Throughout our study in 1 Peter, which is a series called Heading Home, we have reminded ourselves that we're not from here. You might have as your zip code 85234 or whatever the zip code of Queen Creek is, I have no idea, but that too, Chandler, Mesa, and beyond, but you are not from here. You're a pilgrim passing through. You are on the king's business. You're not home, you're heading home. That's been our study. And we've asked ourselves some pretty big questions. We asked ourselves, is there any hope? And we answered that with a resounding yes. We've asked ourselves, how should we be responding to trials in our life when things don't go the way we expected? We've asked ourselves, and did this last week, what's the difference between a real trial and a self-inflicted consequence? That was the one that seemed to trigger the congregation the most, because not only after the service, but throughout this week, and even Friday night at the members' dinner, a lot of you have been coming up to me, and we've been smiling over that one. Because many of us have, in pressure situations, thought, man, God's really testing me now, only to find out that it was just our foolishness that brought on that trial, so it was a self-inflicted consequence. We all understand that feeling and know that the Lord's grace covers, but we sometimes are at the root of trial. We've asked, why do bad things happen to seemingly good people? And we've answered that question as well. And last week you were challenged and we asked ourselves, will we have faith? Is it possible to have faith in the midst of fiery trial? But logic begs that we ask a final question in this section. You know, I've sat here, stood here, preached at you. Have faith, have hope, come on, have joy, let's go, live it out, here we go. Imperative, right, commanding, come on, you can do this. The cheerleading or the coaching of let's go, let's live it. And the final question we have to ask is, all right, Kosti, okay, Peter, okay, God's word, all right, preachers and pastors, you keep telling me, have faith, live it out, so what does that look like? What does real faith look like? What does it mean to have faith? Is that just some random belief or is it a feeling? What is it? This passage will answer that question. It's the kind of faith that believes when the pressure's on. It's the kind of faith that still wears the team colors when the team is seemingly losing. It's not fair weather faith. It's real, genuine, true, lasting, loyal faith. No doubt many of you are gonna want some great things. Under the tree this year, or maybe not even under the tree, but the kind of gifts that we all like, right? Happy family, happy wife, good food, people like us, all the things that at Christmas you want, all the feels, we might call it. Right, experiencing these great things. Real faith holds its line, even when all the things that are on your list are suddenly gone. Is there one thing that is still on that list? And if you have him, it is going to be okay. These readers had that on their list. Jesus was still a top, and he was enough. And so let's dig in and apply. First, right off the bat, number one in your notes, recognize the marks of a faithful Christian. Peter wants us to recognize the marks of a faithful Christian. And it's important to note, as he says in verse eight, though you have not seen him, you love him. Okay, this is the tone of our entire text. It's not gonna be commands. This whole sermon, I had to do this in study. Looking at what Peter's saying, this is a commendation. He's cheering them on. And so you think, well, how do we preach that today? Well, I've gotta take his commendation and I've gotta help us live that as command. How do we live out? What are we seeing here? Well, you're seeing the marks of a faithful Christian. He's commending them. He says, though you've not seen him, you love him. And therein is the first sub-point, letter A. This is a mark of a faithful Christian that you unconditionally love and obey Jesus even though you've never seen him. That's what they were doing. You unconditionally love and obey Jesus even though you've never seen him. These suffering Christians were staying faithful, they were obedient, even rejoicing in the midst of suffering because their faith guaranteed joy. And this is quite literal, though you've not seen him. These are Christians living in Asia Minor. They're dispersed around the region. They're not from Jerusalem or Galilee. They weren't hanging out with Jesus. Peter literally means you've never even met the guy. You've never seen Jesus, and you love Him. And I can imagine, I'm sure you could as well, Peter writing these words to them, and it's Peter who was with Jesus, Peter who loved Jesus, Peter who denied and failed Jesus, and now is writing to a group. Can you imagine the smile across his face as he's just wowed by them going, oh yeah. I saw him and I still denied him. You guys never even saw him and you're holding on. You're