Now brothers and sisters, I call your attention to Matthew chapter 4, to the passage that I have read for you. I was early this morning, or at least earlier than many of you, and so I was standing behind there. waiting for the worship service to commence and I was observing some of you as you came in with your children, with your boxes, with your bags, some of you rushing, some of you pulling your children because they were rather slow and sleepy and you were pulling them. I saw all those things. Now brothers and sisters, normally you'll be scattered all across Singapore from Monday to Saturday. you will be with your children at the tuition center in the schools. You yourself maybe are working in a hospital, so you're in a hospital, or maybe you're a teacher, you are in your school teaching. Normally, you are all scattered from one another, dispersed across this island nation of ours. But on a Sunday morning, you find yourself getting up early and making your way here to this place. Brothers and sisters, have you ever asked yourself why? Why do you bother to wake up early when Sunday is the only day of the week that you can possibly sleep a little bit late? Why should you bother to make yourself here to church when others are still sleeping or maybe going on a cycling trip this morning while you are here making a journey for some of you in a long distance from the different corners of Singapore? You make your way here. And on the way here, you see one another and you greet each other. You have not seen most of the day of the week because normally you are scattered. But on a Sunday morning, you are gathered together. Have you ever asked yourself why? Is it because the things of God are precious to you? Is it because, brothers and sisters, You love the Lord Jesus Christ and you would like to do everything that will greatly glorify His name. You see, brothers and sisters, in some countries it is risky to attend church on Sunday or any day. It is even risky just to be a Christian. And so in those countries, only the true Christians, those who really sincerely love the Lord, would be willing to risk everything just to meet together for a worship or a Bible study or for Christian fellowship. In those countries where it is risky to be a Christian, normally, brothers and sisters, you find that the churches would meet in small groups and often without a proper church building. But in Singapore, we have religious freedom. It's a good thing to have religious freedom. We pray for it. We ask the Lord for His blessing. And because we have religious freedom, only the willing will come and join themselves together in the service of God. While others are still sleeping, while others go for marketing because they say that they must go early to get fresh fish and meat and vegetables, especially on a Sunday morning, the market will be so crowded and so lively. But you are not in that direction. You are heading away from direction. You are here meeting together as a church. Do you know that it is a great encouragement to other Christians that you are here? To you personally, it may be a real commitment because you cannot stand every Sunday morning having to wake up your sleepy children and then they will cry and then they will be unwilling to wake up and then you have to scold them, you have to force them to get up to bathe, to wash their face, to have their breakfast and then on top of that you have to drag them if you drive to the car, if not to the bus and to the MRT and you know the distance from the bus stop and from the MRT station is a rather long distance, isn't it? just to be here. Now and then the devil may whisper in your ears and say, what are you doing? Is it necessary? Why are you doing all these things to your poor children? And sometimes you may even be bothered to I want to call your attention this morning to what our Lord Jesus Christ said here in Matthew chapter 4. Let me read for you from verse 1. you realize that this event took place immediately after he was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. And as the first task assigned to him by Almighty God for his public ministry, we find that our Lord Jesus Christ, as we are clearly told here in this verse, he was led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Why was our Lord Jesus Christ led to be tempted by the devil as the first thing in his public ministry? Why not feed the poor, heal the sick? Why not turn the water into wine that he did there in Cana of Galilee? Well, brothers and sisters, the reason why this was the first act the Lord Jesus Christ involved in, because the Lord wants you to know temptation is real. Have you thought about temptation? Have you thought about the constant whisperings, calling you to go away from church, calling you to disobey God? You thought that it's just negative thoughts. Have you thought about it that those are all temptations and there is a spiritual element in it? You know, many Christians are able to repeat the prayer, lead us not into temptation from the Lord's Prayer, but I just often wonder, how many people really understood what that prayer request meant. Once, I asked a brother in the eastern part of Singapore. I asked him, I said, brother, do you know what temptation is? He paused for a while. He looked at