 1592. That the law they trying to force down to arrest preachers for their thoughts and beliefs So they can speak And it says they would expand these protected classes but actually they tried to admit there was something before under the human rights, but it has nothing to do with it. This is purely an attack on morality. and they literally are doing a hate crime drive according to one thing, sexual preference, the very thing that God tells us again. Now, I was going to give you an audio of Chuck Colson, but it's stuck on my stupid laptop. I couldn't get it over onto the thing again, so my technological ineptness here is causing me some problems. But I did want you to notice a couple things here. Number one, Mike, would you go up into the office and pull out my laptop's bag? I've got some papers in there I wanted to share with some people. At least look up here for a moment. I want you to see part of this. When I read this a couple months ago, it scared me. This is the mentality of what's going on when I talk about you're going to be facing persecution. Now here's where it comes from. Out of the New York Times, this was written, Chuck Colson reported it. He said, just a few months ago, I thought it was insulting to be called a theocrat. I was wrong. Theocrat is almost a compliment compared to what the left is calling Christians now. According to the New York Times review, we Christians are fascists. You know what a fascist is? Adolf Hitler. Fascists is nothing more than tyrants that murder people. Now, they're claiming that Christians are fascists. This is literally the new propaganda that's being promoted throughout the system. And it says, if we're not stopped, we'll try to take over America, is what they're saying. It's an illustration of how vicious the invective have become against faithful Christians. Of course, there are Christian fascists in America, this guy writes. and, for example, explain he took former Chief Justice Ray Moore's Ten Commandments monument on tour. Now, how is a fascist, remember Ray Moore was out of Texas, he was a judge? All he wanted to do was put the Ten Commandments up because if you go to the Supreme Court in Washington, if you look on the walls of the Supreme Court, it has the Ten Commandments on the building. It's been there for, I don't know how many hundred years it's been there. Roy Moore did the same thing in his place and they crucified him and tried to claim he's a fascist trying to jam the law of God down the throats of modern America now this is the mentality of what's going on throughout the culture of our day they're calling Christians Hitler who is an evil murderous weirdo and they're actually going on to say that the Christian right and the war on America is the name of a book, in fact, they put out. He details all the wacky killings of the Aran Brotherhood, which has nothing to do with Christians. They were the Ku Klux Klan and the Hitler people over the last 25 years. It has nothing to do with Christians at all. And then he tries to shove it down our throat. The really dangerous thing here is that by writing this kind of stuff, they are likely to embolden some nut to start shooting pastors and Christian leaders. They're literally stirring up people to start an actual persecution against Americans to the point of even the fear of physical violence. This is where it's getting to. He was honest to admit in his book, though he finally admitted there's been no violence from Christians, quote, lately, he said, but he reminds us there used to be, and maybe again, driven by those violent left-behind books. What are the left-behind books? what are left behind books? Yeah. He claims those books incite Christians to commit violence against America. That's what he's saying. He says those left behind books are, that's why all the Christians are getting ready to start a war. This is how ignorant these people are. And they're stirring up people across America to hate Christians even more. In fact, because we are maniacs. like the Muslim who ran airplanes into buildings. He says, the Left Behind book shows that we are the same kind of people. We're violent. We're going to try to overthrow the government. That's literally what he's teaching here. And this has come out of the New York Times just a few months ago. Yeah. American Fascist is just a late book in a long line of anti-Christian literature to hit the bestseller list, all reviewed and promoted by the New York Times. Rah. Now. That's the same thing you said. Donald said that the Christian right is no better. and other Muslim friends. Exactly. She's given the same lies on ABC on The View. Exactly. You understand what's going on? This is stirring people to hate us. To hate us and hate us and hate us. And the point is, it's happening. It's a witch hunt. Now, it's an effort to drive Christians out of public debates like abortion and same-sex marriage. And these are signs that it's working because they won't listen to us. If we say abortion's bad... Now, who is the one that would be actually classed as an