being lit up like human torches and you're not giving in. This is incredible faith. You love him unconditionally. You are the real deal. This is the mark of a faithful Christian and you are living it out. This is extraordinary faith, isn't it? This is uncommon faith, isn't it? No, it's not. This is normal faith. This is the standard of Christianity. This is the bar that we should all be striving for. We'll fall short. Oh yeah, we like Peter. We're gonna deny and we're gonna fail. But these are not superstar Christians. These are regular Joe Schmoes and Jane Does living in Asia Minor. With extraordinary faith? No, with Christian faith. This is what Christians do. This is the lifestyle of Christianity. Jesus says in John 15, 12 to 14, this is my commandment, that you love one another as I've loved you. Well, that's simple, right? Hard to do, but no divisions, don't be gossiping, don't be backbiting, don't be being petty. Love each other now. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. So that love is proven. Would you give something up for one another? Would you give up your life? Do you really love something? Yes, then you'll do something. Jesus is saying, your actions will follow your words. Then he says, you are my friends if you do what I command you. These Christians embodied what Jesus talked about, willing to lay their lives down, and we too must be willing to lay our lives down. That's the mark of a faithful Christian. 1 John 5, 3, John writes, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. The mark of a faithful Christian is obedience, and it's not obedience that sees God's way as kind of drudgery, like, oh, I have to obey. No, it's seeing his commands as, wow, I get to obey. God hasn't been unclear. I don't have to wake up confused. I know exactly how I'm supposed to live today. So life is hard, but God is good. Let's go out and do it. All of that fits the profile of these incredible people. And all of that is available to you. You can live that way too. This love is unconditional. It's rooted in the word agape. If you've never heard that word before, it means unconditional. It's not transactional. It's not, hey, I'll love my wife if she makes good food. I'll love my husband if he makes good money. I'll love God if he does something first. This is unconditional, not transactional love. That's how they're loving Jesus. They've never even seen him. And they're willing to burn for him. Now, some people need something to love God. They need their ego stroked. They wanna come into church and be told, hey, you're great. They go, oh, that's a God I can get on board with. Other people think, well, if he heals me, right, if I get some signs and wonders or a miracle, hey, that's a God I can believe in. You show me some power, I'm in. I'll love him if he does. And love is such a loose concept today, isn't it? It gets thrown around, right? Like, I love my dog and dogs are great. Love your dog. That's awesome. I love my job or I love, you know, Mexican food. I really do. I love tacos. When I moved here, I love backyard tacos. Some of you I've met with you for lunch. They say, meet me at backyard tacos, right? I love backyard tacos. Love is a concept we throw around regarding a lot of different things, but the question is this. When you really love something, you'll give up anything for it. Do you love your daughter? Do you love your wife? Do you love your son? You would suffer for them. You'd give up anything for them. You've experienced that kind of love. If maybe you or I have ever said to ourselves, God, with what they're going through, oh, I don't want my child to go through that. I don't want my mom to go through that or my wife. Would you put that on me? Can I have that, please? Would you take all that suffering? Give it to me, not them. I don't wanna see them go through that. Can I have that, please, God? Strike me with that. That's love. Give me what they have so they don't have to go through. That is unconditional, anti-transactional love. That's the kind of love that these Christians had for Christ, having never even seen Him, and it's the kind of love that you and I need to have for Christ. Oswald Chambers says something very convicting about plain and simple faith. He says, faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. I'm gonna stop that quote right there so we can catch it again. Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Anybody could have faith if they get something they want for it. Faith means whether I'm visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. These are, or there are some things only learned in a fiery furnace. In other words, when you're going through it, that's when you really know, isn't it? Some of you have been tested, and the fire of your faith now gets lit, and you go, oh yeah, it's real, now I know. See, when I first met Jesus, everything started going really good. And I started thinking, yes, that's what the preacher was telling me. Everything turned around, this is awesome, and then all of a sudden, the fiery tests begin, and all that you expected ceases, and the unexpected begins. That's when you really know, do you love him? That was proven in these people. For some of you, it's time to get really honest when you look in the mirror of this passage. about the kind of love you have for God. Even believers, we get in this pattern, don't we, where some of our affections begin to become transactional, don't they? But we start to love him because of all the things he's doing for us. And we have to ask ourselves and let that truth press in on our hearts, is my love for you, Jesus, transactional or unconditional? If I get none of what I expect this Christmas, Will I still exude joy? Am I still gonna love you? Am I still gonna be loyal? Or is there this part of my heart that is growing cold because you're not doing what I expected you to do? It's time to respond. He initiated, so you don't have to say if you do, God. He already did. It is simply time to respond for some of you and begin loving him unconditionally. Letter B. After He says, you've never seen Him and you love Him, He says, though you now do not see Him, you believe. And this is that you faithfully trust in Jesus, even though you've never seen him. You faithfully trust in Jesus, even though you've never seen him. These Christians would have been very familiar with Rome at the time. The backdrop to our text is Roman culture. Rome, with its pride in philosophy, rationalism, humanism, the body, sexual fantasy, fulfillment of pleasure, the worship of their numerous gods. Roman culture was this. You want it right now? Oh, you can have it. Drink it in, live it up, have it. Instant gratification. No delay. Go get it. Men could go and just find a mistress and have her. People could go and engage in pagan rituals and get the feelings or some euphoric experience. You could have it. And of course, right in the center of all that is what? This group of Christians who are living the exact opposite. You believe, you haven't seen them. You're being burnt, but you're holding on to hope. That's crazy faith. That's uncommon? No, that's Christian faith. Again, there it is, another picture of what normal, expected faithfulness is in the Christian life. In the midst of Rome, saying, you can feel it, you can touch it, you can relish in it, you can know it, enjoy it, have it. Christianity is the exact opposite. Faith is not seeing, it's not filling up on pleasures, It's not trying to get it all now. It's not drinking in the philosophies of this world and understanding everything with your rational mind. It's faith, it's believing and trusting even when you don't see. The verb there, you believe, means to trust or to rest, to throw yourself into something. Maybe you've heard some of these Christian terms get thrown around, right? Abide in Christ. You're going, what does that even mean? or you maybe hear a song and it talks about being hidden with Christ, your life being hidden with Christ. You're going, what are you talking about? You hear Christians, oh Lord, you're my rock and my refuge, I hide myself in thee. You're going, okay, somebody explain what in the world that means. That's this, the word means to depend upon, to rely upon, to cast yourself on or into. So imagine there's a cave and there's a storm and there's lightning and there's hailstones and they're falling and you go, there's a cave. I'm going in. That's what these Christians are doing with Christ. He's the cave, he's the protection. Your life is hidden with him, though you don't now see him. He's not even there, but you're putting yourself into him, you're believing. And figuratively, this is like Peter when he sees Jesus out there and he's like, is it a ghost? I don't know what that is. Oh, I think it's the Lord. And he jumps out and just throws himself in the water. Starts walking. It's crazy faith. But it's not really that crazy if you're a Christian. It's just plain old Christian faith. Gotta throw yourself into Christ like that. is what people have done for millennia. Hebrews 11, some great reading later on today or tomorrow morning for devotions. I call this the hall of faith. Hebrews chapter 11, verse one and verse six. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And without faith it's impossible to please him, that's God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek after him. If you've ever wondered why faith is so impressive to God, why faith is so expected of us by God in the Christian lives, you gotta have faith. It's because God knows it's the exact opposite of what you would ever do. It goes against your carnal nature, doesn't it? The natural mind says, well, two plus two is four, 20 plus 20 is 40, according to my calculations, this, this, this, this, now let's do it. Logic, I see it, therefore I believe it. Well, faith understands that math is math, but faith goes further and knows that God is God. Faith trusts even when it doesn't see