me with a funny face. And then he looked at me and said, pastor, temptation cake shop, is it? Are you talking about the temptation famous, temptation chocolate cake, is it, that you can buy from Juche? Are you referring to that? And I was surprised, because I'm not known to be a cake lover, apart from tiramisu from some supplier. But brothers and sisters, this is all that people know about temptation. That is why I'm calling your attention to this portion of God's Word this morning. We are talking about malicious testing. We are talking about maliciously being tried by the devil, being led by the devil, hearing the malicious suggestions of the devil to sin against God, to disobey God, to rebel against God. Let me give you an example. In our time, we are facing what is called sexual perversions. In the name of human rights, in the name of personal happiness, we are finding the world demanding that we do not call any sexual perversion as sin. People are tricked into believing that it is okay to give in to their lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and even the pride of life that the Bible considered to be abomination in the sight of God. In fact, you are constantly told that it is okay for a man to think that he's a woman, for a woman to think that she's a man, or vice versa, or whatever combination you may have. Actually, all these are from the devil. The devil is calling you to rebel against your Creator. Are you not taught in the Holy Bible, brothers and sisters, that the one who created you, created you male or female? Men or women, there is no in between, and there is no other gender, and there is no such thing as gender free. Recently, I met a group of my son's friends. As they were coming together to our place for a meal, my son came to me and said, Papa, please, can you please don't ask my son how they had spent their school holidays. And I find that very funny. I was wondering why. And so I went to him. I said, son, why can't I ask them how they had spent their holiday? What's wrong with me asking your son that? And he look at me with all seriousness and he say, Papa, please don't ask them how they spend their Christmas holiday, how they spend their Chinese New Year holiday, because, Papa, especially don't ask them, did you go home for holiday? Both their parents, many of them, both parents are divorced and remarried. They have no home to go back to. You see brothers and sisters, the devil has whispered in the ears of many people with his temptation about divorce. It is always put so beautifully. The devil say to you, you must think about ending a loveless relationship. Wow, sounded so caring of the devil. Seek your happiness. Why torture yourself in a marriage that is no love? So kind of the devil to think so about my personal happiness. But the devil is not a friend. The devil will never think about your happiness. The devil is not thinking about your well-being. The devil is asking you to join him in hell, in destruction, brothers and sisters. Look at these children! Somebody cannot even ask them, did you go back for your school holiday? Did you go home? Because they have no home. To go and stay with a mother is to go and stay with a mother and her lover. To go and stay with a father is to go and stay with a father with his lover. It is no longer possible in this side of the life to have both parents together in a lovely home, brothers and sisters. Have you ever thought about your children when you are tempted to think about ending a so-called loveless relationship? Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that he was tempted of the devil immediately after his baptism. Why did the Lord lead our Lord Jesus Christ to be tempted of the devil as a first act? The reason is provided for us, brothers and sisters, if you turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 4. to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 14. The Holy Bible says, that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help. In time of need. Our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil on our behalf, brothers and sisters. Because He has come to be our High Priest and He would come to represent us before God. And He wants to know how exactly we feel when we meet with temptation. The Lord Jesus Christ is able to sympathise with your temptation. For He was, as we are taught here, He was tempted like as we are yet without sin. He was victorious. He knows how to deliver you from the temptation of the devil because he met the devil and he was victorious. When my brother-in-law was dying of pancreatic cancer in hospital, he was not a believer. In fact, he was very hostile to Christianity. And as he was there in hospital, I thought that it would be good for me to bring somebody to share with him the gospel, somebody that he would be willing to listen to. So I brought a pastor who had just recently recovered from cancer. So I brought him, and I said, brother-in-law, this is my friend, he recently recovered from cancer. And immediately you could see that my brother-in-law was interested. He was there with attention as the pastor shared the gospel with him. Why listen to the pastor and not to me? Well, because the pastor could sympathize with his fear. The pastor could understand the many sleepless