abortionist? Hitler would be the one who was for abortion. He was the one that murdered people and killed people. We were the ones that opposed it, and yet they call us the Hitler instead of them being the Hitler. Notice this is a whole issue of things going on in our culture. I just wanted to take a couple minutes because you need to hear it. I can give you nice, simple sermons to make you feel good, but you've got to know what's going on in our country. There is a changing point in the way people are looking at you. And if they don't know you personally, this is how they're looking at you. The new atheist religious belief is both misguided and the mark of people who need to be told how to think and how to vote is what they claim we are. We're stupid. And so we have to have like James Dobson and other people tell us how to vote because we don't think. They're making us stupid, dangerous, and fascist is what they're putting into the minds of people. The faith of these atheists present a parody of the faith that thousands have given their lives for. And for causes like ending the slave trade, human rights, and causes of today, they're claiming we have nothing to do with it. Anyway, the best response to these attacks, of course, is just a loving assertion of the truth and renewed effort to silence the critics by doing good. Here's notice, if you understand what's going on, you can't just sit back and let it happen. You need to take action as a believer. There's two things you need to do. When you hear those things, you need to have enough in your mind to be able to answer them when you hear people at work or your neighborhood start saying those things. You need to be able to say, wait, whoa, whoa, that's not true, and give them honest answers. Well, you won't have it unless you start reading and know what you're talking about. Otherwise, you're allowing the enemy to destroy this land. The second thing it says is you've got to prove it by putting your actions where your mouth is, doing good works. the very thing I'm talking about that you have to get to and get mature. Remember the maturity level I was talking about is that you begin to act in good works instead of just saying you're a quiet, silent Christian. You take action. You get up out of just the words of Christianity and you start taking action in the name of Jesus. That is exactly what we have to get to, but we don't have many mature enough to do it. We have just a silent majority or silent minority, if you want to say that, who are not doing anything to break from this attack that's upon us. In the midst of these best-selling books that try to embarrass us and out of our faith, we ought to remember the words of the Apostle Paul, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for all those who believe. We must continue to press on and not be fearful. So here's my questions to you. Is what you're living for worth Christ dying for? if He took and measured you right now today and said, here's what I poured out my blood for. Now, what are you doing in your life? Did I waste my blood on you? Or did I make this very sacrifice because of what you're doing is making a difference? Let me ask you some simple questions. What will not be in heaven? What won't be in heaven? Here's some examples I had. There will be no money and no business in heaven. so you can't take your money with you and you can't bring your lawn mowing business up to heaven. It won't be there. So you spend a lot of time getting money. You spend a lot of time spending money. You spend a lot of time building your career. But is that going to last forever? No. Now, will there be any sports in heaven? Soccer games? You know, whatever. Golf? Is there going to be any golf in heaven? How about fishing? How about Monopoly games? Are all those going to be in heaven? Those won't be in heaven. How about will there be any computers or video games in heaven? Not. How about cars, airplanes, your fishing boat or your sailboat? Is that going to be in heaven? Not be in heaven. How about television, Hollywood, rock stars, movie stars, Disney World, Universal Studios, carnivals? Is that going to be in heaven? Won't be there. If you start subtracting the things you do all the time, is there anything you do in heaven that you're already doing now? Or is everything going to be removed from you, but you're going to have a culture shock when you get to heaven? You know what I'm saying? What's exactly going to happen? How about, is there going to be any cell phones in heaven? Microwave ovens? How about refrigerators and stoves? No, that's going to be in heaven, I don't think. How about politics and politicians and elections? Are there going to be any of that in heaven? No. No? Nope, nothing's in the scripture about that. Anything else you can think of that's not going to be in heaven? Anything else you can think of that's not going to be in heaven? Nothing? You can't think of anything else? I mean, I covered it all. I can't believe I'm that smart. There's got to be some other things I missed. Anything else that