the equation. That's faith. Spiritual concepts are foolishness to the natural mind. That's why Paul said that the cross is foolishness to the perishing. People think that the gospel is ridiculous, that this Jesus thing is silly, that we're a bunch of blind people with blind hope just trying to cope with the pressure of life. That's not at all what is happening. In fact, who in their right mind would ever burn for something that wasn't true? If it hadn't transformed their lives, why would they give their lives for it? True faith. Impresses God, it pleases God. It's what Jesus was saying in John 20 verse 29. Thomas came, needed to see the holes. Hey Jesus, did you really die? Is that really you? And then Jesus goes on and says, oh, you've believed because you've seen me, sure. Blessed are those who've not seen and yet they believe. Faith impresses God. Your knowledge isn't impressive to God. Your rationale's not impressive to God. The ways of this world are not impressive to God. Trusting Him when it's not easy, that's impressive to God. You wanna make God happy? Don't come to Him with your good works. Don't try to look pretty or handsome. It ain't about money, it ain't about anything else. You're not gonna ever impress God. You just need one thing, come with faith. Come and say, I believe. He's impressed, why? Because you're giving him all of yourself. You're giving him your heart. You ever tell someone I trust you? You're telling them something so much better than I love you, you know that? You tell me you love me, everybody loves me. I love you, I love everybody, right? We all have that. People go love ya, love ya, love ya, one, four, three, whatever, text emoji, hearts, kisses, all that, great. Everybody gets that. Tell me you trust me. I wanna tell you that I trust you. If I trust you, oh, I love you. If I trust you, I'd throw myself onto you, into you, with you, I'd go into war with you, I know you got my back. I look at my wife, I could say I love you, oh, sure, everybody loves you, wear the ring, but do you trust them? That's love. These Christians trusted and they had faith. It's so important and precious and impressive to God, because it is the ultimate form of worship, the ultimate form of love to say, God, I trust you. When everything else is failing, I know you won't. I trust you. Halverson commentates so beautifully on this idea of faith in talking about Joshua in the Old Testament. Says, walking by faith means walking not by sight. Does this mean one walks blindly? No more than a pilot. of a 747 flies blind when he's being talked into a landing by a control tower. No more than when a pilot believes his instruments rather than the seat of his pants. One of the hard lessons a pilot learns is to trust his instruments when they disagree with his feelings. He's in much greater danger by depending on his feelings than by depending on his instruments. Ceiling, zero. Visibility, zero. Very poor conditions to fly by sight, but the aircraft lands safely when the pilot listens to the word from the control tower and obeys it. To walk by faith is to heed the word of God, to read it, to know it, to learn it, to obey it. These Christians were hearing the control tower loud and clear. Do you? Are you? When the ceiling is low and the high pressure system is on your life and when things are a little foggy and confusing and cloudy, are you trusting your father's voice? Are you dependent on his word? Finally, letter C, another mark of a faithful Christian that Peter gives us. He says, and you rejoice with joy that's inexpressible and it's filled with glory. He's saying you continuously exude joy because of Jesus even when you're suffering and experiencing trials. You are excited, you're joyful now. Present tense. you're continually rejoicing in. This means very similar things to verse six, well yes, but also something a little more present than verse six. Verse six we studied and we're talking about the hope of the future and the hope of heaven and what's to come and your inheritance. Well, this joy is a now joy. It's not sitting around twiddling the thumbs going, well, I'm broken and I'm sorrowful and I'm sad now, but I know Jesus will return, so one day I'll be happy again and I'll have joy in heaven. No, this is joy now, cheering now. The picture here is they were suffering in pain, but they were celebrating victory in Christ. I thought of this this week when I was studying. Jan came by, who, she's in charge of the organization that helps women, part of our Christmas offering initiative, when women have breast cancer, and on one hand, they've gotta pay the electricity bill, or their electricity's gonna get turned off, and on the other hand, they've got a $60 copay coming tomorrow for their chemo treatment. And they have to choose. And so, they want the electricity on, so they delay the chemo. I started thinking through what women who have breast cancer go through. And then I started thinking about this particular text and I begin to just imagine this is like having stage four breast cancer. You're sick from the chemo or you can't pay your bill or even go to your chemo. You get a negative doctor's report after all of that. And then someone asks you how your week's going or how you're feeling. And you quote Psalm 34, one to three. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord. Oh, let the humble hear and be glad. Let us exalt, magnify the Lord together. Magnify him with me. Let's magnify him right now, you say. Let us exalt his glorious name together. That's crazy. That's different. That is counter everything, and that, brothers and sisters, is Christian. That's what we do, that's who we are, that's who he is, and so we also can be, and you say, oh, come on, Kosti, that's superstar stuff, super Christians, right? And the apostles, Peter writing this, superstar, he was an apostle. I think of Peter, he went through it, Acts 5, 40 to 41, when they had been called by the Jewish high priest, they had called the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then they let them go. So here's the picture. Superstars, right, apostles, this is what they do. Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house they did not cease teaching and preaching that Christ is Jesus. Okay, so if you've ever watched the Diamondbacks win, like whatever, every few months during the season, right, there's a win. And the outfielders converge on second base. You ever see, little secret handshake, the jump bump, right, we win. Now I know they literally weren't doing that, but I like to picture that's kind of what they were doing. They were secret handshake, jump, bump, right outside of where they were beaten. They're going, hey, we just got it for Jesus. For the name. We're suffering. Let's go do it again. All right, here we go. We're suffering for him. That's literally what the call is here. And nobody can argue outside of that. And now let me take it further. It's not for super suffering Christians in Peter's day. It's not for super apostles. It is for every Christian to suffer faithfully and joyfully, cheering on the name of Christ, no matter what you face and no matter what comes. Because the same Holy Spirit that was in them is the same Holy Spirit in you. The same Holy Spirit that was bearing fruit on their branches is the same Holy Spirit that's bearing fruit on your branches. Galatians 5, 22 to 23 does not list the fruit of the Spirit and then put a little asterisk in whatever study Bible you have, and it says, well, for super Christians and super apostles, you know, all of these are possible, but you in 2019 in Gilbert, you know, you might get a couple every once in a while. No, it's all the time. The gifts of the Spirit in this way, the fruit rather of the Spirit, should always be evident in the life of a Christian. They should not be sporadic. They should be consistent. I didn't say perfection, but a pattern, not sporadic. In the good times, in the bad times, in the suffering, in the fiery trials, on the mountain or in the valley, is the fruit of the Spirit coming out of your life? Can I see and can we together see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control? There's no law against these. Have as much as you want, right? It's like telling the kids, vegetables, hey, you can eat as many as you want. Books, hey, you read as many as you want. The fruit of the Spirit, hey, no limit, guys. As often as you'd like, as much as you like, live it out. When the diagnosis is dark, when depression is upon you, when things fall apart, when you have nothing left, you can do that as much as you want. That's the call. That's how they were living. And so the question becomes for us, if we were a tree and someone plucked a fruit off our tree and took it to one of those fancy juicers that some of you are gonna get for Christmas and they squeezed it, what would come out? Are you shiny on the outside and you're sour on the inside when you don't get your way? If Jesus doesn't do all the things that you've put on your list and you've checked it twice and you think you've been a good girl or good boy this year, you go, come on, Jesus, I've earned it, let me have it, and he doesn't, what comes out? When times are tough, when the skies of your life are dark, what comes out? Are you able to rejoice in the midst of pain yet? Would you try it? Would you dare try it? In fact, would you make the choice to try it? The next time you get a negative report, or you're experiencing pain, or someone's gossiping or slandering you, you feel the knife in your back, let it be said, both in your mind and through your mouth, I choose joy. Choose joy. Sticky note it on your dashboard, Some of you ladies, write it on your mirror with your lipstick. Whatever it takes, wake up in the morning, whatever you're going through, I choose joy. Put it on the fridge, paint it on your wall, tattoo it on your arm, whatever you gotta do, choose joy. That is what we do as Christians. That's the