nights, sleeping there on the hospital bed, but sleep was absent from him. The pastor could sympathize with my brother-in-law's uncertainty of tomorrow because my brother-in-law was afraid that tomorrow may not come for him. It is the same for us, brothers and sisters. What is the point of going to somebody who cannot identify with us, who could never sympathize with us, and worse, who could never deliver us from the crutches of the devil? If temptation is real, if temptation is something that we are not immune to. In other words, we are constantly tempted, we constantly hear suggestions, we constantly entertain sinful thoughts and sinful suggestions. Brothers and sisters, only the Lord Jesus Christ can sympathize with you, identify with you. He and He only is sufficient for you because He has come to be the most qualified, the all-sufficient High Priest that God's people could ever have because He is the Son of God. For that's what we are told in verse 14 of Hebrews 4. Jesus, the Son of God. What a beautiful way He is described here. And so I come to you this morning and I ask you, do you know Christ? As you face so many challenges, so many options every day, as you read from the newspaper and you hear from the world and the magazines you are reading and the non-Christians around you telling this story and that, beloved brothers and sisters, do you have Christ as your stabilizer, as your Lord? Do you listen to Him as the only authority in your life? Do you own Him? Do you have Him? Are you able to go to Him and cry and say, Lord, I fail, I fail, I fail. Lord, I love You, I embrace. Please give me a hug and don't let go of me because I feel so lonely. I do not know whether tomorrow will come for me, but Lord, Lord, even if tomorrow doesn't come for me, Lord, You come for me. For that was what happened to my brother-in-law, he became a Christian. It's very, very rare, brothers and sisters, in this day and age, to see a person really converted. I was so greatly encouraged by his conversion, that there is truly a God in heaven and He can change a person's heart. And I trust that you do know this God too. That the Lord Jesus Christ is not just a figure you read in a book called the Bible. That He is somebody you can own and you can claim to be your friend. And that when you pray, you are not praying to somebody who is not there. You are praying to somebody who is. who sympathizes with you, who can feel for you. For we are going to look at three examples of how he was tempted. And the three examples are so regularly found in the devil whispers to you too. Look at the first in verses 2 to 3 from Matthew 4. Look at what the devil said to our Lord. He said there in verse 2 to verse 3, You ask yourself, brothers and sisters, is the Lord Jesus Christ able to convert stones into bread? Why not? He's the son of God. He converted water into wine. He multiplied a few loaves of bread into bread sufficient to feed them thousands of people. He once in the Old Testament make an iron axe to swim on water. And he made the blind into people who could see again. It is a very simple thing for the Lord Jesus Christ to do. But you see, brothers and sisters, there is a difference between all the miracles of God in the Bible and these particular suggestions. All the miracles in the Bible would call your attention to God, how great God is, how loving God is, how compassionate God is, how generous God is. But this temptation, brothers and sisters, is actually calling you away from God to your stomach. It's calling you to seek only the physical without any reference to God. That is why in the Lord's response, He says, But that is exactly what is the problem with the children of Adam, isn't it? With the human race! Day in and day out, we are so bothered by bread alone! And that's why we get our children to study hard. We tell them, if you don't study hard, if you don't go R.I., you don't go Hua Chong, you don't become a doctor or whatever, then next time how? You cannot afford to eat at McDonald's, you know. It's always about bread alone. There is no reference to God. Let me ask you, have you ever met somebody in financial needs? In financial desperation, they will always think about gambling in a casino and suddenly, clang, clang, the thousands of money that comes suddenly, they have enough to settle all their financial needs. Some even think about buying a lottery ticket and pray very hard and fast, even very, very much. Don't eat at all until the result is announced a few days later, believing that the lottery ticket will solve all your financial problems. Isn't that true? Some of you may even think about this, that as you go to work or to your school, and you go there to the bus stop, and there's nobody at the bus stop, and suddenly there was a bag there at the bus stop, and then you try to see what's in the bag, and then you open up, eh, it's not a bomb, you know. It's a bag full of dollars. Ah, you say, God answered your prayer. It's gonna solve all your financial problems. Bread alone. Others, when they have problems in life, They turn to alcohol to numb their conscience, to cause them to forget their misery, and that's how they want to solve their struggles and problems in life. You look at our Lord Jesus Christ, He was hungry. 