you can think of that's not going to be in heaven? No gambling is going to be in heaven that for sure No sin is going to be in heaven That a good point no No shopping going to be in heaven No shopping malls No Sears and Walmart and no Target Can you imagine no Target in heaven? No Walmarts. No Walmarts. No Tiffany's and no what's all the mall stuff, you know. None that's going to be in heaven. What are you going to do with yourself? If you think of the list there, is there anything that you do outside of that list? In your life? You've been doing a lot of worshiping and singing and praising. Okay. All that you consider Christian life. Okay. Well, let's think about what's going to actually be there. You're talking about what you do. Here's what I... First of all, people are going to be in heaven. I mean, besides God. We already know God's going to be there. Besides God, there's going to be people there. Yes. besides people there's going to be angels there besides the angels and people and God there's going to be actually creatures because the Bible and Revelation describes certain heavenly creatures that will be there that God has made now outside of that the city of God is going to be there which means golden streets you know the different things it says it's going to be there outside of those things anything else going to be in heaven? can you think anything else? Mike, can you think of anything else outside of those things that are going to be in heaven? Right, which we mentioned, yeah. God, people and angels, heavenly creatures, and the city of God. But I don't know if anything else is going to be there other than that, right? Can you think of anything? Right, okay, that's the point. From that point on, then we ask the question, what are you actually going to be doing for eternity? Now you mentioned singing. Man, you can only sing so long. So, I mean, other than singing, what would you be doing? Are you sure? You mean to tell me that you think God would go through all the effort to redeem you so that you do nothing? That don't make sense. Yeah, but I'm just doing it to make you think. Because you're not going to be shopping, you're not going to be fishing, you're not going to be playing games, you're not going to be watching rock stars. What are you going to be doing other than singing? Is that it? Everybody just thinks we're going to sing in heaven? Is that really it? Any other ideas? Mom, you got any thoughts? You just think we're going to sing? Serving. Okay. That means work. Right? You said at one time we'd be dancing in heaven. Oh, you'd be dancing. It says the angels dance in heaven every time one person gets saved on earth. So there's definitely going to be dancing. Sure. They're going to be rejoicing and dancing and singing and celebration. But you can only celebrate so long, and then you've got to do something constructive. Well, and that's the thing. If you think about it now, what I'm trying to do is balance the things of this earth. If God's going to shake this earth and so nothing's going to remain, and yet we list all the things we do, is there anything you do outside of those seven main idea things there? Do you only shop and work and play with sports? Is there anything else you do? Because if not, you're going to be shocked when you get to heaven because you're going to be thinking there's nothing to do. Which is kind of what we're saying. But there can't be that. Because God continually teaches you to get past your character to level three. He wants you to begin to serve. Well, would you not get to heaven? Won't you be serving other people? Since that's what He said. He said the greatest among you is going to be what? Servant of what? Servant of all. If that's one of the greatest things he's trying to get you to get to, that would be naturally a part of his spiritual development because you're going to keep doing it. Angels don't sit around and just sing songs. They serve the living God. And so if you think in terms of being kings and priests in his kingdom, there is a lot of effort here to get you down here used to what's going to go in heaven. Otherwise, you're going to have a culture shock. If you think you're going to go up there... I read a book one time about a guy talking about heaven that you're going to go up there and go fishing and ride horses. It's like, where do you get that stuff? That's not in the Bible. That sounds like a heaven that the Islamic people teach. All the guys up there claim you can't have sin, but when you get to heaven, God's now going to let you have immorality because you can have all the women you want. Well, what kind of stupid thing is that? When they claim it's sin on earth, how can it be not sin in heaven? And that's what Islam teaches, isn't it, Mike? It tells them you're going to have all kinds of maidens for sexual activity. It's like, how does that make sense when you claim in your own book that it's a sin on earth? How can it not be a sin in heaven when you're closer to God? See, our God teaches that you're going to get to a place where