call for every faithful Christian. Eric Reid, a wonderful pastor, I've interacted with him a little bit, recently said, in all my years of pastoring, I've learned this lesson. A person's spiritual maturity is truly not visible until they don't get their way. And then he buried his 14-year-old son last week, Caleb. And we all got to watch, in person, online, everywhere, in his Nashville Predators jersey. His son's favorite hockey team. Eric preached the gospel. Eric gave hope. Eric held the line of truth. Eric said, we choose joy. Eric raised the standard and said, here is what we will do. Here is how we live. We are Christians. Take my health, take my house, take my child. You can't take my joy. That is hidden in Christ. That's the call. Polycarp, John's disciple, one of those early church history guys, is going through persecution after this time. Living through much of it, in the end, the Romans said, hey, renounce him. Come on, we got them all. John withered away on Patmos, your turn, Polycarp. But do this, we'll give you a chance. Just deny him. Just say, ah, away with my faith. The atheists were right. Trade it in. We'll let you go. Polycarp, frail, old man. I picture him kinda one last time, you know, thin, skinny, bony, old man, puts his chest out, remembers when he was a 25 year old young buck. Looks him all in the eye and says, 86 years I have served him and he has never done me wrong. How then will I ever blaspheme my King? They lit him on fire, burnt him at the stake, and he rejoiced in Christ. That's the call. Most of you, all of you, aren't gonna be burned for your faith today, but when trial comes, do you stand, chest out, chin up, not in your own pride, but in His power, and you say, I will not blaspheme my Lord, I will have faith no matter what. That's the call. Two, and finally, realize what matters most is your salvation. Realize what matters most is your salvation. So you recognize the marks of a faithful Christian. They're all over this text. You see Peter commending it. And then he finishes, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. You get salvation. You get deliverance. Your final salvation is what that literally says. You have joy, you cheer it, you celebrate. And I don't know about you, but the question comes to my mind like one of those flashing neon signs, right? It's so obvious you can't miss it. You look and you go, hold on a minute. He's not promising escape. This isn't deliverance from their suffering. It's not deliverance from sickness. What are you doing, Peter? You're the apostle who could heal. You're the apostle that could cast out demons. You're the guy that said, silver and gold have I none. That which I have, give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk. You're Peter, what are you doing? Give it to him. Give him the hope. Give him healing. Rescue them all. No, instead he says, You have joy. It's inexpressible. It's unutterable. There's not even words to find that you could describe this level of joy. It's otherworldly. It's the mark of faithfulness, and you are gonna get exactly what you are believing for one day. I don't know about you, but that hits me in the heart. It's not promising them that it's all gonna be okay now. He is promising that it will all be okay one day. Paul wrote this in Philippians 3, verses 8 through 11. He said, but whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I've suffered the loss of all things. I count him as rubbish. That's trash, excrement, throw it out. Monday's garbage day, put it on the curb. That's what Paul's saying. That's everything in my life except for Jesus. As long as I have Jesus, hey, put everything else in the trash. in order that I might gain Him, be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Look it, faith everywhere, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and I may share in His sufferings. becoming like him in his death, and that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Paul's saying, lay it on me, whatever it takes. I don't want my credentials, I don't want my social status, I don't need Judaism or my royal robes. I just want Jesus. If I have him, let the suffering come. I am going to be with him one day in glory. In Romans 8, he says that the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we're children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. And everyone says, woo-hoo, yeah, lay on the inheritance, give me what Jesus got, yup. And then he says, provided we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him. You want the glory of Christ? Then you better share in the sufferings of Christ. You want the ultimate rewards of Christ? You got to go through pain and suffering like Christ. Not on the cross for your salvation. No, he already did that. But you endure faithfully as a reflection of his glory and power to sustain any human being through whatever this life throws at them. That's the call. Brothers and sisters, whether you've been in church a