40 days and 40 nights, and we are specifically told here in verse 2, after work and hunger. It means very hungry. And the devil knows when you're hungry. The devil knows what is your greatest challenge. And the devil will be there to be your consultant. The problem with the human race is we often take our eyes away from God to look at our problems. You know, actually, in the Bible, there is an incident that really tells us something about ourselves. If you turn with me to the Gospel of John chapter nine, what do you find there? Always looking at the physical. John chapter nine, the Gospel of John chapter nine. Look at verse one to verse three. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciple asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither have this man sin, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. You see there. When you're in trouble, you always wonder, did I invest wrongly? Did I make the wrong decisions? Why am I in this situation? Did I eat wrong food? Is it the result of my gluttony? Beloved brothers and sisters, we look at our problem. We took our eyes away. from God. The Lord Jesus Christ was actually calling his disciples away from the problem and to look up to heaven at God. Brothers and sisters, what is God doing in your life, in your family, in your church? That's more important than whether your plan works. Your plan is of no significance to the all-powerful God. Learn, brothers and sisters, not to look at bread alone, but to look at God and His Word and promises, and that will be more important to you. That's why Jesus replied in verse 4 of Matthew 4. Matthew 4 and verse 4, He says, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. It is written, if you have read the Bible, and the devil comes at your desperate moments and whispers this solution to your ears, you should be able to say, stop it! It is written, I have read the Bible, I have been reading the Bible, and I would rather believe God than you. You don't care for me. You are my destruction. I'm not going to listen to you to look at an ugly physical solution to my physical needs. Yes, I have a physical need. I'm hungry. But I want to look at God because God knows how to give me food when I need it. Isn't that what we're told in verse 11? When it is time, God will come and save his people. Take another example from the Old Testament. How about turning to the book of Job with me, please? And once again, I know you are very familiar with Job, but it is good for us to be reminded again and again about the life of this wonderful man of God in Job chapter 1. You know the story about Job, what a testing, isn't it? He was in such a desperate situation, overnight lost everything, including his family children. The only thing left was his wife and the skin on his body, that's it, everything else gone. And so the devil came, must be, to tempt him to look for revenge, to look at the physical loss, to grieve, to go into deep depression. And yet, because Job was a man of God, we are told that in verse 21 to verse 22. Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return hither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job sinned not, nor judged God foolishly. In all this testing, in all this wickedness from the instigation of the devil, Job sinned not. And I just ask you, brothers and sisters, what about you? What is happening in your life? Is there tension in your marriage now? Are you finding it hard to manage your children as they are growing up? They no longer listen to you as they used to be. You find it hard to manage them. And you wonder whether your parenting style is wrong, whether you are to be blamed. Maybe you blame your husband and the husband say, it's you lah, you spoiled your child lah, you like all typical mother. And you find that there is always constant quarrel at home, at work. You find that it is so ridiculous in this wicked generation. to work with others anymore. And people are putting all sorts of incredible and unreasonable burden on you, brothers and sisters, and you find that you are drowning. And when you come back, you find that you are no longer happy. You're always tired. And when the pastor say, come, come, come and pray. Come, come to church for fellowship. Come and to be mutually encouraged. You look at a pastor and say, Pastor! I have issue with bread alone. Please leave me to solve my earthly problem. I have no time for God until I have solved my bread issue. I call you this morning in the light of what we have just read here. Don't lose sight of God. Especially when you are in a situation like that. Do you know every time there is a school exam, Parents will encourage their children to skip church even. Eh, tomorrow no, Monday no exam. I think you don't go to church today lah. Pastor will understand. I tell pastor you got flu. Eh true what, you got flu what. You are teaching your children this. That in future if you have an earthly problem, forget God. Solve your problem with earthly wisdom. rather than by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Beloved brothers and sisters, what are you doing to your children? On one hand, you want them to know the Lord and love Him and to be member of His everlasting kingdom. On the other hand, you tell them that you must not forget bread alone. I