you have to get to an issue that what you're doing here on this planet is what you're involved with when you get to heaven. So there's not a difference. He's trying to develop you in character. With that being important, we need to see what He wants you to do. When you get to heaven, you're not going to bring your computer with you, nor your car, nor your television, nor your cell phone. But you are going to bring people. They get to go. Right? They get to go. So what I'm asking you to reconsider in your life is actually how much time have you put into obeying Christ to become mature so that you can bring people actually there and not keep thinking it's somebody else's job. The people you work with, they're going to go to heaven or hell, right? I don't even know them. So you're the only one that's going to influence where they go to heaven or to hell. Will you take and make an effort to be mature enough to take that step to help them? That's the key. As each of you do that on an individual basis, we gather together to do it on a church basis. But if we're not doing it in our lives, if we're not being the church, if we're not being who we're supposed to be, and that's really what some of what I've been coming through is what I've been meeting with the pastors. Like our friend that meets at 9 o'clock here, That's what he's saying. Be the church. Stop acting like a church and just be the church. Love the people that you're with and around and be Christ to them. If you don't do it, no one else is going to do it. No, I'm not talking about asking them to come to our church. I'm asking you to be the church to them by showing them who Jesus is so when they look at you, they know who Jesus is. Oh, you can ask too, definitely. But I mean, it's going to have time. Well, but as they get to see who you really are and you start loving and caring for them, friends help friends and connect. That's what I've been doing. Exactly. Keep it up. Don't stop that. And they just go, I work, I work. So does everybody work. Everybody works. I mean, duh, we all work. But okay, but anyway, I'm just trying to get you to see this phasing here. You can't leave it as an abstract idea. You must move to a place where you're taking action. Now, let me tell you, we are making, on the internet, I still can't understand what's going on. And that's one of the things I wanted to say. We're kind of interested, we think that we're getting places. I want to give you an example. on April 18th there was over 2,000 almost 2,200 pages on our internet pages that people are reading the gospel and the Bible teaching we give in one day. I have over the months so far we had 42,800 pages of information that people are reading and hearing about Jesus from us. We're nobody, but we're having 40,000 people respond to us or read the information about Jesus we're doing. I know this doesn't affect you because basically I'm doing this all by myself. The reason I'm sharing this is I want you to understand we are affecting people, but I need you to see that if we're going to do this, I need hands to help me with things even on the internet. It doesn't sound like it because it's kind of invisible in the internet world of abstract, but there's thousands of people that are listening to and looking at. In fact, one day, we had 100,000 hits on our website in one day. 100,000. You know, a hit means that somebody came to the website and looked at a page or something. 100,000. That's an incredible amount of activity of what we're doing as an outreach. Some of those people are local in Port St. Lucie. Some of them are over on the other side in Africa. They're not here. But we are reaching people that we need to understand. We are needing to do work. I'm trying to do work where I can. If I can't get people to listen to me in my neighborhood, then I'm going to go on the internet and try to get people to listen to Jesus. And so forth. We need to do and understand that we're called to the work. You're called to work. What work are you doing for Jesus? Do something. Call me up and I'll give you a job. But you need to understand that if we're not doing it, there's no one else left to do it. We must reach our community and our world for Jesus Christ. Because that's what heaven's going to be like, full of people, angels, and God, interacting forever, doing the will of God. And believe me, God doesn't sit around wanting to do nothing. He's got already probably 400 billion other projects in his list that he hasn't told us about. When we get there, we'll get involved with them as he does other things. All right, any questions at this point? I hope you at least listen and think this through. God is trying to bring you to a place of maturity for a purpose of having a career in Him. A career of spiritual life and work. Don't only focus on your own interests and personal desires. Move past that to be a servant of the living God. Stand up and shout, stand up and shout, shout it Stand up and shout it if you love my Jesus Stand up and shout it if you love my Lord

Playlist coming soon.