long time or you're brand new. Being saved is more important than being healed. Being delivered from your sin is more important than being delivered from your suffering. Yes, I want some of you to be healed. I want all of you to experience comfort and peace, but in no way, shape, or form does the Bible ever promise that to us now. So pray for healing, pray for deliverance, pray that we might have joy and comfort and peace together this Christmas, but pray for the ultimate deliverance and salvation. It is of the soul. It is that we be saved. And most people will say, yeah, sure, amen, you know, the Sunday school answer. Yeah, I guess that's true. That's fine, but really, if we ask ourselves this question, I think that conviction comes to bear on every heart. Are there things that we have on the list that are in our mind and in our heart, and they start to slowly, even for believers, nudge Christ over and off the top, putting him off to the side, sort of like a condiment. You know, a little sprinkles on top of your, Sunday. As long as I have a happy marriage, as long as I get some healing this Christmas, obedient kids, you know, a happy wife, a happy husband, as long as people like my Christmas decorations, as long as they like me. I just want to be liked by people. Then I can take Jesus and I can put him on top of that. Man, that is a good Christmas. Let me tell you, that's a good life. Is it possible that every single one of us, believer or not, can be tempted into that way of thinking? Is it possible that we might all be called, based on a text like this, to reexamine the affections of our heart? Do you love Him? unconditionally, non-transactionally, no matter what he does, if the deliverance and the healing comes, or if it doesn't, do you love him? Is he everything to you? Is there just nothing else on the list but him? Have you forsaken everything? Can you say like Paul, put it all in the trash, I don't want it, I don't need it, just give me Christ. For you who are believers, let me remind you one final time in this particular passage, in this section, you are a pilgrim, you don't live here. You're not home, you're going home. You have been called for a time to come to this earth, born here to make an impact for a king and a kingdom to come, not to put down roots and build your own. Live for Him, love Him, trust Him, forsake all for Him. Do not get attached to the ways and the thinking and the possessions and the affections of this world. They will fail you, Jesus won't. And for those of you finally who are sitting here and none of this moves you and you think you're good, well I get about two minutes to tell you one thing if I never see you again, it's that you're not. No one's good. Every one of us need Jesus. And if you hear the list I made and you think happy marriage, high-paying job, obedient kids, healing, good social status, people liking my deck, hey, that sounds like a pretty good life to me, and you don't break the speed limit, and you do all the right things morally, and you're a good guy or a good woman, you think, I'm good, I'll get into heaven, I don't know what you're talking about, crying and yelling up there. Let me tell you, you got brought here today by God to hear this truth. This is for you. You're not good. You're a sinner. You need Jesus, and he was gracious and loving enough to bring you into this place today and say, here it is, the free offer, the free gift. Oh, you can have all that other stuff. Yeah, push it off to the side. If you have Jesus, you'll have everything. Right now, if that's you, I'm telling you by the truth of God's word, whether you believe it or not, you're on your way to hell, you're not on your way to heaven. but God wants heaven for you. He's calling heaven out to you. This is your moment. Let it be the greatest Christmas ever because it was the Christmas that you got called home to Christ. Turn to him. You get one chance, one life, one moment. Everything else will fade. You know what I'm talking about. You sit up in your bed at night, you look at the ceiling, you go through the list of things you have, and there's something missing. That's because you don't have Jesus. There was a man who once came to Jesus. He said, I got it all going, I'm moral, I'm influential, I'm wealthy, I'm a good guy. What do I need to do, Jesus? Here's all my resume right there, let me into heaven. Jesus says, yeah, one more thing. Sell all you have and give it to the poor. The man went away sad. What was Jesus' point? That I'm telling you you gotta give money and then you'll go to heaven? No. His point was there was something in that man's life he wouldn't give up for Jesus. Is there something in your life you would not give up for Jesus? If you will, he'll give you everything. He said, if you want to save your life and keep it, you'll lose it. But if you're willing to lose it for him, he'll give you a life you've never imagined. That's the call. It's free. And all you have to do is ask. Let's pray.