ask you to consider this, brothers and sisters. Look at the second temptation. Look at the terrible tempter as she came to our Lord there. In verse 5, What was the devil saying, brothers and sisters? The devil was actually suggesting to the Lord, Hey, if you're really the son of God, why don't you ask God for proof? Why don't you ask God for the desired proof? Not just a proof, but the proof that you desire of God to show that He really loves you. And we are very, very familiar with this. We hear people again and again, especially when they are sick, very seriously sick in the hospital, and the pastor come and visit them, pray with them, when there is nobody else around, the person will always say to the pastors, if God loves me, take away my sickness. If God loves me, why didn't he solve my financial problem? If God loves me. In other words, brothers and sisters, you're demanding proof according to what you demand, the proof that you demand of God, the desired proof, the thing that you want God to give to you to show that He loves you, brothers and sisters. You are blackmailing God, isn't it? You do it very familiar. Last time when you were young, you did it to your parents. Papa, if you love me, papa, I want the ice cream. Papa, if you love me and your papa, get blackmailed by you. So you use the same tactic when you get married. You use the same tactic when you became a Christian. I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, you are tempting God. You are testing God, for that's what the Lord Jesus Christ says, isn't it? In verse 9. You know, sorry, not in verse 9, verse 7, it is written again, thou shalt not tempt. This temptation of the devil is to cost you, to lead you to tempt God. Can you turn to the book of Matthew and chapter 12 and realize there, brothers and sisters, that you would be following the wicked examples of the unbelievers there in Matthew 12 and verse 38. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 38. It says there, then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. They wanted a proof, a sign. Give to us what we want as proof that you are the Son of God, the Savior of the world. But listen to the reply of our Lord in verse 39. An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, In other words, they were demanding a sign to prove that Jesus was the man of God sent by God. But the reply from our Lord is no, I'm not giving you what you desired. Instead, I'm giving you what God has already given as the best proof that He does care for His people. The giving of His only Son, the only begotten Son of God. Beloved brothers and sisters, don't go to God and say, Brother, brothers and sisters, recall to your mind from the lovely pages of the Bible of the Son of God how He was given to the cross of Calvary. The most perfect human being was pinned there, nailed to the cross of Calvary, and left there to die. Not because he was guilty of being a terrorist, or being a criminal, or because of murder. No, he did no sin. There's no crime and no sin that can be found in him. Yet that lovely person, Jesus Christ, died on the cross. Why? Because He there on the cross showed to you how great God's love is for sinners. how he has given his best gift, his best, best gift. He gave his only son that the son, the life of his son should be exchanged for you. Brothers and sisters, is there anything that you can compare the love of God in this world? You can never find anything similar or near to it. Have you ever thought about it? In your time of discouragement, when you are depressed, when the things of this world seem to be crushing on you, when you are discouraged, you are hurt. Emotionally, you are hurt in a relationship that you are losing. And you find pain, you find discouragement, and the world seems to be giving you no encouragement at all. And everybody seems to have abandoned you. Have you ever thought about thinking about the Lord Jesus Christ? how the lovely person of Jesus, how the Lord Jesus Christ was willing to go to the cross, and as he was dying, he said, Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing to me." Oh, beloved brothers and sisters, do you need any more proof? Do you need to go to the Lord and say, if you love me? No if, brothers and sisters! The if has already been given! For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life, What if? No need to have if. Jesus has come to have Jesus is to have the proof that God cares supremely for His people and that the people of God, they are all precious to Him. I have a verse to prove it. Can you turn to Romans chapter 5? And what are we told there about God's love? Romans 5 please, the book of Romans chapter 5 and verse 8, but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Brothers and sisters, children, the world, your teacher in school can never understand this verse. Because the world will say this is stupid, this is silly, because nobody can love somebody else with that kind of love. And yet God does. God did not love you because you are lovable, you are lovely people. God loves you, brothers and sisters, while you are yet sinners. It means this, brothers and sisters, you know that the trash men, you know, the garonguni men will come and collect all sorts of things, and they will buy all sorts of things, and then they'll bring back to their office. And you know what they will do there? They will start to distribute, they will start to segregate, they will start to classify. You have here, oh, recyclable. You have here, precious metals. You have here, oh, can be sold to neighboring country, to the recycling plant. There is a huge pile of things, a huge corner there. It is labeled useless, trash. It's of no use. Nobody will pay money for it. Fed up man, I go and collect so much, now what am I going to do with it? I must think of a way to destroy it, to dispose of it because nobody will buy. That's where God found you. You are no use to God. You are no use to yourself. You are just a waste of time. And yet God set his love on you. Unlovable people. You just look at yourself and ask yourself in all honesty, is there something really lovable about you? I ask my wife this question and my wife say, nothing. Why did you marry me? Well, because I love you. Yeah, if you love me, there must be something good in me. My wife say, nothing. Husband, please don't ask your wife. Don't get your wife into trouble. Mother and brothers and sisters, you know what I'm getting at. Don't tell your children, mommy love you because she's so cute. Your child is going to grow up thinking, God loves me because I'm so cute. No, no, no, no, no, no. Tell your child, mommy love you because of God's love in Jesus Christ. we come to the third temptation, which is found there in verse eight and nine. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and show him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and saith unto him, all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me. That's what the devil came and do. And you know, brothers and sisters, the devil really know us very well. You may hide from others. People may not know your real reason. The devil does. You may appear to be so holy and so righteous and so godly. Your pastor may believe you, but there is somebody who knows you for who you are, and he will tempt you. Do you know that this temptation, I've asked many people, young and old, as I read for them this passage, and I've asked them, do you think it's easy to fall into this temptation? And most of them, most people I would say, not all, but most people would say to me, Pastor, not an issue with me. I want you to know, they don't even know what is wrong with them. Can I give you two examples, just a proof of point? Can you turn to 2 Timothy chapter 4? The 2 Timothy chapter 4. to a man who fell into this trap, this trickery of the devil. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10, For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. You read there, Demas hath forsaken Paul. Why? Having loved this present world. Having loved this present world. Brothers and sisters, what about you? Is this world more important to you than God? Are you willing to sell your soul to the devil that you may progress and prosper in this world? And if that is the case, I want you to know that you are a very lousy investor. Because you are investing in a world that is soon going to be destroyed. It is only for a brief period of time. And yet, you absent yourself from investing in the eternal world that Jesus Christ promised those who loved him. The kingdom of God, the new heaven and the new earth. Brothers and sisters, the devil is very wicked. The devil doesn't think about your happiness. The devil is trying to take your happiness away by drawing you to love this passing world. I heard somebody coming to me a few, two, three, a few years ago, telling me that he doesn't love the wife anymore. I really found my real love. I found this lady in the office. I really love her and she can understand me so very well. I don't know, every time I go home, I just find that I'm out of step. I just find that that's not where I should be. I should be with this lady. He's coming to the pastor, hoping that the pastor can help him justify his decision to leave the wife for this new lady. Have you ever come to such a point as a man or as a woman to make such a decision between heaven or earth? You find the temptation here is about this, about the things of this world. Even this, not just the things about this world. Look at what we are told there in verse eight of chapter four, Matthew four and verse eight. The glory of them. You realize that? The glory, it means the greatness of them. The devil opens your eyes to see the possibility of all these things. The glittering lights and the music, the attractiveness of this life. I tell you, this world is indeed very attractive, if not for the fact that we will die. This is quite a nice world to live in, minus all the human elements in it. It's quite nice. I went to Australia because my sons are there, and I visited the mountains and the valleys and the trees and the plantation and the vineyard and the cherries. I tell you, I don't want to come back. It's so beautiful. The cherry you just plucked put into your mouth tastes fantastic, better than cold storage cherries. But then I realized something. There's death. Some of the cherry got worms. I see young and old plucking cherries. I saw sick and healthy people. And I realize, brothers and sisters, if not for sin, God has created a wonderful world. But sin came and destroyed everything that God created. And God promised us that there is a new heaven and a new earth that will soon be upon us, brothers and sisters. Do you not love that world where Jesus has gone to prepare a place for you? I want to warn you with another example of people who place the wrong investment This person is found in Matthew 26. To Matthew 26 to another person who made the wrong investment. Matthew 26 and look at what we are told there in Matthew 26 and verse 14. Matthew 26 and verse 14. Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscaret went unto the chief priest and said unto them, What will ye give me? and I will deliver him unto you." And they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver. And from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him. Judas betrayed Christ for earthly gain. He did not betray Christ for spiritual reasons. He betrayed Christ for earthly reasons. And I just wonder how many of you here sitting here facing me this morning, you have sacrificed your children. You send your children to schools. you know to be spiritually going to destroy them. You send them to overseas universities, that is going to destroy them. God is never part of your plan for your children. It's always big money, big money, big money, salary, big salary, big salary. You prepare your children so well to be employable, to be in positions of influence, but they are going to hell, brothers and sisters. Because God left them, brothers and sisters. You say you are a Christian who believe in the world to come, the way you encourage your children, the way you raise your children, the way you encourage your children. I want to tell you in the name of Jesus Christ, you are showing that this world is more important than that world. think of what you're doing, brothers and sisters. I met a lady who wanted to marry a man, and a man is not a Christian. And she said that she loves that man, but the man is not a Christian. But she said she loved that man nonetheless. After marriage, a few years later, we discovered that it's not because she loved that man. She loved that man's family wealth. For money, she loved that man. But after marriage, love evaporated. And it's my life of misery, isn't it? Can I ask you now to turn to the last passage I'm calling you this morning, to the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 8. It's important verses for us thinking this morning, in the light of the passage we have considered. To Mark, Chapter 8, verse 36, please. To 38 we read, for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Brothers and sisters, these are important questions that we must constantly ask and as you advise your children to apply to this school, that university, do this in future, do that for future, marry this person, marry that person, apply for this job, resign from this job, go to this church or go to another church. Please, brothers and sisters, consider what you are here asked by our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you love God? Do you love the things of God? As you came in this morning, some of you came with your pots and pans. And I came in, I saw, I shall not mention names, a group of ladies busy already cooking. And a young lady was there stirring nothing but water to me, my eyes. Just water she was stirring, stirring. I don't know why stirring water. And I could see that she was doing all this thing together with the older ladies and you all people coming in. Because the things of God are precious to you. You brought your children because you want your children to know that the things of Jesus Christ are precious and important. And I command you, beware of the trickery of the devil. The Bible calls him as a person who will trick you the wiles of the devil. He will fire at you the fiery arrows or the darts he will throw at you to tempt you to sin against God, to lose this love for God, to take away this desire to do what will most glorify Jesus Christ in your life. You must not give in to him. You must take temptation seriously. There is only one person in this whole universe who can help you. His name is Jesus, the Son of God. He was tempted in every way like you did and will be tempted. The difference is He conquered sin. He has no sin. because he's the son of God. Come to him this morning, brothers and sisters. Come. No longer remain at a distance from him. Run like a little child. You have not seen the father or mother separated for a time and then suddenly saw the mom and the dad at the door. No matter where you are, you just run, run, run. Grab your mom or grab your dad and say Papa Mama I miss you so much let that be your feeling Are you so old that you have forgotten how it was like when you were young? Have you forgotten that feeling where you long for somebody you love? Use that feeling now, brothers and sisters. Now that you are taught in your brain about Christ, you have heard with your ears the word of God, come, response with that love, be stirred in your emotion, come. running after Jesus Christ and tell him how much you do love him and want to be part of his family and let him embrace you and keep you from all temptations that will be for to destroy you. May Jesus Christ be your high priest and may he draw you to himself this morning.